Schalk paid farmworkers between R6 and R10 a day

Excalibur

Excalibur

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Cape Town - Schalk Burger Snr could be in trouble with the Labour Department for allegedly underpaying his farmworkers.

Employees this week protested outside his house on his wine farm in Wellington, after he failed to pay their full wages last week.

The workers, who are all permanently employed and live on the farm, say for the past two weeks, Burger paid them between R6 and R10 a day.

In five payslips shown to the Daily Voice, issued by Burger Boerdery, workers earned between R42 and R94 for a seven-day week.

This falls far short of the national minimum wage - which for farmworkers currently stands at R128 for a nine-hour day.

Burger made headlines last year, after workers accused him of attempted murder - in a quadbiking incident - racism and calling them “hotnots”.
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Link.
 
It's disgusting and disgraceful. WTF is anyone supposed to do with R10 a day?
 
Burger first claimed he was not responsible for the wages, saying he used a “contractor” and that the workers were probably short-changed because they were “lazy”.

“They do not get paid by me, I’ve got nothing to do with it,” he said.

“In the harvest they were probably lazy, lying under the trees, and that was for an hour’s pay they must have gotten.”

But after the Daily Voice emailed him a copy of the salary slip, Burger changed his tune and claimed his accountant had messed up.
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Her net pay after deductions - R5.13 for housing and UIF - was only R46.58, and she wasn’t even paid that.
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Workers living on the farm are also required to pay for water, electricity and housing.
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But a farmworkers’ rights organisation says it is not the first time the Burgers were exposed for allegedly underpaying staff.

Rosaline Engelbrecht, the spokesperson for the Women on Farms Project, tells the Daily Voice: “That farm is notorious, we have dealt with issues like this in the past where wages were incorrect, it is not right.”
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http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-afr...-farmworkers-between-r6-and-r10-a-day-7661556
 
C4Cat said:
It's disgusting and disgraceful. WTF is anyone supposed to do with R10 a day?
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whats disgusting about it, if we agree that minimum wage has no benefits (as evidenced the last time minimum wage was discussed on this forum) then the workers must accept R10 a day or go find work elsewhere or simply not work

this is how the free markets work
 
saturnz said:
whats disgusting about it, if we agree that minimum wage has no benefits (as evidenced the last time minimum wage was discussed on this forum) then the workers must accept R10 a day or go find work elsewhere or simply not work

this is how the free markets work
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There is a minimum wage for farm workers.
 
saturnz said:
whats disgusting about it, if we agree that minimum wage has no benefits (as evidenced the last time minimum wage was discussed on this forum) then the workers must accept R10 a day or go find work elsewhere or simply not work

this is how the free markets work
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Besides the fact that there is a minimum wage in place, this is just exploitation.
 
saturnz said:
it should be abolished
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I don't think so not everyone is as intelligent as you which means they will be taken advantage of. You still need to try and protect the people that can't protect themselves.
 
What happened to the ANC Pig Farmer on the Redistributed land that didn't even bother too pay her workers?

Oh yes she is still in the ANC... No double standards at all

( Not saying if this is true that he should not be held accountable but please just do not be hypocrites)
 
Mila said:
What happened to the ANC Pig Farmer on the Redistributed land that didn't even bother too pay her workers?

Oh yes she is still in the ANC... No double standards at all

( Not saying if this is true that he should not be held accountable but please just do not be hypocrites)
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And Schalk Burger snr is still in the IFP/FF/DA or wherever he was before he decided to short pay his workers, you are trying too hard...
 
Cr419 said:
Besides the fact that there is a minimum wage in place, this is just exploitation.
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No one is forcing these people to work.
Oom Schalk doesn't go to their homes with a whip every morning.

The reality is that there are plenty of people in South Africa who would regard R10 a day as being worth their time. No amount of legislation will ever be able to get around that.
 
saturnz said:
whats disgusting about it, if we agree that minimum wage has no benefits (as evidenced the last time minimum wage was discussed on this forum) then the workers must accept R10 a day or go find work elsewhere or simply not work

this is how the free markets work
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I don't know who this "we" is that you refer to, I certainly don't agree with you. This is wage slavery, the workers have nowhere else to go (precisely because of the way they've been treated over the generations) and don't earn enough to ever escape their situation or to educate their children thus ensuring the same predicament for future generations. **** the free market if this is what it entails. No they must not accept it or go elsewhere (where the **** are they going to go). They must insist on fair wages for fair work or bring the wine farm to a standstill. The time of people enriching themselves off the labour of others is over.
 
thechamp said:
And Schalk Burger snr is still in the IFP/FF/DA or wherever he was before he decided to short pay his workers, you are trying too hard...
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Being a member of the party is slightly different from being the chairperson of the national council of provinces. You don't exactly see Schalk Burger snr presiding over parliament.
 
thechamp said:
And Schalk Burger snr is still in the IFP/FF/DA or wherever he was before he decided to short pay his workers, you are trying too hard...
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shamepies. Is this all you have to add. Stop being a hypocrite.

He isn't the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) chairwoman.
 
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