Publications

1. There is a large literature on land expropriation in South Africa from which this summary is put together. Among the important works are: Sol Plaatje, Native Life in South Africa (Johannesburg: Ravan Press, 1982); Francis Wilson, A. Kooy and D. Hendrie (eds.), Farm Labor in South Africa (Johannesburg: South African Labor and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) and David Philip, 1977); Colin Bundy, The Rise and Fall of the South African Peasantry (London: Heinemann, 1979); Belinda Bozzoli (ed.),Town and Countryside in the Transvaal (Johannesburg: Ravan Press, 1983); Laurine Platzky and Cherryl Walker, The Surplus People: Forced Removals in South Africa (Johannesburg: Ravan Press, 1985); Helen Bradford, A Taste of Freedom: The ICU in Rural South Africa 1924-1930 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987); Christina Murray and Catherine O'Regan, (eds.), No Place to Rest: Forced Removals and the Law in South Africa (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989); Wendy Davies, We Cry for Our Land: Farm Workers in South Africa (Oxford: Oxfam, 1990); Michael Lipton, Frank Ellis and Merle Lipton (eds.) Land, Labor and Livelihoods in Southern Africa (1996); Shamim Meer, (ed.), Women, Land and Authority: Perspectives from South Africa (Oxford and Cape Town: Oxfam and David Philip, 1997); Alan Jeeves and Jonathan Crush (eds.), White Farms, Black Labor: The State and Agrarian Change in Southern Africa 1910-50 (Pietermaritzburg, Portsmouth, NH, and Oxford: University of Natal Press, Heinemann, and James Currey, 1997). For a detailed and compelling history of the effect of South Africa's land laws on one man and his family, see Charles van Onselen, The Seed is Mine: The Life of Kas Maine, a South African Sharecropper 1894-1985 (Oxford: James Currey, 1996).

2. Colin Bundy, "Land, Law and Power: Forced Removals in Historical Context," in Murray and O'Regan, (eds.), No Place to Rest, p.11.

3. Africans continued to have the right to hold freehold land in urban areas--a right they had acquired in the mid-nineteenth century--until the 1950s.

4. As quoted in Platzky and Walker, The Surplus People, p.85.

5. The number of white-occupied farms rose by 23 percent from 1918 to 1928, reaching some 94,000 holdings. Bradford, A Taste of Freedom, p.23. The number of white farmers peaked in the 1950s, at 116,848 in 1950, and by 1985 had reduced to 59,088 (the average farm size doubled in the same period). David Copper, Working the Land: A review of agriculture in South Africa (Johannesburg: Environment and Development Agency, 1988), p.19.

6. Michael Robertson, "Dividing the Land: An Introduction to Apartheid Land Law," in Murray and O'Regan, (eds.), No Place to Rest, p.128.

7. The SAAU was formed in 1904 as an umbrella organization bringing together agricultural unions representing white farm owners in areas that would become the four provinces of the Union and then Republic of South Africa (Cape Province, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State); TAU was formed in 1897. Henk van de Graaf and Chris L. Jordaan (eds.), Property Rights in South Africa (Pretoria: Transvaal Agricultural Union, 1999), Preface.

8. Bundy, Rise and Fall of the South African Peasantry, "Aftermath and Conclusions," p.234.

9. In this report, Human Rights Watch will use "black" to refer to all three subcategories of those not previously designated as "white," including those of African or Indian ancestry and those of mixed race. Where it is necessary for the context, we will use the subcategories (using "African" for those of African ancestry), since their previous racial classification remains relevant to the socio-economic circumstances of all South Africans today and, as this report demonstrates, to the response of the state machinery to their attempts to obtain official assistance.

10. In 1954 the Natives Resettlement Act provided for the removal of all Africans from the "western areas" of Johannesburg (including Sophiatown, Martindale, Newclare, and Pageview) to Soweto. See David Welsh, "The Growth of Towns," in Monica Wilson and Leonard Thompson (eds.) The Oxford History of South Africa (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971), vol. 2, pp.142-243 at pp.238-241.

11. Bundy, Rise and Fall of the South African Peasantry, "Aftermath and Conclusions," p.235.

12. The other categories were: "black spots" and homeland consolidation (614,000); urban areas (730,000); informal settlements (112,000); Group Area relocations (860,400); infrastructural and strategic developments (103,500). Platzky and Walker, The Surplus People, p.10 and pp.372-3. At the time the book was published, in 1985, government policy still threatened a further two million people with removal.

13. One study found that between 1951 and 1980, the absolute number of black people living in rural areas outside the reserves grew by two million. Aninka Claassens, "Rural Land Struggles in the Transvaal in the 1980s," in Murray and O'Regan (eds.), No Place to Rest, p.44, citing C. Simkins, Four Essays on the Past, Present and Possible Future of the Distribution of the Black Population of South Africa (Cape Town: SALDRU, 1983).

14. Bundy, "Land, Law and Power," p.10.

15. R.W. Johnson, How Long Will South Africa Survive? (London: Macmillan, 1977), as quoted in Bundy, "Land, Law and Power," p.9.

16. Catherine O'Regan, "The Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act," in Murray and O'Regan (eds.), No Place to Rest, p.171.

17. Other laws passed during this transition period improved black access to land, including the Upgrading of Land Tenure Rights Act (No. 112 of 1991), the Distribution and Transfer of Certain State Land Act (No. 119 of 1993), and the Provision of Land and Assistance Act (No. 126 of 1993).

18. The Freedom Charter, adopted at the Congress of the People, Kliptown, June 26, 1955.

19. Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996). Section 36(1) governs the limitation of rights, providing that "The rights in the Bill of Rights may be limited only in terms of law of general application to the extent that the limitation is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom, taking into account all relevant factors, including:- (a) the nature of the right; (b) the importance of the purpose of the limitation; (c) the nature and extent of the limitation; (d) the relation between the limitation and its purpose; and (e) less restrictive means to achieve the purpose."

20. Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, sections 25(1), (2), and (3). Section 25(3) provides in full: "The amount of compensation and the time and manner of payment must be just and equitable, reflecting an equitable balance between the public interest and the interests of those affected, having regard to all relevant circumstances, including:- (a) the current use of the property; (b) the history of the acquisition and use of the property; (c) the market value of the property; (d) the extent of direct state investment and subsidy in the acquisition and beneficial capital improvement of the property; and (e) the purpose of the expropriation." Section 25(4)(a) provides that "the public interest includes the nation's commitment to reform and to reforms to bring about equitable access to South Africa's natural resources."

21. Other relevant statutes include the Land Administration Act (No. 2 of 1995), the Development Facilitation Act (No. 67 of 1995), the Communal Property Associations Act (No. 28 of 1996), the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act (No. 31 of 1996), and the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (No. 19 of 1998).

22. Restitution of Land Rights Act, 1994, preamble and section 2. The date of 1913 is significant since it means that land taken by conquest before the codification of ownership patterns by the 1913 Natives Land Act is not covered by the restitution process. Section 121 of the interim constitution (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act, No. 200 of 1993), which was negotiated by different political parties (effectively the ANC and the National Party) prior to the 1994 elections, required that an act of parliament should provide for restitution of land rights for people or communities dispossessed of land under racially discriminatory laws.

23. Department of Land Affairs, White Paper on South African Land Policy (Pretoria: April 1997), Executive Summary.

24. Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, Annual Report (April 1999-March 2000), p.4. This deadline was extended from April 30, 1998 to allow for the filing of claims in the wake of an awareness campaign.

25. Restitution of Land Rights Act, 1994, sections 10-14.

26. Restitution of Land Rights Act, 1994, sections 14 and 22-38.

27. Land Restitution and Reform Laws Amendment Act, No. 63 of 1997, section 29, inserting sections 38A to 38E into the original act.

28. Department of Land Affairs Annual Report 1999, p.93.

29. Department of Land Affairs, Annual Report 1999, Director-General's Review,

30. Vuyo Mvoko, "Govt moves to avoid land crisis," Business Day July 5, 2000. Unless otherwise noted, all currency amounts have been converted to dollars at the rate of 7.585 rands to one dollar, the rate prevailing at the end of 2000.

31. "Land Restitution increases, but more can be done: Mgoqi," South African Press Association (SAPA), November 7, 2000.

32. Land rights activists have argued that the program has therefore failed to address the primary purpose of land reform: the restoration of land to those from whom it was unjustly taken. "Land claimants demand meeting Mbeki on 'lack of delivery,'"Business Day June 7, 2000; Siyabulela Qoza, "Land Reform a slow but sure process," Financial Mail April 28, 2000.

33. Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Budget Vote Speech, Ministry for Agriculture and Land Affairs, May 15, 2001.

34. Department of Land Affairs, White Paper on South African Land Policy (April 1997), section 4.16.

35. Department of Land Affairs, Annual Report 1999, under heading "Land Rights," p.35. See also Donna Hornby, "All we need is a piece of land": A National Land Committee Investigation into the Current Status of Labour Tenancy (Johannesburg: National Land Committee, March 1988).

36. Land Reform (Labor Tenants) Act, 3 of 1996, section 1(xi). The legislation does not specify how long the parents or grandparents need to have resided on the farm, but the inclusion of criterion (c) means that many who are first generation labor tenants are excluded from the act. Section 1(ix) defines a farmworker as "a person who is employed on a farm in terms of contract of employment which provides that (a) in return for the labor which he or she provides to the owner or lessee of the farm, he or she shall be paid predominantly in cash or in some other form of remuneration, and not predominantly in the right to occupy and use land; and (b) he or she is obliged to perform his or her services personally."

37. These reasons include a breach of the relationship between owner and labor tenant and failure of the labor tenant to provide the agreed upon labor. Land Reform (Labor Tenants) Act, 3 of 1996, section 7(2).

38. Land Reform (Labor Tenants) Act, 3 of 1996, section 9.

39. Land Restitution and Reform Laws Amendment Act (No. 63 of 1997).

40. Land Reform (Labor Tenants) Act, 3 of 1996, chapter III.

41. Land Affairs General Amendment Act (No. 11 of 2000), section 7. This deadline was set so as to provide some certainty to land owners regarding the status of their land.

42. Land Reform (Labor Tenants) Act, 1996, section 23.

43. Land Reform (Labor Tenants) Act, 1996, section 26.

44. An occupier is defined under the act as "a person residing on land which belongs to another person and who has ... consent or another right in law to do so," but excluding labor tenants, a person using the land for mining purposes, or a person with an income over a prescribed limit. Extension of Security of Tenure Act 1997, section 1(1)(x).

45. In August 1999, the Pretoria High Court ruled that the Extension of Security of Tenure Act could not be read as implying a right to bury the bodies of those who had lived on land they did not own, even if they were residing there legally. "High Court refuses woman right to bury son on farm," SAPA, August 31, 1999; Bührmann vs. Nkosi and Another, 2000 (1) SA 1145 (T); [1999] 4 All SA 337 (T). See also the judgment of the Land Claims Court in Serole and another vs. Pienaar LCC 9/99 (February 5, 1999). Both farm residents and farm owners see the right to bury the dead as symbolizing a connection with the land, and hence the issue has achieved a significance that is political as well as emotional: where permission might previously have been granted, farmers are now reluctant to concede this right.

46. Extension of Security of Tenure Act 1997, section 8(1).

47. Extension of Security of Tenure Act 1997, section 10(2). Both magistrates courts and the Land Claims Court have jurisdiction over the act.

48. Section 23 of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act provides that: 

(1) No person shall evict an occupier except on the authority of an order of a competent court. 

(2) No person shall wilfully obstruct or interfere with an official in the employ of the State or a mediator in the performance of his or her duties under this Act. 

(3) Any person who contravenes a provision of subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine, or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years, or to both such fine and such imprisonment. 

(4) Any person whose rights or interests have been prejudiced by a contravention of subsection (1) shall have the right to institute a private prosecution of the alleged offender.

49. Conradie vs. Hanekom (LCC8R/99). See also Lawyers For Human Rights, Newsletter for the Human Rights Security of Farm Workers, vol. 1, no. 1, March/April 1999. The court ruled that the right to family life conferred by section 6 of ESTA afforded Mrs. Hanekom the right to allow her husband--who had been dismissed from his employment on the farm--to continue living in her home on the farm.

50. Email communication from Theunis Roux, University of the Witwatersrand Law School, to Human Rights Watch, March 5, 2001.

51. Human Rights Watch interview with Judge Justice Moloto, Land Claims Court, Randburg, September 18, 2000.

52. White Paper on South African Land Policy (April 1997), section 4.3; Department of Land Affairs, Annual Report 1999, Director-General's Review.

53. T. Marcus, C. Eales, and A. Wildschut, Down to Earth: Land Demand in the New South Africa (Durban: Land and Agricultural Policy Centre and Indicator Press, 1996), cited in Julian May (ed.) Poverty and Inequality in South Africa: Meeting the Challenge (Cape Town and London: David Philip and Zed Press, 2000), p.241. Forty-eight percent of those wanting farmland desired one hectare or less, and the mean demand for thirteen hectares was skewed by a few people wanting large amounts of land.

54. Under the Provision of Land and Assistance Act (No. 126 of 1993, as amended in 1998, when its name was also changed from the Provision of Certain Land for Settlement Act). See also White Paper on South African Land Policy (April 1997), section 4.7; Samantha Hargreaves, "A piece of land to call their own," Reconstruct April 23, 2000. To be eligible for the program claimants must be legal, permanent residents of South Africa, have a monthly household income of not over R1,500 (U.S.$200), and have secure access to less than one hectare of arable land.

55. Department of Land Affairs, Annual Report 1999, Director-General's Review; summary of section on "Delivering Land Reform."

56. "The Minister and the Land Affairs Programme: Briefing," Minutes of the Agriculture and Land Affairs Portfolio Committee, June 20, 2000. Parliamentary minutes are available on the website of the Parliamentary Monitoring Group, <www.pmg.org.za>. The government intends to dispose of 669,000 hectares of state land for land redistribution purposes in 2001-2002, according to the May 15, 2001, budget vote speech of the Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs, available on the Ministry for Agriculture and Land Affairs website, <land.pwv.gov.za>, accessed June 12, 2001.

57. White Paper on South African Land Policy (April 1997) Executive Summary. At a conference in October 2000, agricultural minister Thoko Didiza stated that the powers of the government under the Expropriation Act 1975 could be used to resolve some of the problems facing land reform; she later reiterated that a willing buyer-willing seller would be the norm in acquiring land for redistribution and that expropriation would be used only as "a last resort" to carry through land reform. Barry Streek, "Farmland expropriation threat denounced," Mail and Guardian, October 20, 2000; "No reason for panic about land reform: Didiza," SAPA, October 25, 2000. In February 2001, the government threatened to use its powers of expropriation to take land for the first time (in order to satisfy a claim for restitution relating to a farm near Lydenburg in Mpumalanga; the farmer had agreed to sell but there was a dispute over the price), but later stated that it would attempt to revive negotiations for the sale of the land. A settlement was reached in May, by which the farm was sold to the government for a compromise price. "Lydenburg farmer faces expropriation for land restitution," SAPA, February 12, 2001; Jane Stanley, "SA farmer wins land reprieve," at the BBC website, <www.bbc.co.uk> March 21, 2001; "Agri-SA welcomes Boomplats settlement," SAPA, June 1, 2001; "Letter from the President," in ANC Today, vol.1, no.9, June 1-7, 2001.

58. Ben Cousins, "Zim crisis: our wake-up call," Mail andGuardian May 5-11, 2000.

59. Responding to a question in the National Council of Provinces in July 2000, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza provided figures indicating that the state owned at least 20 percent of land in South Africa (24.3 million hectares), excluding land owned by parastatals and the 2.9 million hectares owned by the Ingonyama Trust in KwaZulu-Natal (the former KwaZulu homeland). Only between 5 and 7 percent of state land was available for redistribution, since the rest was in use for other purposes. "The Minister and the Land Affairs Programme: Briefing," Minutes of the Agriculture and Land Affairs Portfolio Committee, June 20, 2000; Barry Streek, "State owns 20% of SA land--Didiza," Mail and Guardian, August 2, 2000.

60. Marj Brown, Justin Erasmus, Rosalie Kingwill, Colin Murray, and Monty Roodt, Land Restitution in South Africa: A Long Way Home (Cape Town: IDASA, 1998); see also "Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development," Executive Summary, December 19, 2000, available on the Department of Land Affairs website, <land.pwv.gov.za>, accessed April 12, 2001.

61. See Farm Tenure: Media Guide--A National Land Committee Resource on Farm Workers and Labour Tenants, June 2000.

62. Human Rights Watch interview with Peter Rutsch, attorney, by telephone, October 4, 2000.

63. Human Rights Watch interview with Christo Loots, attorney, Pietermaritzburg, September 11, 2000.

64. Human Rights Watch interview with farmers, Vryheid, September 14, 2000.

65. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Loggenberg, Transvaal Agricultural Union, April 17, 2000.

66. Human Rights Watch interview with Mike de Lange, formerly KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union (KWANALU) security desk, September 14, 2000.

67. Human Rights Watch interview with Mike de Lange, formerly KWANALU security desk, September 14, 2000.

68. For example, remarks made by Deputy President Jacob Zuma at a Southern African Development Community summit in Namibia were interpreted to indicate support for President Mugabe. The South African government later issued a statement reporting that Zuma had given an assurance "that the situation in Zimbabwe would not happen in South Africa. His view is that there are constitutional guarantees and a strong adherence to the rule of law in South Africa to guard against this." Statement issued by the Office of the Presidency, "Reported comment by Deputy President Zuma on the Zimbabwe situation," September 11, 2000. Business Day (Johannesburg) editorialized on October 13, 2000, that Zuma's comments "by no stretch of the imagination could be construed as supporting Zimbabwean style land invasions." In May 2000, Mbeki stated in parliament that any land invasions in South Africa would be "contrary to policy and contrary to the law. Therefore the government would take all necessary steps to ensure that the breaking of the law comes to an end. That is not a problem, that is not an issue." "Government won't tolerate farm invasions in SA: Mbeki," SAPA, May 10, 2000.

69. "Land reform essential to end rural 'war,'" SAPA, October 18, 2000.

70. "Labour tenants committee threatens Mpuma land invasion," SAPA, May 27, 2001; "Press statement on reported threats to invade farms in Mpumalanga," Department of Land Affairs, May 28, 2001.

71. "Land invaders to be ejected: Land Affairs," SAPA, June 22, 2001.

72. The Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Act (No. 137 of 1993), amended the Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Act (No. 3 of 1983) to extend provisions relating to maximum daily and weekly hours, Sunday work, overtime, etc., to farmworkers, defined as employees "employed mainly in or in connection with farming activities, and includes an employee who wholly or mainly performs domestic work on dwelling premises on a farm." (Section 1(d)). These legal protections were at the same time extended to domestic workers.

73. Unemployment Insurance Act, No. 30 of 1966, as amended. Every employee is entitled to an Unemployment Insurance Card (UIF card, also known as a "blue card"), which serves to prove his or her entitlement to UIF benefits in the event of retrenchment. It is the employer's responsibility to apply to the Department of Labor for their employees' UIF cards.

74. Section 27 of the interim constitution (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act No. 200 of 1993), which was in force between April 27, 1994 and February 4, 1997, provided that "(1) Every person shall have the right to fair labor practices. (2) Workers shall have the right to form and join trade unions...." Section 23 of the final constitution (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act No.108 of 1996) sets out more comprehensive provisions, including that "(1) Everyone has the right to fair labor practices. (2) Every worker has the right (a) to form and join a trade union; (b) to participate in the activities and programmes of a trade union; and (c) to strike." Other subsections relate to the right to collective bargaining.

75. Race- or sex-based discrimination is prohibited under the International Labour Organization's Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention No. 111, adopted in 1958. The convention includes provisions relating to equal remuneration for work of equal value; hours of work; rest periods; and occupational health, as well as social security measures and welfare facilities and benefits provided in connection with employment. In 1952, the ILO adopted the Equal Remuneration Convention No.100. Article 2 of Convention No.100 provides that, "Each member shall, by means appropriate to the methods in operation for determining rates of remuneration... ensure the application to all workers of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value." South Africa ratified ILO Convention No. 111 on March 5, 1997, and Convention No. 100 on March 30, 2000.

76. Section 6 (1) of the Employment Equity Act, No. 55 of 1998.

77. Section 6 (3) of the Employment Equity Act provides, "Harassment of an employee is a form of unfair discrimination and is prohibited on any one, or a combination of grounds of unfair discrimination listed in Subsection (1)." See also Lisa Vetten, "Paper Promises, Protests and Petitions: South African State and Civil Society Responses to Violence Against Women," in Yoon Jung Park, Joanne Fedler, and Zubeda Dangor (eds.), Reclaiming Women's Spaces: New Perspectives on Violence Against Women and Sheltering in South Africa (Johannesburg: Nisaa Institute for Women's Development, 2000), pp.83-120, p.85.

78. "Free State farmers prepare employment equity plans," SAPA, December 8, 2000.

79. Section 11 and Section 1(xiii) of the Promotion of Equality and Unfair Discrimination Act, No. 4 of 2000.

80. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act, No. 75 of 1997, section 25.

81. Unemployment Insurance Act, No. 30 of 1966, as amended, section 37(5).

82. In June 2000, the ILO adopted the Maternity Protection Convention No. 183, relating to protection before and after child birth of the rights of women wage earners. In terms of the convention, women wage-earners in agriculture are entitled to a period of maternity leave "of not less than fourteen weeks,"including "compulsory leave for a period of six week after child birth" in order to ensure protection of the health of the mother and that of the child. Further, the Maternity Protection Convention provides that women in agriculture are entitled to receive "cash benefits" during maternity leave. Where a woman does not meet the conditions to qualify for a cash benefit under national laws and regulations, she should receive adequate benefits either out of the public funds or by means of a system of insurance, subject to the means test required for such assistance. At the time of this writing, June 2001, this convention had not yet come into force. The convention revises and replaces a previous convention of 1952.

83. While a person is employed, his/her employer is supposed to pay two percent of the full wages to the Unemployment Insurance Fund. One percent of the contributions comes from the employee's wages and the employer must pay the other one percent. See Centre For Rural Legal Studies Rights for Women Farm Workers (Stellenbosch: Centre for Rural Legal Studies, 2000), p.7.

84. A draft Unemployment Insurance Bill was published by the Department of Labour in 2000, which will repeal the existing act and introduce important reforms, among other things de-linking maternity benefits from unemployment benefits. The original draft of the bill excluded both farmworkers and domestic workers, but the parliamentary labor committee recommended that both should be included, a debate that is still ongoing. See "Report on Rural Women's Workshop, Report on Unemployment Insurance Bill, Budget Hearings Strategy," Minutes of the Joint Monitoring Committee on the Improvement of Quality of Life and the Status of Women, May 9, 2001.

85. According to then Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Derek Hanekom in a written reply to a parliamentary question put by the National Party. Clive Sawyer, "Farm unions struggling to recruit members: Hanekom," Cape Argus August 21, 1998.

86. Human Rights Watch interview with Howard Mbana, SAAPAWU, March 24, 2000.

87. Interview with Graham McIntosh, (then) president of the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union, published in Briefing 12, (Johannesburg: Helen Suzman Foundation, September 1998).

88. Cited in Lauren Segal, A Brutal Harvest: The Roots and Legitimation of Violence on Farms in South Africa (Johannesburg: Project for the Study of Violence and Black Sash, 1991), p.16.

89. Email to Human Rights Watch from KWANALU, August 7, 2000.

90. "Transvaal Agric Union scrapped from Agri-SA," SAPA, May 11, 2000.

91. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Loggenberg and Boela Niemann, TAU, Pretoria, September 19, 2000.

92. Human Rights Watch interview with Dion Pelser, Director of Support Services, Northern Province Department of Safety and Security, Pietersburg, March 29, 2000.

93. "South Africa's White Farming Industry: How its destruction will affect the United State," on the Transvaal Agricultural Union website, <www.rights2property.com/>, accessed October 6, 2000.

94. "Liberation of the land, known as LAND REFORM," on the Transvaal Agricultural Union website, <www.rights2property.com/background.htm>, accessed October 6, 2000.

95. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Loggenberg and Boela Niemann, TAU, Pretoria, September 19, 2000.

96. Wessel Potgieter, the defendant in a prominent case of eviction brought before the Land Claims Court, speaking to a representative of the Helen Suzman Foundation, Cheryl Goodenough, "This land is ours," KwaZulu-Natal Briefing no. 11 (Johannesburg: Helen Suzman Foundation, June 1998).

97. Summary of March 2001 Markinor survey commissioned by Landbouweekblad, the magazine of Agri-SA, among 405 randomly selected readers of the magazine. The percentages reflected the number of respondents "agreeing" or "wholeheartedly agreeing" to these statements. See also, "Letter from the President," ANC Today, vol.1, no.19, June 1-7, 2001.

98. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Raath, Agri-SA, March 23, 2000.

99. Human Rights Watch interview with Lourie Bosman, Mpumalanga Agricultural Union, Ermelo, April 12, 2000.

100. Human Rights Watch interview with Theo van Rooyen, farmer, Utrecht, September 15, 2000.

101. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Loggenberg, Transvaal Agricultural Union, Pretoria, April 17, 2000.

102. Human Rights Watch interview with Mike de Lange, formerly KWANALU security desk, September 14, 2000.

103. Interview with Graham McIntosh, (then) president of the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union, published in Briefing 12, (Johannesburg: Helen Suzman Foundation, September 1998).

104. Human Rights Watch interview with Lourie Bosman, Mpumalanga Agricultural Union, April 12, 2000.

105. "Statement by Honourable Minister of Labour, Mr Membathisi Mphumzi Shepherd Mdladlana, at the signing of a historic agreement between AgriSA, SAAPAWU, FAWU and NAFU, Pretoria, May 29, 2001," Ministry of Labour, May 29, 2001.

106. "Crisis in SA agriculture as competition hits," SAPA, November 3, 2000, reporting on a conference on the agricultural sector.

107. Copper, Working the Land.

108. "State drives farmers to the wall," ZA Now (on the Mail and Guardian website <www.mg.co.za>), October 5, 2000; "State policies driving farmers to bankruptcy: Agri-SA," SAPA, October 4, 2000. Agri-SA president Chris Du Toit stated that agricultural input costs had increased by 43.7 percent since 1995, while product prices had only increased by 16 percent.

109. Segal, A Brutal Harvest.

110. Employment Trends in Agriculture in South Africa (Pretoria: Stats SA and National Department of Agriculture, 2000), pp.22-23. The question of how many commercial farms there are is, however, complicated, given the new membership of some small-scale farmers from the former homeland areas in the structures representing commercial agriculture. In August 1999, Agri-SA referred to "85,000 commercial and small scale farmers," in connection with the launch of a fund to provide security. "Farmers' union raising money for rural security," ZA Now, August 11, 1999. Less than a year later, however, commercial agriculture was quoted as stating that there are 40,000 commercial farmers and 32,000 small scale farmers. "MPs express concern about SA farm attacks," SAPA, May 10, 2000. Statistics relating to farmworkers also remain unreliable, because of a lack of consistent collection of uniform and disaggregated data and an increase in temporary employment in the farming sector which makes it difficult to maintain accurate statistics.

111. Nick Vink (ed.), "The Determination of Employment Conditions in South African Agriculture: A Report to the Department of Labour," Centre for Rural Legal Studies, Stellenbosch, and National Institute of Economic Policy, Johannesburg, March 2001, Part I "The Livelihoods of Farm Workers in South Africa," section 5.

112. Employment Trends in Agriculture, Summary of Findings and pp.21, 32, 35, and 37.

113. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, Northern Province, March 30, 2000. Translated from Pedi.

114. Employment Trends in Agriculture, p.43.

115. Ibid., p.26. As a proportion of all those employed in agriculture, 32 percent have no schooling, and 3 matric or higher qualifications. By comparison, among all employed people in the economy, only 10 percent have no schooling, and 13 percent have matric or higher. Ibid., p.86.

116. Ibid., pp.51-56.

117. R.W. Johnson and Lawrence Schlemmer, Farmers and Farmworkers in KwaZulu-Natal: Employment conditions, labor tenancy, land reform, attitudes and relationships (Johannesburg: Helen Suzman Foundation, 1998), p.51. All currency conversions at contemporary rates in this paragraph.

118. Employment Trends in Agriculture, p.91.

119. Ibid., p.93.

120. One woman farmworker told Human Rights Watch that farm owners denied them permission to go to their compounds to use the toilets, telling the women to "just do the shit" in the field, meaning that women should relieve themselves in public within the sight of men working in the same fields. Human Rights Watch interview, group of women farmworkers, Western Cape, April 12, 2000.

121. Stephen Greenberg, Meshack Hlongwane, David Shabangu, and Ellen Sigudla, State of South African Farmworkers 1996 (Johannesburg: Farmworkers Research and Resource Project, 1997), Summary.

122. Vink (ed.), "The Determination of Employment Conditions in South African Agriculture," Executive Summary.

123. Articles 3 and 4 of ILO Protection of Wages Convention No. 95 (1949), allow partial payment of wages "in the form of allowances in kind," but expressly forbid payment of wages in the form of liquor in any circumstances. This convention came into force in 1952 and was partially revised in 1992 by ILO Convention No. 173. South Africa has not ratified ILO Convention No 95.

124. Perhaps up to 10 percent of farmers continue with the "dop" system of payment in alcohol. Human Rights Watch interviews, Jackie Sunde, Department of Sociology, University of Cape Town, April 14, 2000; legal officer, Centre for Rural Legal Studies, Stellenbosch, April 13, 2000. In April 2001, a green paper published by the Western Cape provincial government proposed the creation of an offence for an employer to supply liquor to an employee in lieu of wages or to deduct from wages sums owing for the purchase of liquor from the employer or from a third party. Barry Streek, "Tot system finally to be outlawed," Mail and Guardian, April 20, 2001.

125. Human Rights Watch interviews with women farm workers, Boksburg, Gauteng, April 15, 2000. See also Stephanie Barrientos, Sharon McClenaghan, and Liz Orton, Gender and Codes of Conduct: A Case Study from Horticulture in South Africa (London: Christian Aid, August 1999; also on the web at <www.christian-aid.org.uk/indepth/9908grap/grapes2.htm, accessed February 6, 2001), a study that found that health and safety regulations in particular in relation to chemicals were poorly observed.

126. Human Rights Watch interview with Virgil Seafield, Deputy Director Minimum Standards, Department of Labour, February 14, 2001.

127. "Sectoral determination for farm, domestic workers soon," SAPA, May 29, 2001.

128. Employment Trends in Agriculture in South Africa, p. 24.

129. For more information on discrimination against women farmworkers, especially in the Western Cape, where most research has been done, see Sandra Hill Lanz, Women on Farms (Pretoria: Lawyers for Human Rights, 1994); Jackie Sunde and Karin Kleinbooi,Promoting Equitable and Sustainable Development for Women Farmworkers in the Western Cape (Stellenbosch, Centre for Rural Legal Studies, July 1999); Barrientos, McClenaghan, and Orton, Gender and Codes of Conduct (Christian Aid); Linda Waldman, "'This house is a dark room': Domestic violence on farms in the Western Cape," in Lorraine E. Glanz and Andrew D. Spiegel (eds.)Violence and Family Life in a Contemporary South Africa: Research and Policy Issues (Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council, 1996), pp.103-119; Davies, We Cry for Our Land.

130. Human Rights Watch interviews, individual and groups of farmworkers, Northern Province, KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape, South Africa, April and September 2000.

131. Greenberg et al, State of South African Farmworkers, Summary.

132. Human Rights Watch interviews, group of women farm workers, Western Cape, April 12, 2000 and group of women farm workers, Northern province, March 28, 2000. See also Sunde and Kleinbooi, Promoting Equitable and Sustainable Development, pp.12-17.

133. Sunde and Kleinbooi, Promoting Equitable and Sustainable Development, p.11.

134. Sunde and Kleinbooi, Promoting Equitable and Sustainable Development, p.12.

135. "Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value," Report researched by the Community Agency for Social Enquiry (Johannesburg) for the Commission on Gender Equality, undated draft (1999?).

136. Human Rights Watch interview with teacher, Piketberg, Western Cape, April 11, 2000.

137. Human Rights Watch interview with former farmworker, Louis Trichardt, March 29, 2000.

138. Conradie vs. Hanekom (LCC8R/99), April 1999.

139. Human Rights Watch interview, group of women farmworkers, Grabouw, Western Cape, 2000.

140. Human Rights Watch interview, Grabouw, Western Cape, 2000.

141. Theresa Ulicki and Jonathan Crush, "Gender, Farmwork, and Women's Migration from Lesotho to the New South Africa,"Canadian Journal of African Studies vol. 34, no. 1, 2000, pp.64-79, p.76.

142. Human Rights Watch interview, group of National Land Committee affiliates field workers, Johannesburg, September 8, 2000.

143. Human Rights Watch interview Alida van der Merwe, Director, Centre For Rural Legal Studies, Stellenbosch, April 19, 2000.

144. Human Rights Watch interviews, legal officer, Centre for Rural Legal Studies, Stellenbosch, April 15, 2000; woman farmworker, East Rand, April 19, 2000.

145. Human Rights Watch interview, woman farmworkers, East Rand, April 19, 2000.

146. Vink (ed.), "The Determination of Employment Conditions in South African Agriculture," Executive Summary.

147. See, in this regard, Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: South Africa, U.N. Document CRC/C/15/Add.122, January 28, 2000.

148. See Julia Grey, "From oppressive beginnings towards an uncertain future," The Teacher/Mail and Guardian, January 29, 2001; South African Schools Act, No. 84 of 1996, section 14.

149. See Ulicki and Crush, "Gender, Farmwork, and Women's Migration."

150. South Africa's major legislation regulating immigration, the Aliens Control Act (No. 96 of 1991, a consolidation of earlier statutes), provides for such agreements for contract workers to enter South Africa "in accordance with a scheme of recruitment and repatriation approved by the Minister of Home Affairs" (section 40(1)(d)). There is no bilateral agreement with Zimbabwe, a major supplier of labor, although employment of Zimbabweans is allowed in the far north of Northern Province under the terms of a special arrangement endorsed by both governments. See David Lincoln with Claude Makarike, "Southward Migrants in the Far North: Zimbabwean Farmworkers in Northern Province," in Jonathan Crush (ed.), Borderline Farming: Foreign Migrants in South African Commercial Agriculture (Cape Town: Southern African Migration Project, Migration Policy Series No. 16, 2000), pp.40-62.

151. See Human Rights Watch, "Prohibited Persons": Abuse of Undocumented Migrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees in South Africa (New York: Human Rights Watch, March 1998); and the articles in Crush (ed.), Borderline Farming.

152. Ulicki and Crush, "Gender, Farmwork, and Women's Migration," p.76.

153. Ulicki and Crush, "Gender, Farmwork, and Women's Migration," p.71.

154. Greenberg et al, State of South African Farmworkers.

155. Human Rights Watch interview with Mpumalanga Department of Land Affairs official, April 12, 2000.

156. Human Rights Watch interview with community leader, near Lanseria, Gauteng, April 20, 2000.

157. See Martin J. Murray, "Factories in the Fields: Capitalist Farming in the Bethal District, c.1910-1950"; Robert Morrell, "'Synonymous with Gentlemen'? White Farmers, Schools and Labor in Natal, c.1880-1920"; and Charles van Onselen, "Paternalism and Violence on the Maize Farms of the South-Western Transvaal, 1900-1950," all in Jeeves and Crush (eds.), White Farms, Black Labor.

158. Segal, A Brutal Harvest, p.10.

159. Eugene Roelofse, "Of Serfs and Lords," Sidelines (Johannesburg), Winter 1998, p.22.

160. Human Rights Watch interview with farmer, April 4, 2000.

161. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Raath, Agri-SA, March 23, 2000.

162. Of a total 1,067 farmworkers living on farms owned by members of KWANALU, 24 percent described their relationship with the farm owner as "very good," 69 percent as "fairly good," 6 percent as "fairly bad," and less than 1 percent as "very bad." Of the 535 farmers questioned, 37 percent described their relationship with their workers as "very good," and another 59 percent as "fairly good," with 4 percent saying it was "very bad." Johnson and Schlemmer, Farmers and Farmworkers in KwaZulu-Natal, p.59 and 76.

163. Brendan Pearce and David Husy, "Survey on farmers carries no weight," Star (Johannesburg), January 29, 1999.

164. The research involved detailed interviews with 152 male and female migrant farmworkers in the eastern Free State. Sixty-one percent said that labor relations on the farm were good, 13 percent that they were satisfactory, 17 percent that they were poor, and 9 percent that there was no interaction with the farm owner. All the farmers said there were good labor relations on the farm. Theresa Ulicki and Jonathan Crush, "Poverty and Women's Migrancy: Lesotho Farmworkers in the Eastern Free State," in Crush (ed.),Borderline Farming, pp.63-101, p.82. (This article is a longer version of the article by the same authors published in the Canadian Journal of African Studies, cited above.)

165. Ibid.

166. Human Rights Watch interview with Lourie Bosman, Mpumalanga Agricultural Union, Ermelo, April 12, 2000.

167. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Loggenberg, TAU, April 17, 2000.

168. "Free State farmers ask for a fair portrayal," SAPA, August 17, 2000.

169. SAPA, June 22, 2000, quoting Agri-SA president Pieter Erasmus.

170. "Act on farm brutality, urges Agri-SA," SAPA, September 26, 2000.

171. Human Rights Watch interview with Lourie Bosman, Mpumalanga Agricultural Union, Ermelo, April 12, 2000.

172. Human Rights Watch interview with Col. Boela Niemann, coordinator for safety, Transvaal Agricultural Union, Pretoria, April 17, 2000.

173. For example, Agri-SA put out a press release condemning the action of the Potchefstroom farmer who had allegedly tried to drive forty-seven workers out of their homes with poisonous gas, and indicated that the organization had established that the farmer in question was not a member. "Agri-SA condemns ill-treatment of farm workers," Agri-SA press release, March 7, 2001.

174. Email from KWANALU to Human Rights Watch, August 7, 2000.

175. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Loggenberg and Boela Niemann, TAU, Pretoria, September 19, 2000.

176. Human Rights Watch interview with Insp. De Klerk, station commissioner, Ingogo police station, April 7, 2000.

177. Human Rights Watch interview Inspector Stuart Brodie, Mid-Illovo police station, KwaZulu-Natal, April 4, 2000.

178. Human Rights Watch interview with Dion Pelser, Director of Support Services, Northern Province Department of Safety and Security, Pietersburg, March 29, 2000.

179. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, near Naboomspruit, Northern Province, March 30, 2000. Translated from Pedi.

180. Farmworker quoted in Phalane Motale, "Terror of nightly 'kaffir bashing,'" City Press, January 9, 2000.

181. Ulicki and Crush, "Poverty and Women's Migrancy," p.85.

182. Human Rights Watch interview, Greytown, April 3, 2000. Following their eviction, these former farm residents were assisted to bring a civil claim by the Association for Rural Advancement, Pietermaritzburg.

183. Human Rights Watch interview with station commissioner, Northern Province, March 31, 2000.

184. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, April 4, 2000.

185. The case was extensively reported. See, for example, Anso Thom, "Farmer who shot baby charged with murder," Star (Johannesburg) April 16, 1998; Mike Masipa, "Bigwigs descend on grieving family's shack," Star, April 17, 1998; "The day an innocent baby died," Saturday Argus, May 8, 1998; "Political slogans and threats greet baby Zwane's killer," SAPA, March 23, 1999; Chris McGreal, "The hate that won't go away," Guardian (London), July 26, 1999.

186. "Two appear in court after painting of farmworker," SAPA, July 14, 1999; Justin Arenstein, "Silver paint farmer in court," ZA Now, July 14, 1999; Selby Bokaba, "Outrage over sentence for painting worker silver," Star (Johannesburg), February 23, 2000.

187. It was reported that Adolf Moore, an Mpumalanga farm owner, had beaten Themba Mkhaliphi, one of his workers, so severely that he died several days later. The assault was reportedly for using a tractor, to collect firewood for his own use, without permission. Moore was arrested. Dumisani Lubisi, "Mpumalanga farmer beat worker to death," African Eye News Service, posted onZA Now, January 31, 2000.

188. Pieter Odendaal was charged with murdering his employee, Masolo Rampuru. Odendaal's lawyer requested that he be sent for psychiatric evaluation. "Racial tension bursts in Sasolburg," SAPA, September 4, 2000; "Sasolburg community demands town's transformation," SAPA, September 9, 2000.

189. Chris McGreal, "Teamwork session that ended in murder charge," Guardian (London), April 7, 2001. Nine white members of the rugby team were charged with murder.

190. For example, Tommie Laubscher, a former player for Western Province rugby team, was reported to have assaulted workers on his farms on numerous occasions, including a case in which he broke the jaw of a worker. Judy Damon, "Farm workers fear rugby star: regular beatings alleged," Cape Times, August 18, 1998.

191. Human Rights Watch interviews, April 20, 2000. Translated from Tswana and Sotho.

192. Human Rights Watch interview, April 20, 2000.

193. Human Rights Watch interview with former farmworker, Louis Trichardt, March 29, 2000. Translated from Shangaan.

194. Human Rights Watch interview Maswiri Boerdery employee, March 28, 2000. Translated from Venda.

195. Human Rights Watch interview with farmworker, Western Cape, April 11, 2000.

196. Human Rights Watch interview, New Hanover district court, KwaZulu-Natal, April 6, 2000.

197. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, near Naboomspruit, Northern Province, March 30, 2000. Translated from Pedi. In this case the Nkuzi Development Association negotiated for the family to stay on the farm, but the husband has not been reinstated to work.

198. Human Rights Watch interview with farmworker, Northern Province, March 28, 2000. Translated from Venda.

199. Human Rights Watch interview, Vryheid Prison, September 15, 2000.

200. Ibid.

201. Human Rights Watch interview, March 27, 2000, translated from Venda.

202. Investigation of Alleged Violations of Farmworkers' Rights in the Messina/Tshipise District, Report of the South African Human Rights Commission, (Johannesburg: February 1999). Although Thenga is the spelling preferred by the witness, Denga is what appears on her identity book.

203. Ibid.

204. Human Rights Watch interview, March 27, 2000. Translated from Venda.

205. Human Rights Watch interview, KwaZulu Natal, April 4, 2000. 

206. One survey of farmers in KwaZulu-Natal found that in 81 percent of farms where employees owned cattle, the farm owners said that they had to keep talking to their employees about their numbers of cattle, with overgrazing always a danger. Johnson and Schlemmer, Farmers and Farmworkers in KwaZulu-Natal, p.29.

207. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, April 4, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

208. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, April 4, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

209. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, Eston, KwaZulu-Natal, April 4, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

210. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, near Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, April 5, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

211. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, near Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, April 5, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

212. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, near Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, April 5, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

213. Human Rights Watch interview with Philip Shabalala, paralegal, Christo Loots Attorneys, Vryheid, April 6, 2000.

214. Christi Coetzee, "Accused farmer weeps in court," Natal Witness, September 13, 2000; "Farmer gets 12 years for 'execution,'" SAPA, September 19, 2000. Aswegen was sentenced to twelve years for murder and five for attempted murder, to run concurrently.

215. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, April 6, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

216. Letters dated October 18, 2000, from Jordaan Geldenhuys, attorneys, to the Independent Complaints Directorate, Durban; October 24, from Mary de Haas, violence monitor, to the station commissioner, Muden; and October 26, from Capt. C. Steyn, station commissioner, Muden, to Mary de Haas.

217. Letter dated September 14, 1998 from Mary de Haas to the station commissioner, Vryheid; Ingrid Oellerman, "Four in court over attack on motorists," Mercury (Durban), August 3, 1999.

218. Letter from Director of Public Prosecutions, KwaZulu-Natal, to Human Rights Watch, December 18, 2000.

219. Human Rights Watch interview with Howard Mbana, SAAPAWU, March 24, 2000.

220. See A Toehold on the Land (Johannesburg: Transvaal Rural Action Committee, May 1988), a report which describes the eviction of labor tenants from the Wakkerstroom area, the violence visited on them, and the failure of the police to act--as well as torture and killings by the police themselves; also Davies, We Cry for Our Land, which describes several assaults in the Piet Retief area, including a case where a farmer was fined R100 (£25/U.S.$39, at that time), for assaulting a farmworker who later died.

221. Mono Dabela, "Labourer (72) run off farm," City Press (Johannesburg), February 26, 1995; "Farm evictions that abide by the law, but are they moral," City Press, March 12, 1995.

222. Human Rights Watch interview with Signet Mashego, Rural Development Support Network, Johannesburg, September 4, 2000.

223. Human Rights Watch interview, Johannesburg, March 26, 2000.

224. Human Rights watch interview, Alfred T. Hlatshwayo, Johannesburg, March 26, 2000.

225. Human Rights Watch interview, Driefontein, Mpumalanga, April 12, 2000, translated from Zulu. See also Aaron Nicodemus, "Farm worker sues boss for R1.4 m," Mail and Guardian October 15, 1999.

226. Human Rights Watch interview, Driefontein, Mpumalanga, April 12, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

227. "Task team probes alleged farmer racism in Piet Retief," SAPA, February 28, 2000; information supplied by South African Human Rights Commission. These cases represented only a sample of a substantial number (in double figures) of charges laid against members of the Wakkerstroom commando for assault or worse, many of them dating from the same period in late 1996. In all cases, the charges had been withdrawn, the prosecutor declined to prosecute, or the accused found not guilty. Correspondence between the South African Human Rights Commission and the Volksrust police station.

228. Particulars of Claim in the matter of Mvimbi Moses Mayisela and Barend Petrus Greyling, Cornelius Lourens Greyling, and Willem Hendrik Greyling (Case No. 28249/99 Transvaal Provincial Division, High Court), September 28, 1999. Aaron Nicodemus, "Farmworker sues boss for R1.4 m," Mail and Guardian, October 15, 1999; Sizwe SamaYende, "Tales of terror," Rural Digest (Johannesburg) May/June 2000.

229. Aaron Nicodemus, "Farmworker sues boss for R1.4 m," Mail and Guardian, October 15, 1999. Particulars of Claim in the matter of Mgezeni Richard Hlatshwayo and Barend Petrus Greyling, Cornelius Lourens Greyling, and Willem Hendrik Greyling (Case No. 28250/99 Transvaal Provincial Division, High Court), September 28, 1999. The exact amount claimed is R291,300.

230. Aaron Nicodemus, Marianne Merten and Mungo Soggot, "SANDF foots farmers' defence bill," Mail and Guardian, October 22, 1999. The minister of defense has been joined as a defendant to these cases, and has filed a defense denying all charges and pleading proscription (that it the cases happened too long ago). The state attorney is acting for both the individuals defendants and the minister.

231. Human Rights Watch interview with Mpumalanga Department of Land Affairs officials, April 12, 2000.

232. Human Rights Watch interview, Alfred T. Hlatshwayo, Johannesburg, March 26, 2000.

233. Copy of statement taken by the South African Human Rights Commission, February 12, 1999.

234. Human Rights Watch interview, Driefontein, Mpumalanga, April 12, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

235. Human Rights Watch interview, Driefontein, Mpumalanga, April 12, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

236. Human Rights Watch interview, Driefontein, Mpumalanga, April 12, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

237. Human Rights Watch interview with Yunus Cajee, ANC Councillor, Driefontein, April 12, 2000.

238. Phalane Motale, "Terror of nightly 'kaffir bashing,'" City Press, January 9, 2000.

239. Human Rights Watch interview with Lourie Bosman, Mpumalanga Agricultural Union, Ermelo, April 12, 2000.

240. "Lekota satisfied by explanation of Mpuma commandos," SAPA, July 27, 2000; Justin Arenstein, "Farm labourers speak out about abuse," African Eye New Service, July 27 2000.

241. Human Rights Watch telephone interview with officials of the Mpumalanga Department of Safety and Security, April 18, 2001.

242. Human Rights Watch telephone interview with community leader, Driefontein, April 18, 2001.

243. Human Rights Watch interview with Capt. Moodley, acting station commissioner, Greytown police station, April 3, 2000.

244. Human Rights Watch interview with Dave Carol, Greytown 911 Center, September 13, 2000.

245. Human Rights Watch interview with district surgeon, KwaZulu-Natal, September 13, 2000.

246. Human Rights Watch interview, Insp. Stuart Brodie, Mid-Illovo police station, April 4, 2000.

247. Bongani Siqoko, "Killed for shooting birds," Mail and Guardian June 12 to 18, 1998. Human Rights Watch was not able to find the result of this case.

248. Section 115 of the Defence Act (No. 44 of 1957, as amended, currently under review) provides that anyone who wears an army uniform or any dress or decoration "having the appearance or bearing the marks of any such uniform" commits an offence, unless he is a member of the army or is properly authorized to wear such a uniform. There have, however, been few if any prosecutions under this law in recent years.

249. Human Rights Watch interview with detective inspector, SAPS, southern Mpumalanga, April 13, 2000.

250. Human Rights Watch interview with Dave Carol, Greytown 911 Center, September 13, 2000.

251. Human Rights Watch interview with Philip Shabalala, paralegal, Christo Loots Attorneys, Vryheid, April 6, 2000.

252. Human Rights Watch interview, March 28, 2000.

253. Human Rights Watch interview with Inspector Risimati Robert Maluleke, Levubu Police Station, March 28, 2000.

254. Human Rights Watch interview with control prosecutor, Louis Trichardt district magistrates court, March 29, 2000.

255. Human Rights Watch interview with Inspector Risimati Robert Maluleke, Levubu Police Station, March 28, 2000; Human Rights Watch interview with control prosecutor, Louis Trichardt district magistrates court, March 29, 2000.

256. Human Rights Watch interview with Inspector Risimati Robert Maluleke, Levubu Police Station, March 28, 2000.

257. Human Rights Watch interview with former farmworker, Louis Trichardt, March 29, 2000. Translated from Shangaan.

258. Human Rights Watch interview with farmer, KwaZulu-Natal, September 12, 2000.

259. Ibid.

260. Human Rights Watch interview with Chief D.T. Hlatshwayo, April 13, 2000.

261. Human Rights Watch interview, Commondale, April 13, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

262. Human Rights Watch interview, Commondale, April 13, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

263. Human Rights Watch interview, Commondale, April 13, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

264. Human Rights Watch interviews, April 13, 2000.

265. Constanza Montana "Day of the leopard," Focus no. 15 (Johannesburg: Helen Suzman Foundation, December 1999); "Using Crime to Fight Crime: Tracking Vigilante Activity," Nedbank-ISS Crime Index, vol. 4, no. 4, July-August 2000, available at <www.iss.co.za> accessed February 28, 2001.

266. Human Rights Watch interview with Dion Pelser, Director of Support Services, Northern Province Department of Safety and Security, Pietersburg, March 29, 2000.

267. "Using Crime to Fight Crime."

268. Human Rights Watch interviews with control prosecutor, Louis Trichardt district magistrates court, and with Dion Pelser, Director of Support Services, Northern Province Department of Safety and Security, Pietersburg, March 29, 2000.

269. Constanza Montana "Day of the leopard," Focus no. 15 (Johannesburg: Helen Suzman Foundation, December 1999).

270. SABC News Agency, August 15, 2000; Evidence wa ka Ngobeni, "What's cooking... with Mapogo," Mail and Guardian, December 12, 2000.

271. Evidence wa ka Ngobeni, "Vigilante group faces split," Mail and Guardian May 9, 2000.

272. Peter Drake, commercial farmer and Mapogo member, quoted in Decca Aitkenhead, "Rough justice," Observer Magazine (London), May 28, 2000.

273. Cathy Thompson, "Farmer arrested for death of farmworker," Citizen (Johannesburg), March 3, 2000; Mahap Msiza, "Murder of farm labourer: COSATU accuses Mapogo a Mathamaga of targeting its members," WOZA, March 14, 2000; Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Solly Phetoe, June 22, 2000. Undocumented migrant farmworkers, often Zimbabwean or Mozambican, are particularly vulnerable to abuse because their lack of legal status makes complaint to the police or other authorities extremely difficult. See Human Rights Watch, "Prohibited Persons": Abuse of Undocumented Migrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1998).

274. Human Rights Watch interview with Oupa Maake and Charles Pillai, Legal Resources Centre, Pretoria, April 10, 2000.

275. Witbooi Khubeka, a labor tenant from Dirkiesdorp, Mpumalanga, interviewed July 1994, as quoted in Abie Ditlhake, "Labor Tenancy and the Politics of Land Reform in South Africa," in Richard Levin and Daniel Weiner (eds.), No More Tears: Struggles for Land in Mpumalanga, South Africa (Trenton, NJ/Asmara, Eritrea: Africa World Press, 1997).

276. See, for example, Thabo Thulo, "Flotsam from the farms,"  Sunday Independent , October 8, 1995; Ann Eveleth, "Farmworkers evicted before a new law,"  Mail and Guardian , August 29 to September 4, 1997.

277. Human Rights Watch interview with Judge Justice Moloto, Land Claims Court, Randburg, September 18, 2000.

278.  The Extent and Nature of Unfair Farm Evictions in KwaZulu-Natal, Freestate, Mpumalanga and the North West Province , available on the Parliamentary Monitoring Group website, <www.pmg.org.za> as at November 21, 2000; "Assembly adopts farm evictions report," SAPA, November 2, 2000.

279. "Mbeki disturbed at SA farm evictions," SAPA, May 10, 2000.

280. Tables supplied to Human Rights Watch by the Department of Land Affairs.

281. Human Rights Watch interview, farm resident, near Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, April 5, 2000.

282. "Labor Rights are Human Rights,"  HRC Quarterly Review (Johannesburg: Human Rights Committee, June 2000), p.42.

283. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, near Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, April 5, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

284. Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Christo Loots, Attorney, Pietermaritzburg, May 10, 2000.

285. Human Rights Watch interview, farm resident, Eston, KwaZulu-Natal, April 4, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

286. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, Eston, KwaZulu-Natal, April 4, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

287. Johnson and Schlemmer,  Farmers and Farmworkers in KwaZulu-Natal , p.54.

288. Human Rights Watch interview, farm resident, Eston, April 4, 2000.

289. Human Rights Watch interview, KwaZulu-Natal Province, April 3, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

290. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, Eston, KwaZulu-Natal, April 3, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

291. Human Rights Watch interview with farm residents, Northern Province, March 30, 2000.

292. Human Rights Watch interview with former farm residents, Ingogo, April 7, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

293. Human Rights Watch interview with former farm residents, Ingogo, April 7, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

294. Human Rights Watch interview with member of the Ingogo Crisis Committee, Ingogo, April 7, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

295. Human Rights Watch interview, near Commondale, April 13, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

296. Human Rights Watch interview with residents of the Mondi plantation, March 31, 2000. Translated from Pedi.

297. Email from Nkuzi Development Association to Human Rights Watch, April 10, 2001.

298. Human Rights Watch interview, Greytown, April 3, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

299. Human Rights Watch interview, September 5, 2000.

300. "Labor Rights are Human Rights,"  HRC Quarterly Review , p.43.

301. Email from Judith Robb, Lawyers for Human Rights, Stellenbosch, to Human Rights Watch, September 19, 2000.

302. Ibid.

303. Sizwe SamaYende, "Outrage over conditions on farms in Northern Province,"  Star (Johannesburg), September 3, 1998; Mukoni T. Ratshitanga, "Farm workers jailed, beaten during strike,"  Mail and Guardian , March 6 to 12, 1998; Ann Eveleth, "Farmers sow the seeds of xenophobia,"  Mail and Guardian , February 12, 1999.

304. Human Rights Watch interview, Tshipise, Northern Province, March 28, 2000.

305.  Investigation of Alleged Violations of Farmworkers' Rights in the Messina/Tshipise District , Report of the South African Human Rights Commission, (Johannesburg: February 1999).

306.  Response to the Human Rights Commission Report on Farmworkers' Rights in Messina/Tshipise , Nkuzi Development Association, (Pietersburg: April 1999).

307. "Farm workers fight for rights and win," SAPA, November 12, 1998.

308. Human Rights Watch interview March 28, 2000; letter from Nkuzi Development Association to the Pietersburg office of the Independent Complaints Directorate, March 1, 2000.

309. Human Rights Watch interview, Tshipise, Northern Province, March 28, 2000.

310. Email from Nkuzi Development Association to Human Rights Watch, April 10, 2001.

311.  Investigation of Alleged Violations of Farmworkers' Rights in the Messina/Tshipise District , Report of the South African Human Rights Commission, (Johannesburg: February 1999). The Human Rights Commission's investigation and report were heavily criticized by the Nkuzi Development Association, which had been key in arranging for the hearings to be held, as overly legalistic and failing to take the "opportunity to speak out forcefully on the institutional racism and violence that permeates the agricultural districts of the Northern Province."  Response to the Human Rights Commission Report on Farmworkers' Rights in Messina/Tshipise , Nkuzi Development Association, (Pietersburg: April 1999). See also the chapter on South Africa in Human Rights Watch  African Human Rights Institutions (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2000).

312. South African Human Rights Commission,  Investigation of Alleged Violations of Farmworkers' Rights .

313. Human Rights Watch interview, Rita Edwards, director, Women on Farms Project, Stellenbosch, April 13, 2000.

314. Human Rights Watch did not document any cases of rape against wives or female relatives of farm owners, although we received allegations that such women are often targets of rape on farms in the context of violent crime against farm owners. The absence of accounts of such rapes in the section that follows is due only to the difficulty of arranging to speak to such victims, and does not in any way imply that we regard the trauma of white women in such circumstances as in some way less than that of black women. A separate research project focusing on this issue would certainly be valuable.

315. One study of women migrant farmworkers in the Free State found that 15 percent of the women interviewed reported having experienced or knowing of women who were raped or subjected to sexual harassment while working on farms. Ulicki and Crush, "Poverty and Women's Migrancy," pp.79-80.

316. Human Rights Watch interview, social worker, Victim Support Centre, Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, April 4, 2000.

317. In 1998, the South African legislature adopted the Domestic Violence Act, which came into force on December 15, 1999. This law replaced and significantly improved on the 1993 Prevention of Family Violence Act, in particular by adopting a broader definition of domestic violence. Under the Domestic Violence Act (1998), domestic violence includes, "physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional, verbal and psychological abuse, economic abuse, intimidation, harassment, stalking, damage to property, entry into the complainant's residence without consent where the parties do not share the same residence, any other controlling or abusive behavior towards a complainant, where such conduct harms, or may cause imminent harm to, the safety, health or wellbeing of the complainant." For more information on domestic violence in South Africa, see Yoon Jung Park, Joanne Fedler, and Zubeda Dangor (eds.),  Reclaiming Women's Spaces: New Perspectives on Violence Against Women and Sheltering in South Africa (Johannesburg: Nisaa Institute for Women's Development, 2000).

318. Waldman, "'This house is a dark room': Domestic violence on farms in the Western Cape," in Glanz and Spiegel (eds.), Violence and Family Life in a Contemporary South Africa ; Human Rights Watch interview with Rita Jones, Women on Farms Project, Stellenbosch, April 13, 2000.

319. The absence of detailed accounts of cases of domestic violence against women farm workers in this report is due to a realization of the need to conduct a more in-depth research and review of the impact of the 1998 Domestic Violence Act on women farm workers. For that reason, we narrowed the focus of our current research to documenting rape and sexual harassment on farms. A separate research project focusing on domestic violence on farms would certainly be valuable.

320. Human Rights Watch interviews, Rita Edwards, director, Dinna Bosch, Field Workers Coordinator, and a group of field workers working with Women on Farms Project, Stellenbosch, April 13, 2000.

321. Human Rights Watch interview, Dinna Bosch, Field Workers Coordinator, Women on Farms Project, Stellenbosch, April 13, 2000.

322. Unless otherwise noted, all names in this section have been changed, and the ages given reflect the age of the person at the time of the interview.

323. Human Rights Watch interview, Tarlton area, Gauteng, April 20, 2000.

324. Human Rights Watch, interview, Northern Province, March 28, 2000.

325. Human Rights Watch interview, advise office coordinator, Piketberg, Western Cape, September 12, 2000.

326. Ulicki and Crush, "Poverty and Women's Migrancy," pp.79-80.

327. Case no. 71-08-99, assault and grievous bodily harm, Tarlton police station, Gauteng. As of October 2000, the case was still being investigated. Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Sgt Motlabane, Tarlton police station, October 13, 2000.

328. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, near Tarlton, Gauteng, April 20, 2000.

329. Like incest, reporting of marital rape is less likely to happen, among farm workers as in other communities, because of the intimate connection between the perpetrator and victim and because the concept of marital rape may not be understood.

330. Ulicki and Crush, "Poverty and Women's Migrancy," pp.75-78.

331. Human Rights Watch interview, Jackie Sunde, Department of Sociology, University of Cape Town, April 14, 2000.

332. Human Rights Watch interview, Jackie Sunde, Department of Sociology, University of Cape Town, April 14, 2000.

333. Ulicki and Crush, "Poverty and Women's Migrancy," p. 80.

334. Ibid., p.80

335. Human Rights Watch interview, Kasy Mwale, New Hanover, KwaZulu-Natal, April 5, 2000.

336. Human Rights Watch interview, Thabisile Msezani, director, Sithabile Child and Youth Care Centre, Boksburg, Gauteng, April 15, 2000.

337. Human Rights Watch interview, Moretse Mhlothi, Sithabile Child and Youth Care Centre, Gauteng, April 15, 2000. Translated from Sotho.

338. Human Rights Watch interview, Sithabile Child and Youth Care Centre, Gauteng, April 15, 2000. Translated from Sotho.

339. Human Rights Watch interview, Sithabile Child and Youth Care Centre, Gauteng, April 15, 2000. Translated from Sotho.

340. Human Rights Watch interview, Sithabile Child and Youth Care Centre, Gauteng, April 15, 2000.

341. Sexual harassment is defined in South African civil law as "unwanted conduct which is persistent or serious and demeans, humiliates or creates a hostile or intimidating environment or is calculated to induce submission … and which is related to sex, gender or sexual orientation." Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, No. 4 of 2000, section 1(xiii). Article 3 (1) and Article 4(1) of the National Economic and Development Labor Council (NEDLAC)'s Code of Good Practice on the Handling of Sexual Harassment Cases of 1998, refer to "criminal conduct of a sexual nature," which may include "unwelcome physical, verbal, or non-verbal conduct."

342. Human Rights Watch interview, KwaZulu-Natal, April 4, 2000.

343. Human Rights Watch interview, March 27, 2000; see also Investigation of Alleged Violations of Farm workers' Rights in the Messina/Tshipise District, Report of the South African Human Rights Commission.

344. Human Rights Watch interview, Tshipise, Northern Province, March 28, 2000.

345. Section 5 of ESTA provides that "Subject to limitations which are reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom, an occupier, an owner and a person in charge shall have the right to--(a) human dignity; (b) freedom and security of the person; (c) privacy; (d) freedom of religion, belief and opinion and of expression; (e) freedom of association; and (f) freedom of movement, with due regard to the objects of the Constitution and this Act." Section 6(2) provides that the right to receive bona fide visitors is "without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of section 5 ... and balanced with the rights of the owner." Section 6(2)(d) adds to the right to receive visitors, the right "to family life in accordance with the culture of that family."

346. "Farmers must now lock their farm gates," statement on Agri-SA website <www.agri24.com>, as at November 21, 2000, no date.

347. "FSAU warns against trespassers on farms," SAPA, June 23, 1997, quoting Pieter Moller, FSAU's manager of human resources.

348. Human Rights Watch interview with Insp. De Klerk, station commissioner, Ingogo police station, April 7, 2000.

349. Human Rights Watch interview with Jotham Myaka, Zibambeleni, New Hanover, September 13, 2000.

350. Statement of Shirhami Shirinda, March 24, 2000; "Land activist appears on assault charges," SAPA, October 22, 1999.

351. Email from Nkuzi Development Association to Human Rights Watch, April 10, 2001.

352. Human Rights Watch interview with Philip Shabalala, paralegal, Christo Loots Attorneys, Vryheid, April 6, 2000.

353. Human Rights Watch interview with Christo Loots, Pietermaritzburg, September 11, 2000.

354. "Tension mounts over death threats," Newcastle Advertiser, December 19, 1997. Kubheka was convicted in 2000 on a charge of incitement which he believes is an attempt to silence him. "They said I told someone to kill an Indian who rents a farm, when all I was doing was telling the residents their rights under the new laws, that he couldn't close a road. The incident happened in January 1999, but it was only after I argued with the station commissioner later that it was really pushed forward. They removed him [the commissioner] at the end of 1999, but the last thing he said was that he was going to get me. There is a statement on the docket saying that I agreed that I incited the person, but I didn't. And the affidavit was not sworn before a magistrate. They have made up the confession and put it on my docket." In August 2000, Khubeka was convicted of incitement and sentenced five years in prison, suspended for five years, and to one year six months or a R5,000 fine. According to Kubheka, the prosecution witness in fact denied that he had incited anyone, but the magistrate had chosen to believe the account of the police. Human Rights Watch interview, Shadrack Kubheka, Ingogo, April 7, 2000, and Utrecht, KwaZulu-Natal, September 15, 2000. Human Rights Watch has not itself investigated the circumstances surrounding the charge, and cannot comment on whether Khubeka was wrongly convicted or not.

355. Human Rights Watch interview, Ingogo, KwaZulu-Natal, April 7, 2000.

356. Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Solly Phetoe, June 22, 2000.

357. Thokozani Mtshali, "Mysterious death in farm 'paradise,'" Mail and Guardian December 18-23, 1998; Human Rights Watch interview with Farayi Moyo, September 5, 2000. Sam Moyo died four months after being released from detention.

358. Human Rights Watch interview with Alfred Ngomane, The Rural Action Committee (TRAC), April 12, 2000.

359. Section 23, Extension of Security of Tenure Act, 1997.

360. Human Rights Watch interview with Mpumalanga Department of Land Affairs officials, April 12, 2000.

361. Melanie-Ann Feris, "Squatters must move away, say neighbours," Star, September 15, 1997.

362. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, Northern Province, March 28, 2000.

363. Ibid.

364. Human Rights Watch interview, Northern Province, March 28, 2000.

365. Human Rights Watch interview with ANC councillor, Eston, KwaZulu-Natal, April 4, 2000.

366. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, Eston, KwaZulu-Natal, April 4, 2000. Name of activist changed.

367. Ann Eveleth, "'Sadist' grins at light fine," Mail and Guardian, November 7 to 13, 1997.

368. Human Rights Watch interview, Bapsfontein, September 19, 2000.

369. Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings: Report by the Crime Information Analysis Centre, No.1 of 1999; email dated August 15, 2000, from SAPS to Human Rights Watch. The totals for murders committed in each year under these statistics are: 84 in 1997, 142 in 1998, and 144 in 1999.

370. "Farm killers trained and paid: Agri bodies," SAPA, March 29, 2001; "Agri Securitas Trust Fund contributes to obelisk for murdered farmers," Agri-SA press release, March 8, 2001.

371. Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings: Report by the Crime Information Analysis Centre, No.2 of 1998, available, with other crime statistics, at <www.saps.org.za>.

372. Human Rights Watch interview with J.C. Strauss, SAPS Crime Information Analysis Centre, Pretoria, April 10, 2000.

373. "Farm and Police Murders: SAPS Briefing," Minutes of the Parliamentary Safety and Security Portfolio Committee, April 4, 2001.

374. Human Rights Watch interview with J.C. Strauss, SAPS Crime Information Analysis Centre, Pretoria, April 10, 2000.

375. Gauteng accounted for 54.1 percent of all reported "attacks" reported countrywide between January and June 1998. Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, No.2 of 1998. The eleven areas that are mainly metropolitan in character accounted for 36 percent of all "attacks" in 1998, and 25.4 percent of murders. Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings: Report by the Crime Information Analysis Centre, No.1 of 1999.

376. Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings No.2 of 1998.

377. Human Rights Watch interview with J.C. Strauss, SAPS Crime Information Analysis Centre, Pretoria, April 10, 2000. This report has made a similar distinction by excluding, in the main, information related to assaults among farmworkers.

378. Human Rights Watch interview with Mike de Lange, formerly KWANALU security desk, Eshowe, September 14, 2000.

379. Human Rights Watch interview, Bapsfontein, September 19, 2000.

380. Human Rights Watch interview with Commissioner Johann Burger, SAPS, Pretoria, April 10, 2000.

381. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Loggenberg, Transvaal Agricultural Union, April 17, 2000.

382. E-mail from Jonny Steinberg, a researcher based at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation who has carried out extensive research into the phenomenon of "farm attacks," November 16, 2000.

383. "Aksie: Stop Plaasaanvalle / Action: Stop Farm Attacks," media briefing by the Agricultural Employers Association, Agri-SA, and Transvaal Agricultural Union, May 31, 2000. Available at <www.agriinfo.co.za/>, accessed October 6, 2000.

384. Freedom Front press release, June 1, 2000; SAPA, May 31, 2000.

385. "Farmers plead for international help against killings," SAPA, November 7, 2000.

386. Justine Nofal, "Apla blamed for farm murders," Mail and Guardian, October 24-30, 1997.

387. "Amnesty granted to APLA members," press release from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, September 23, 1999.

388. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Loggenberg and Boela Niemann, Transvaal Agricultural Union, April 17, 2000; Justine Nofal, "Apla blamed for farm murders," Mail and Guardian, October 24-30, 1997.

389. Prof. C.J. (Neels) Moolman, "An investigation into farm attacks in South Africa," Landbouweekblad, November 1998, section 5.3.2, available at <www.landbou.com>, accessed October 6, 2000.

390. SAPA, March 3, 2000; "Racism in Africa," press release from the Freedom Front, March 3, 2000.

391. Human Rights Watch interview with members of the Northern Natal commando, Vryheid, September 14, 2000. The same speaker commented that "There's people behind this thing, not the blacks--and your organization [Human Rights Watch] is part of it." The others present at the meeting, however, did seem to believe that this was going a little far.

392. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Loggenberg and Boela Niemann, TAU, Pretoria, September 19, 2000.

393. Ibid.

394. "Farm killers trained and paid: Agri bodies," SAPA, March 29, 2001; Carolyn Dempster, "SA farmers 'prove' killing campaign," BBC website <www.bbc.co.uk>, March 30, 2001; "Farm attack training video a myth: prof," SAPA, April 5, 2001.

395. See, for example, C.J. (Neels) Moolman, "A Criminological Perspective on Property Rights and Violence Against Farmers: Summary of a research report on farm attacks," in Henk van de Graaf and Chris L. Jordaan, Property Rights in South Africa (Pretoria: Transvaal Agricultural Union, 1999); C.J. Moolman, Farm Attacks and the African Renaissance: Opposite Reactions to a Devastating European Culture (Pietersburg, 2000); C.J. Moolman, Bloodstains on Your Food: An investigation into farm attacks in South Africa (Pietersburg, 1998), a version of which is available at <www.landbou.com>, accessed October 6, 2000; B. Haefele, "Violent Attacks on Farmers in South Africa: Is there a hidden agenda?" Acta Criminologica (Johannesburg), vol. 11, no. 2, 1998. The studies do not, for example, consider the reasons behind the sometimes apparently gratuitous violence used in burglaries in urban areas, in order to compare motivations with "farm attacks"-- burglaries of farm houses.

396. Extract from an anonymous letter to a farmer, published in Briefing 12, (Johannesburg: Helen Suzman Foundation, September 1998).

397. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Loggenberg, Transvaal Agricultural Union, April 17, 2000.

398. Human Rights Watch interviews with representatives of the SAPS, April 10, 2000.

399. SAPA, June 22, 2000, quoting Agri-SA President Pieter Erasmus.

400. Human Rights Watch interview with Mike de Lange, formerly KWANALU security desk, September 14, 2000.

401. This perception reflects a general division of opinion between blacks and whites in South Africa on the origins of the current crime problems: "by nearly a 3-to-1 margin, 65 to 23 percent, whites say that today's crime is not rooted in the apartheid period. In contrast, a strong plurality of blacks, 47 to 23 percent, disagree." People on War Country Report: South Africa, Report by Greenberg Research, Inc. for the International Committee of the Red Cross (Geneva: ICRC, November 1999).

402. Human Rights Watch interview with Mpumalanga Department of Land Affairs staff, April 12, 2000.

403. Human Rights Watch interview with Howard Mbana, SAAPAWU, March 24, 2000.

404. Human Rights Watch interview with police inspector, Northern Province, March 28, 2000.

405. "ANC Statement on Workers Sharing Accommodation with Pigs," May 12, 2000.

406. See, for example, Johnson and Schlemmer, Farmers and Farmworkers in KwaZulu-Natal, p.7; interview with Graham McIntosh, (then) president of the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union, published in Briefing 12, (Johannesburg: Helen Suzman Foundation, September 1998); Ann Eveleth, "Now Koevoet soldiers guard farmers," Mail and Guardian, December 13, 1996.

407. Martin Schönteich and Jonny Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings: An evaluation of the rural protection plan (Pretoria, Institute of Security Studies, 2000), p.85.

408. See for example, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings No.2 of 1998 and Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, No.1 of 1999; Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings.

409. Human Rights Watch interview, Bapsfontein, Gauteng, September 19, 2000.

410. For example, "Some of the attacks on white farmers, such as that carried out on 60-year-old Mrs Norris-Jones in Colenso, take place in areas where it is known that well armed bands are terrorising black residents. In some violence-wracked areas, the alleged actions of farmers themselves and/or traditional leaders are exacerbating tensions and open hostilities, as illustrated by events in Vryheid and Msinga." Natal Violence Monitor, June to September 1999, compiled by Mary de Haas of the University of Natal, Durban, available at <www.violence.co.za>, accessed October 6, 2000.

411. Human Rights Watch interview with Capt. Moodley, acting station commissioner, Greytown police station, April 3, 2000.

412. Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, pp.45, 53.

413. Human Rights Watch interview with Mike de Lange, formerly KWANALU security desk, Eshowe, September 14, 2000.

414. Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, No.1 of 1999 and Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings No.2 of 1998.

415. Human Rights Watch interview with Dion Pelser, Director of Support Services, Northern Province Department of Safety and Security, Pietersburg, March 29, 2000.

416. Human Rights Watch interview with Philip Shabalala, paralegal, Christo Loots Attorneys, Vryheid, April 6, 2000.

417. K.J. Britz and M.E. Seyisi, Attacks on farms and smallholdings (Pretoria: SAPS, August 1998), as discussed in Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, p.34.

418. In 4.5 percent of the incidents analyzed one of more of the suspects was employed by the victims at the time of the attack, 2.2 percent had previously been employed by them, and in 1 percent suspects were relatives of their victims' employees. Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings No.2 of 1998.

419. Moolman, "An investigation into farm attacks in South Africa," section 5.2.

420. Human Rights Watch interview with Duxita Mistry and Jabu Dhlamini, Technikon SA, Johannesburg, September 6, 2000; Duxita Mistry and Jabu Dhlamini, Perpetrators of Farm Attacks: An Offender Profile (Johannesburg: Institute for Human Rights and Criminal Justice Studies, Technikon SA, March 2001). The study was based on in depth interviews in prison with forty-eight individuals in five provinces convicted of crimes ranging from robbery to murder against farm owners.

421. Ibid., "Free State: Case Study Two."

422. Brig.-Gen. J.F. Lusse, Research Report: Attacks on farms and smallholdings November 1998 to 15 March 1999 (Pretoria: Chief of the South African National Defense Force (Joint Operations), March 1999), as discussed in Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, pp.28-29.

423. Col. Hester Boshoff, quoted in "Robbery main reason for attacks in Nprov, Mpuma," SAPA, June 7, 2000. (The figures as quoted did not add up to 100 percent.) Six of those killed were members of the commandos, police reservists, or the commercial agricultural unions.

424. "Eight involved in farm attack on couple were on murder mission, claims family," Cape Argus/SAPA, July 8, 1998, quoting a family member of Willie and Elizabeth Kuhn, killed on their farm near Makwassie, North West Province.

425. Human Rights Watch interview with Theo van Rooyen, farmer, member of KWANALU executive committee and of the local committee coordinating the rural protection plan, who knew of three or four such cases. Utrecht, September 15, 2000.

426. Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, p. 53, note 3.

427. Human Rights Watch interview with Mike de Lange, formerly KWANALU security desk, Eshowe, September 14, 2000.

428. Human Rights Watch interview with J.C. Strauss, SAPS Crime Information Analysis Centre, Pretoria, April 10, 2000.

429. Britz and Seyisi, Attacks on farms and smallholdings, as discussed in Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, p.34.

430. Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, pp.69-77, a study of Wierdabrug, near Pretoria.

431. The Technikon SA study found that, in common with most crime, the typical offender was a young, unemployed, black male from a dysfunctional family background--rather than, for example, an ex-member of the armed wings of the liberation movements. Mistry and Dhlamini, Perpetrators of Farm Attacks, executive summary.

432. Human Rights Watch interview with Dion Pelser, Director of Support Services, Northern Province Department of Safety and Security, Pietersburg, March 29, 2000.

433. In January 2001, Minister for Safety and Security Steve Tshwete promised to commission further independent research into the motives behind murders of farm owners, and later appointed a seven-member committee to carry out the research. "Govt to probe reasons for farm attacks," ZA Now, January 18, 2001.

434. Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, Section 10.

435. "The history of systematic discrimination in South Africa, from segregation through apartheid, was premised on gross invasions of human dignity. The denial of this human right, protected in many international human rights instruments, most notably the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 1) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (art. 5), was so pervasive that its inclusion [in the bill of rights], immediately after the rights to equality and life, was entirely uncontroversial." Lourens Du Plessis and Hugh Corder, Understanding South Africa's Transitional Bill of Rights (Cape Town: Juta, 1994), p. 149.

436. Constitution (1996), Section 12(1).

437. Ibid., Section 9 (3) provides, "The state may not discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth."

438. Dawood and another vs. Minister of Home Affairs and others, CCT 35/99, judgment handed down June 7, 2000.

439. Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) guarantees: "All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status." The U.N. Human Rights Committee has further held that the state not only has a duty to protect its citizens from such violations, but also to investigate violations when they occur and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

440. Human Rights Committee, General Comment 15, "The position of aliens under the covenant" (Twenty-seventh session, 1986).

441. Article 2 of both CERD and CEDAW provide that states parties shall condemn discrimination and "undertake to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating racial discrimination/discrimination against women" including specific programs of legislative reform and other steps.

442. U.N. General Assembly, Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, U.N. General Assembly Resolution 48/104 (A/RES/48/104) Art.4(c).

443. Government of RSA and others vs. Grootboom and others, CCT11/00 (October 4, 2000). Judgment available on the Constitutional Court website <www.concourt.gov.za>, accessed October 4, 2000.

444. Commission on Human Rights, Resolution on Forced Evictions 1993/77. Commenting on this resolution the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) noted that "to be persistently threatened or actually victimized by the act of forced eviction from one's home or land is surely one of the most supreme injustices any individual, family, household or community can face." Fact Sheet No.25, Forced Evictions and Human Rights (Geneva: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 1996). In a general comment on the right to housing, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which monitors compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), stated that "instances of forced eviction are prima facie incompatible with the requirements of the [ICESCR] and can only be justified in the most exceptional circumstances and in accordance with the relevant principles of international law." General Comment No.4 (1991) of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the right to adequate housing (art. 11(1) of the Covenant), paragraph 18. South Africa signed the ICESCR in 1994, but has not yet ratified it.

445. Fact Sheet No.25, Forced Evictions and Human Rights (Geneva: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 1996).

446. According to police statistics, 26,832 murders were reported in 1994, and 23,823 in 1999; this was a decline from 69.5 murders per 100,000 population to 55.3 per 100,000. Tables supplied to Human Rights Watch by SAPS by email, August 3, 2000. In July 2000, Minister for Safety and Security Steve Tshwete ordered a moratorium on the publication of crime statistics, due to concerns over their accuracy, while the police conducted a review of the way in which they were collected and trained officers in new methods. The government has stated that publication of the statistics on the new basis will recommence with effect from July 20, 2001. "Media Statement by the Minister for Safety and Security Mr S.V. Tshwete, Cape Town, 2001-05-31," Department of Safety and Security, May 31, 2001.

447. Eric Pelser, Antoinette Louw, and Sipho Ntuli, Poor Safety: Crime and policing in South Africa's rural areas ISS Monograph Series No. 27 (Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, May 2000), p.5 and p.36. Statistics in relation to "rural areas" can be confusing, since the definition of rural area can change to mean only the former homelands, or to include commercial farming areas.

448. "Farm and Police Murders: SAPS briefing," Minutes of the Safety and Security Portfolio Committee, April 4, 2001. In 1999, the SAPS employed 128,000 individuals, of whom 28,000 were civilians, the remainder uniformed police; Minutes of the Joint Meeting of the Parliamentary Committees on Safety and Security and Justice, February 19, 1999.

449. See, for example, Mark Shaw, Crime and Policing in Transitions: Comparative Perspectives (Johannesburg: South African Institute of International Affairs, Research

Report 17, September 2000).

450. South African Police Service Act, No. 68 of 1995.

451. Department of Safety and Security, White Paper on Safety and Security: "In Service of Safety" 1999-2004, September 1998 (the white paper and other government documents, including legislation, are available at the South African government website <www.gov.za>).

452. See the section below on "The Response to Rape and other Violence Against Women on Farms" for details on the SAPS' Family Violence, Child Abuse, and Sexual Assault Units. Also see Vetten, "Paper Promises, Protests and Petitions."

453. See Bronwen Manby, "The South African Independent Complaints Directorate", in Andrew Goldsmith and Colleen Lewis (eds.), Civilian Oversight of Policing: Governance, Democracy and Human Rights (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2000). The interim constitution of 1993 made explicit provision for the ICD; the final constitution of 1996 excludes it from the list of "State Institutions Supporting Constitutional Democracy" in chapter 9.

454. Address by Minister for Safety and Security Steve Tshwete to the National Assembly during the budget vote on the ICD, May 18, 2000. Available on the ICD website <www.icd.gov.za>, accessed August 11, 2000.

455. ICD presentation to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security, October 11, 2000, available on the ICD website, accessed December 8, 2000.

456. Barry Streek, "7,000 police still needed," Mail and Guardian, April 14, 2000.

457. Justice Vision 2000, Executive Summary, available at <www.doj.gov.za>, accessed March 4, 2001.

458. Department of Justice Gender Policy Statement, Second Edition, May 1999, available at <www.doj.gov.za/docs/policy/gender01.html>, accessed March 3, 2001.

459. Vetten, "Paper Promises, Protests and Petitions," in Park et al, Reclaiming Women's Spaces, p.94.

460. Ibid.

461. South African Law Commission, Sentencing (A New Sentencing Framework), Discussion Paper 91, Project 82 (Pretoria: South African Law Commission, 2000). It should be noted, however, that "attrition rates" in clearing up crimes are high everywhere. In the U.K., for example, statistics collected by the police compared with the number of offenses measured by crime surveys indicate that of every one hundred offenses committed, 45.2 will be reported, 24.3 will be recorded, 5.5 cleared up, 3 result in a caution or conviction, 2.2 result in a conviction, and 0.3 in a custodial sentence. That is, 9 percent of offenses recorded by the police result in a conviction. Gordon C. Barclay and Cynthia Tavares, Digest 4--Information on the Criminal Justice System (London: Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate, October 1999), available at <www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/digest4/chapter4.pdf>, accessed May 3, 2001.

462. "Crimes: Prosecutions and convictions with regard to certain serious offences 1995/96," press release by the South African government Central Statistical Services (now Stats SA), March 26, 1998. Of 291,774 prosecutions for more serious offenses recorded by the police during 1995/96, 218,394, or 74.9 percent, resulted in convictions; 72,781, or 24.9 percent, were discharged.

463. Pelser, Louw, and Ntuli, Poor safety, p.60.

464. In some cases there were initiatives earlier than this. In the Northern Province, for example, there were several murders or serious assaults of farm owners in late 1996. As a consequence, a regular bi-monthly meeting was established among relevant players--including the police, army, agricultural unions, justice, correctional services, home affairs--at which violent crime on farms and smallholdings are discussed. Human Rights Watch interview with Dion Pelser, Director of Support Services, Northern Province Department of Safety and Security, Pietersburg, March 29, 2000.

465. "Summit on Rural Safety and Security," press release issued by the Ministry for Safety and Security, October 7, 1998.

466. "Summit on Rural Safety and Security: 10 October 1998," press release issued by South African government Communication Information Service; also reprinted in Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, pp.23-24.

467. Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, p.20.

468. "Rural safety task team to be reactivated: Mbeki's office," SAPA, February 22, 2000.

469. Human Rights Watch interview, Insp. Stuart Brodie, Mid-Illovo police station, April 4, 2000.

470. Human Rights Watch interview, community relations officer, Levubu police station, April 2, 2000.

471. In Northern Province the system is that if there is a violent crime on a farm against the farm owner the uniformed police are involved in the initial interventions, but later a police evaluation team will go to the farm and see what went wrong, for example, with the security provisions there. Human Rights Watch interview with Capt. Vollgraaff, Louis Trichardt police station, March 29, 2000; Human Rights Watch interview with Dion Pelser, Director of Support Services, Northern Province Department of Safety and Security, Pietersburg, March 29, 2000.

472. Human Rights Watch interview with Snr. Supt. Shingange, station commissioner, Pietersburg police station, March 31, 2000.

473. Human Rights Watch interview with Insp. De Klerk, station commissioner, Ingogo police station, April 7, 2000.

474. Human Rights Watch interview with Pieter Basson, farmer, Bapsfontein, Gauteng, September 19, 2000.

475. Interview with Graham McIntosh, (then) president of the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union, published in Briefing 12, (Johannesburg: Helen Suzman Foundation, September 1998).

476. Human Rights Watch interview, private security company executive, Northern Province, March 28, 2000.

477. "Farmers' union raising money for rural security," ZA Now, August 11, 1999. The Agri Securitas project was originally announced in October 1998, following the rural safety summit. "Rural safety project launched," transcript of transmission on Radio Sonder Grense, October 29, 1998, available on <www.agriinfo.co.za/>, accessed October 6, 2000. Elsewhere, commercial agriculture is quoted as stating that there are 40,000 commercial farmers and 32,000 small scale farmers. "MPs express concern about SA farm attacks," SAPA, May 10, 2000.

478. See Fransjohan Pretorius, Life on Commando During the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 (Cape Town: Human and Rousseau, 1999; originally published in Afrikaans); Sandra Swart, "'A Boer and his Gun and his Wife are Three Things Always Together': Republican Masculinity and the 1914 Rebellion," Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 24, no. 4, December 1998, pp.737-751; and Jeremy Krikler "The Commandos: the Army of White Labour in South Africa," Past and Present vol. 63, May 1999 (for a discussion of the role of the commando movement in the widespread strikes of white mine workers during 1922).

479. In KwaZulu-Natal, for example, participation by farmers who are members of KWANALU in the commandos varied from 30 to 90 percent in 1995. Fax from KWANALU to Human Rights Watch, August 7, 2000.

480. Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, p.20.

481. Defence Act (Act No.44 of 1957), as amended. Chapter V relates to the commandos. The act is currently under review.

482. Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, p.21.

483. Human Rights Watch interview with Lourie Bosman, Mpumalanga Agricultural Union, Ermelo, April 12, 2000.

484. Human Rights Watch interview with Capt. B.A. Mchunu, branch commander, Estcourt police station, April 5, 2000.

485. Human Rights Watch interview with Insp. De Klerk, station commissioner, Ingogo police station, April 7, 2000.

486. Chapter 4 of the white paper states that "[T]he history of South Africa and many other countries suggests that it is inappropriate to utilise armed forces in a policing role on a permanent or semi-permanent basis. This perspective is based on the following considerations:

  • Armed forces are not trained, orientated or equipped for deployment against civilians. They are typically geared to employ maximum force against an external military aggressor.

  • On-going employment in a law and order function invariably leads to the defence force becoming increasingly involved in non-military activities.

  • Such employment may also undermine the image and legitimacy of the defence force amongst sections of the population.

  • Efforts to apply military solutions to political problems are inherently limited and invariably lead to acts of repression.

    In light of these considerations, the policy goal of the government is to build the capacity of the police to deal with public violence on their own while political solutions are being sought or have failed. The SANDF would then only be deployed in the most exceptional circumstances, such as a complete breakdown of public order beyond the capacity of the SAPS, or a state of national defence."

    487. Submissions to and minutes of the hearings of the National Assembly Defence Portfolio Committee on "Police powers for the SANDF when in support of the SAPS," May 9, 2000. Following the hearings, the committee recommended that the army not have policing powers, and the bill was reportedly amended accordingly. A new version of the bill had not yet been published as of June 2001. Email from Laurie Nathan, Centre for Conflict Resolution, to Human Rights Watch, June 12, 2001.

    488. Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, p.62.

    489. Mark Shaw, "Partners in Crime"? Crime, political transition and changing forms of policing control, (Johannesburg: Centre for Policy Studies, 1995), p.69. This ratio is double that in countries such as the UK--though estimates of the ratio vary.

    490. Sara Blecher, Safety in Security? A report on the private security industry and its involvement in violence, (Durban: Network of Independent Monitors, 1996), p.5; Jenni Irish, Policing for Profit: The future of South Africa's private security industry (Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 1999), introduction (available at <www.iss.co.za>, accessed January 30, 2001).

    491. There are serious concerns surrounding the involvement of private security companies in political violence and organized crime, as well as abusive methods of work generally. See Blecher, Safety in Security?; Irish, Policing for Profit.

    492. Under the current system, the Security Officers Interim Board (reconstituted in 1997), appointed by the minister for safety and security in consultation with the security industry and the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security, is charged with the duty "to exercise control over the occupation of security officer, and to maintain, promote and protect the status of that occupation, and to ensure that the industry acts in the public interest and to submit reports from time to time to the Minister on the regulation of the security officer industry." Security Officers Amendment Act, No. 104 of 1997, section 2(1) (which added the phrase in italics to the existing legislation). The Interim Board is also charged to advise the minister on the establishment of a new permanent board, the drawing up of an enforceable code of conduct, and the promotion of accountability in the security industry. The amendment act requires the minister to introduce new legislation within eighteen months of its own coming into effect.

    493. Blecher, Safety in Security?, p.5.

    494. Irish, Policing for Profit, section on "Problems in the Industry."

    495. Human Rights Watch interview with control prosecutor, Louis Trichardt district magistrates court, March 29, 2000.

    496. Security Industry Regulation Bill, No. 12 of 2001, available at <www.gov.za/bills>, accessed March 12, 2001.

    497. Human Rights Watch interview with Commissioner Johann Burger, SAPS, Pretoria, April 10, 2000.

    498. Human Rights Watch interview, Insp. Stuart Brodie, Mid-Illovo police station, April 4, 2000.

    499. Human Rights Watch interview with Capt. Moodley, acting station commissioner, Greytown police station, April 4, 2000.

    500. Human Rights Watch interview with Dave Carol, Greytown 911 Center, September 13, 2000.

    501. Human Rights Watch interview with Capt. Moodley, acting station commissioner, Greytown police station, April 4, 2000.

    502. Human Rights Watch interview with Capt. A. Reddy, head of crime prevention, Estcourt police station, April 5, 2000.

    503. Human Rights Watch interview with Gert van Wyk, Farmwatch member, Bapsfontein, September 19, 2000. As another smallholder in the same area put it, commenting on the preference of farm owners to engage in self-help, rather than making use of the Benoni or Kempton Park commandos, both with substantially black membership: "The people wouldn't like black ones coming along in the middle of the night because we are all so nervous now." Human Rights Watch interview, September 19, 2000.

    504. South African Police Service Act, No. 68 of 1995. Chapter 7 deals with the Community Police Forums.

    505. South African Police Service Act, sections 18 and 19.

    506. See Wilfried Schärf, "Community Justice and Community Policing in Post-Apartheid South Africa: How Appropriate are the Justice Systems of Africa?" paper presented at the International Workshop on the Rule of Law and Development: Citizen Security, Rights and Life Choices in Low and Middle Income Countries, Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex, June 2000; Diana R. Gordon, "Democratic Consolidation and Community Policing: Conflicting Imperatives in South Africa," Policing and Society (forthcoming, 2001).

    507. Pelser, Louw, and Ntuli, Poor safety, pp.65-67. These problems have led NGOs to develop the idea of Community Safety Forums, run by local government and involving not just the police but also other government departments, currently being piloted in the Western Cape. See Schärf, "Community Justice and Community Policing."

    508. Human Rights Watch interview, Insp. Stuart Brodie, Mid-Illovo police station, April 4, 2000.

    509. Human Rights Watch interview with Theo van Rooyen, farmer, member of KWANALU executive committee and of local the GOCOC, Utrecht, September 15, 2000.

    510. "Summit on Rural Safety and Security: 10 October 1998," press release issued by South African government Communication Information Service; also reprinted in Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, pp.23-24.

    511. Human Rights Watch interview, Lt-Col H.J. Boshoff, March 23, 2000.

    512. Human Rights Watch interview with Pieter Basson, farm owner and farmwatch coordinator, Bapsfontein, Gauteng, September 19, 2000.

    513. Ibid.

    514. Human Rights Watch interview, Lt-Col H.J. Boshoff, March 23, 2000.

    515. Human Rights Watch interviews, Johannesburg, March 26, 2000.

    516. Human Rights Watch interview with Howard Mbana, SAAPAWU, March 24, 2000.

    517. For example, Human Rights Watch interviews, Vryheid and Ingogo, KwaZulu-Natal, April 2000.

    518. Human Rights Watch interview with Inspector Risimati Robert Maluleke, Levubu Police Station, March 28, 2000.

    519. Human Rights Watch interview with Arno Engelbrecht, farmer and commando member, Paulpietersburg, September 14, 2000.

    520. Human Rights Watch interview with Mike de Lange, formerly KWANALU security desk, Eshowe, September 14, 2000.

    521. Human Rights Watch interview with Mike de Lange, formerly KWANALU security desk, Eshowe, September 14, 2000.

    522. Human Rights Watch interview with Dave Carol, Greytown 911 Center, September 13, 2000.

    523. Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, p.61-63.

    524. Human Rights Watch interview with Dave Carol, Greytown 911 Center, September 13, 2000.

    525. Human Rights Watch interview with Jotham Myaka, Zibambeleni, September 13, 2000.

    526. Human Rights Watch interview with Capt Moodley, acting station commissioner, Greytown police station, April 3, 2000.

    527. Human Rights Watch interview with member of the Ingogo Crisis Committee, Ingogo, KwaZulu-Natal, April 7, 2000.

    528. Human Rights Watch interviews SAAPAWU and NLC, March 23 and 24, 2000.

    529. Human Rights Watch interview with Jotham Myaka, Zibambeleni, New Hanover, September 13, 2000.

    530. Human Rights Watch interview with Mpumalanga Department of Land Affairs officials, April 12, 2000. Section 23 of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act provides that:

    (1) No person shall evict an occupier except on the authority of an order of a competent court.

    (2) No person shall wilfully obstruct or interfere with an official in the employ of the State or a mediator in the performance of his or her duties under this Act.

    (3) Any person who contravenes a provision of subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine, or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years, or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

    (4) Any person whose rights or interests have been prejudiced by a contravention of subsection (1) shall have the right to institute a private prosecution of the alleged offender.

    531. Human Rights Watch interview with Oupa Maake and Charles Pillai, Legal Resources Centre, Pretoria, April 10, 2000.

    532. Human Rights Watch interview with Capt Moodley, acting station commissioner, Greytown police station, April 3, 2000.

    533. Human Rights Watch interview with Christo Loots, Pietermaritzburg, September 11, 2000.

    534. Human Rights Watch interview with Oupa Maake and Charles Pillai, Legal Resources Centre, Pretoria, April 10, 2000.

    535. Human Rights Watch interview with Mpumalanga Department of Land Affairs officials, April 12, 2000.

    536. Human Rights Watch interview with Philip Shabalala, paralegal, Christo Loots Attorneys, Vryheid, April 6, 2000.

    537. Human Rights Watch interview with Farayi Moyo, South Africa Effective Union Brokers, Randburg, September 5, 2000.

    538. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, near Naboomspruit, Northern Province, March 30, 2000. Translated from Pedi. The farmworker, the brother of the woman interviewed, had allegedly complained to the farm owner about his wage of R200 a month after deductions, and asked for a raise. When the farmer refused, the worker, Koos, said that he would resign, and the farmer said that he should therefore leave the farm. The farmer reported the case to the police, saying that Koos was aggressive and had threatened to attack him. He was taken to the Seiplaas police station and allegedly beaten, as well as tortured by having a rubber bag put over his head till he became unconscious. He was kept three days at the police station. When he was released he went home, but was taken back to the police station three or more times, once from the store at the neighboring farm where his sister lives, when the police made this comment.

    539. Human Rights Watch interview with detective inspector, SAPS, southern Mpumalanga, April 13, 2000.

    540. Telephone interview by Cheryl Goodenough with policeman from Ixopo Police Station, November 13, 2000.

    541. Letter dated August 1, 2000, from Assistant Commissioner P.F. Holloway, Office of the Area Commissioner, Umzimkulu, to Mary de Haas. See further below on the situation in Ixopo.

    542. Human Rights Watch interview station commissioner, Citrusdal police station, Western Cape, April 11, 2000.

    543. Human Rights Watch interview with Capt. Vollgraaff, Louis Trichardt police station, March 29, 2000.

    544. Human Rights Watch interview, police inspector, Levubu police station, Northern Province, April 2, 2000.

    545. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, Ingogo, April 7, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

    546. Human Rights Watch interview with control prosecutor, Louis Trichardt district magistrates court, March 29, 2000.

    547. At Estcourt police station, the top crimes were identified to Human Rights Watch as burglary, theft of a vehicle and theft from a vehicle; while a chart on the wall showed assault as the most common crime by far. Human Rights Watch interviews, Estcourt police station, April 5, 2000.

    548. Human Rights Watch interview, station commissioner, Citrusdal police station, Western Cape, April 11, 2000.

    549. Human Rights Watch interview near Nylstroom, Northern Province, March 30, 2000.

    550. Letter dated July 5, 2000, from Isikhalo se Africa to KwaZulu-Natal deputy director of public prosecutions.

    551. Human Rights Watch interview, station commissioner, Citrusdal police station, Western Cape, April 11, 2000.

    552. Human Rights Watch interview with Gert van Wyk, Bapsfontein, Gauteng, September 19, 2000.

    553. Human Rights Watch interview with Capt. A. Reddy, head of crime prevention, Estcourt police station, April 5, 2000.

    554. Human Rights Watch interview with member of the Ingogo Crisis Committee, Ingogo, KwaZulu-Natal, April 7, 2000.

    555. Ibid.

    556. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, Ingogo, April 7, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

    557. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, Vryheid, April 6, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

    558. Human Rights Watch interview with farm resident, near Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, April 5, 2000. Translated from Zulu.

    559. Abbey Makoe, "Death draws near and justice is not yet done," Sunday Independent (Johannesburg), May 17, 1998.

    560. "Three in court over death of farmworker," Star, July 10, 1997.

    561. Letter from Farm Eviction and Development Committee (Fedco), Isikhalo se Africa, to Area Commissioner, SAPS, Ulundi, (undated); response from Area Commissioner SAPS, Ulundi, to Fedco, July 7, 1999.

    562. Letter dated July 5, 2000, from Fedco to KwaZulu-Natal deputy director of public prosecutions, Pietermaritzburg.

    563. For example, Human Rights Watch was given a letter addressed to the Transvaal director of public prosecutions in Pretoria from an advice worker in the Machadodorp area, Gauteng. The letter listed three cases of assault, illegal eviction, and intimidation opened against the same farmer, in 1997, 1999, and 2000. None of them had been followed up, and those inquiring about the case had themselves reportedly been threatened with arrest. Letter dated February 8, 2000, from J.N. Nkosi to director of public prosecutions, Pretoria.

    564. Human Rights Watch interview with Capt. Vollgraaff, Louis Trichardt police station, March 29, 2000.

    565. Human Rights Watch interview with Mrs Lloyd, control prosecutor, Vryheid magistrates court, April 6, 2000.

    566. Human Rights Watch interview with control prosecutor, Piet Retief magistrates court, April 13, 2000.

    567. Human Rights Watch interview, prosecutor, New Hanover district court, KwaZulu-Natal province, April 5, 2000.

    568. Ibid.

    569. Human Rights Watch interview, magistrate, New Hanover district court, KwaZulu-Natal province, April 5, 2000.

    570. Ibid.

    571. For example: In 1988, a farmer who had killed his worker by tying him to a tree and whipping him over two days, for allegedly killing a dog, was convicted of culpable homicide and given a suspended sentence of five years and a fine of R3,000. He was also ordered to pay the widow R130 a month for five years. In 1989, two farmers who had assaulted a farm worker who later died of a brain hemorrhage were convicted of assault and sentenced to a fine of R1,200 or four months' imprisonment, with a further six months' imprisonment suspended for five years. Aninka Claassens, "Rural Land Struggles in the Transvaal in the 1980s," in Murray and O'Regan (eds.), No Place to Rest, note 25.

    572. Human Rights Watch interview with Inspector Risimati Robert Maluleke, Levubu Police Station, March 28, 2000. By contrast, he noted that if an assault case between two black people came before the magistrates at Vuyani (former Venda) then, if convicted, they could be sentenced to a fine of several thousand rands or one year in prison.

    573. Ann Eveleth, "'Sadist' grins at light fine," Mail and Guardian, November 7 to 13, 1997; see Eugene Roelofse, "Of Serfs and Lords," Sidelines (Johannesburg), Winter 1998, pp.25 to 28, for a fuller account of this case.

    574. He was given a five year sentence, suspended for three years. The case was extensively reported. See, for example, Anso Thom, "Farmer who shot baby charged with murder," Star (Johannesburg), April 16, 1998; Mike Masipa, "Bigwigs descend on grieving family's shack," Star, April 17, 1998; "The day an innocent baby died," Saturday Argus, May 8, 1998; "Political slogans and threats greet baby Zwane's killer," SAPA, March 23, 1999; Chris McGreal, "The hate that won't go away," Guardian (London), July 26, 1999.

    575. Tangeni Amupadhi, "Police procedure questioned in Steyn murder case," Mail and Guardian, April 17-23, 1998; "Highlights and Achievements," in Report of the Independent Complaints Directorate to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security, March 2, 1999. According to the ICD, disciplinary proceedings were in fact instituted, as well as other recommendations relating to the training of officers. It is very rare for the ICD itself to investigate a case where complaints have been made about police investigation of another crime; usually, such cases would be delegated to an internal police complaints investigation unit.

    576. Jovial Rantao, "Judicial system puts itself on trial," Star (Johannesburg), May 15, 1999.

    577. "Two appear in court after painting of farmworker," SAPA, July 14, 1999; Justin Arenstein, "Silver paint farmer in court," ZA Now, July 14, 1999; Selby Bokaba, "Outrage over sentence for painting worker silver," Star (Johannesburg), February 23, 2000.

    578. Ajith Bridgraj, "Braai, booze and deadly baaskap," Sunday World (Johannesburg), June 20, 1999; Darran Morgan and Jason Venter, "Shifting the balance of justice," Mail and Guardian, August 20, 1999.

    579. Craig Bishop, "Henning's father guilty of hiring hitman," Natal Witness (Pietermaritzburg), September 27, 2000; "The Week that Was," Mail and Guardian, November 17, 2000.

    580. Glenda Daniels, "Farmer fined for trying to 'kill kaffirs,'" Mail and Guardian, February 9, 2001.

    581. For details on developments in the government's policy and programs to address violence against women in South Africa since 1994, see Human Rights Watch, "South Africa: Violence Against Women and the Medico-Legal System," A Human Rights Watch Short Report (New York: Human Rights Watch, August 1997), vol.9, No. 4 (A), pp.8-13; Human Rights Watch, Scared at School: Sexual Violence Against Girls in South African Schools (New York: Human Rights Watch, March 2001); and Vetten, "Paper Promises, Protests and Petitions" in Park et al, Reclaiming Women's Spaces.

    582. Human Rights Watch interview, Senior Superintendent Anneke Pienaar, national commander, Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, Pretoria, September 18, 2000. SAPS approved and launched the Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit in 1995. The objectives of "FCS" units are to prevent and combat crimes against women and children and to render sensitive services to victims of these crimes. For details on these units, see Human Rights Watch, "South Africa: Violence Against Women and the Medico-Legal System, pp. 12-13.

    583. Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, (Pretoria: SAPS September 2000).

    584. Human Rights Watch interview, Senior Superintendent Anneke Pienaar, national commander, Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, Pretoria, September 18, 2000.

    585. Human Rights watch interview, police commissioner, Mid-Illovo police station, Pietermaritzburg, April 6, 2000.

    586. Human Rights Watch interviews station commissioner, Citrusdal police station, Western Cape, April 11, 2000; station commissioner, Piketberg police station, Western Cape, September 12, 2000; and station commissioner, Mid-Illovo police station, KwaZulu-Natal, April 5, 2000.

    587. Human Rights Watch interview, staff attorney, Lawyers for Human Rights, Pietersburg, April 2, 2000; and see other interviews above.

    588. Human Rights Watch interview, social worker, Victim Support Centre, Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, April 4, 2000.

    589. Case recorded in the file of cases of violence against women kept by the Victim Support Centre, Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, April 4, 2000.

    590. Human Rights Watch interview, station commissioner, Citrusdal police station, Western Cape, April 11, 2000.

    591. Human Rights Watch interview, station commissioner, Piketberg police station, Western Cape, September 12, 2000.

    592. Human Rights Watch interview, Kasy Mwale, New Hanover, KwaZulu-Natal, April 5, 2000.

    593. Human Rights Watch interview, group of farmworkers at the advice office, Piketberg, Western Cape, September 12, 2000.

    594. Human Rights Watch interviews, Nkuzi Development Project field workers, Pietersburg, April 2, 2000.

    595. Human Rights Watch interview, staff attorney, Lawyers for Human Rights, Stellenbosch, April 10, 2000.

    596. Human Rights Watch interview with control prosecutor, Louis Trichardt district magistrates' court, March 29, 2000.

    597. See Human Rights Watch, "South Africa: Violence Against Women and the Medico-Legal System."

    598. Human Rights Watch interviews, group of women farmworkers, Northern Province, April 2, 2000, and group of women farmworkers, East Rand, April 15, 2000.

    599. Human Rights Watch interview, prosecutor, New Hanover district magistrates' court, KwaZulu-Natal, April 5, 2000.

    600. Human Rights Watch interview, district surgeon, KwaZulu-Natal, April 4, 2000.

    601. During its 1997 research on performance of district surgeons (now government medical officers) in the provision of medico-legal services where a woman has allegedly been raped, Human Rights Watch interviewed officers of the Pretoria Medico-Legal clinic who stated that a woman who has been raped should be seen within four hours to ensure that each minor physical abrasion--which may be crucial to the woman's claim that sexual intercourse took place without consent--may be detected. Other district surgeons also noted to Human Rights Watch that, if a woman is seen soon enough there is in the majority of cases--even if a woman has had several children--physical evidence suggesting forced penetration. For details, see Human Rights Watch, "South Africa: Violence Against Women And The Medico-Legal System," p.24.

    602. Human Rights Watch interview, district surgeon, KwaZulu-Natal, April 4, 2000.

    603. Ibid.

    604. Human Rights Watch interview, social worker, Victim Support Centre, Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, April 4, 2000.

    605. Human Rights Watch interview, head of detectives, Citrusdal police station, Western Cape, April 11, 2000.

    606. Human Rights Watch interview, station commissioner, Citrusdal police station, Western Cape, April 11, 2000.

    607. Human Rights Watch interview, head of detectives, Citrusdal police station, Western Cape, April 11, 2000.

    608. Ibid.

    609. Human Rights Watch interview, station commissioner, Piketberg police station, Western Cape, September 12, 2000.

    610. Human Rights Watch interview with Mike de Lange, formerly KWANALU security desk, Eshowe, September 14, 2000.

    611. Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings: Report by the Crime Information Analysis Centre, No.2 of 1998.

    612. Human Rights Watch interview with Col. H.J. Boshoff, SANDF, Pretoria, March 22, 2000.

    613. Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, p.48.

    614. Human Rights Watch interview with Arno Engelbrecht, farmer and commando member, Paulpietersburg, September 14, 2000.

    615. Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings, p.48.

    616. Ibid., p.63.

    617. Human Rights Watch interview with Theo van Rooyen, farmer, member of KWANALU executive committee and of local GOCOC, Utrecht, September 15, 2000.

    618. Human Rights Watch interview with Mike de Lange, formerly KWANALU security desk, Eshowe, September 14, 2000.

    619. Human Rights Watch interview, Peter Southey, KWANALU, Pietermaritzburg , April 4, 2000.

    620. Email from KWANALU to Human Rights Watch, August 7, 2000.

    621. Human Rights Watch interview with Lourie Bosman, Mpumalanga Agricultural Union, Ermelo, April 12, 2000.

    622. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Loggenberg, Transvaal Agricultural Union, Pretoria, April 17, 2000.

    623. "Act as if in a state of emergency, TLU tells farmers," SAPA, November 22, 2000.

    624. Interview with Graham McIntosh, (then) president of the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union, published in Briefing 12, (Johannesburg: Helen Suzman Foundation, September 1998).

    625. Human Rights Watch interview with Commissioner Johann Burger, SAPS, Pretoria, April 10, 2000.

    626. As do many of those living in the former homelands. A survey carried out in 1998 found that more than a third felt that policing had declined in quality in the last few years; more than 40 percent believed the police were ineffective in curbing crime in their area. Pelser, Louw, and Ntuli, Poor safety, p.60.

    627. Human Rights Watch interview with Lourie Bosman, Mpumalanga Agricultural Union, Ermelo, April 12, 2000.

    628. Human Rights Watch interview with members of the Northern Natal commando, Vryheid, September 14, 2000. As noted above, functional illiteracy in the police service is a serious problem; however, qualifications required to enter the police have risen significantly in recent years, and those members who are illiterate were largely employed by the former government, especially in the former homelands.

    629. Human Rights Watch interview with Dave Carol, Greytown 911 Center, September 13, 2000.

    630. Human Rights Watch interview with Arno Engelbrecht, farmer and commando member, Paulpietersburg, September 14, 2000.

    631. Human Rights Watch interview with Sannet Haasbroek, Beaufort Vallei Sekuriteit, Northern Province, March 28, 2000.

    632. Human Rights Watch interview with members of the Northern Natal commando, Vryheid, September 14, 2000.

    633. Ibid.

    634. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Loggenberg, TAU, Pretoria, April 17, 2000.

    635. Human Rights Watch interview, Bapsfontein, Gauteng, September 19, 2000.

    636. Human Rights Watch interview with Peter Southey, KWANALU, April 4, 2000.

    637. Summary of March 2001 Markinor survey commissioned by Landbouweekblad, the magazine of Agri-SA, among 405 randomly selected readers of the magazine.

    638. Interview with Graham McIntosh, (then) president of the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union, published in Briefing 12, (Johannesburg: Helen Suzman Foundation, September 1998).

    639. Ibid.

    640. Farm owner Willie Kuhn, Groot Marico, North West Province, quoted in Tangeni Amupadhi, "No defence like self-defence," Mail and Guardian July 17-23, 1998.

    641. Human Rights Watch interview with Mike de Lange, formerly KWANALU security desk, Eshowe, September 14, 2000.

    642. Human Rights Watch interview with members of the Northern Natal commando, Vryheid, September 14, 2000.

    643. Human Rights Watch interview with Pieter Basson, farmer and farmwatch coordinator, Bapsfontein, September 19, 2000.

    644. Human Rights Watch interview with members of the Northern Natal commando, Vryheid, September 14, 2000.

    645. Transcript of transmission on Radio Sonder Grense, October 1, 1998, available on <www.agriinfo.co.za/>, accessed October 6, 2000.

    646. Human Rights Watch interview with Jack Loggenberg and Boela Niemann, TAU, Pretoria, September 19, 2000. The figure of 924 murders is based on a combination of police and agricultural union statistics, and is problematic, as noted above.

    647. "Minister slammed for 'inciting farm killings,'" AFP, February 7, 2001.

    648. "ANC calls on Klapmuts community to find farm killers," Statement issued by ANC Western Cape, September 25, 2000.

    649. "Release affordable, quality land, Didiza asks farmers," SAPA, October 5, 2000.

    650. "Farm attacks still high on agenda: Zuma," SAPA October 4, 2000.

    651. "Government remains worried about farm killings: Tshwete," SAPA, November 11, 2000.

    652. "Tshwete agrees to farm attack probe," SAPA, January 17, 2001; "Former A-G to head farm attacks probe," SAPA, April 5, 2001.

    653. "Farmers threaten vigilante action," SAPA, January 30, 2001.

    654. Allan Seccombe, "Police put brakes on farm killings," Reuters, February 15, 2001; "Helicopters for rural crime: Agri-SA happy, TAU not," SAPA, February 14, 2001.

    655. Khadija Magardie, "Board's days as a cash cow are over," Mail and Guardian, February 2, 2001.

    656. "Govt-funded justice centre to serve poverty-stricken people," SAPA, February 7, 2001; "Justice centre launched in Phuthaditjhaba," SAPA, April 3, 2001.

    657. "Legal Aid Board: Annual Report," Minutes of the Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee, June 4, 2001.

    658. Human Rights Watch interview with Oupa Maake and Charles Pillai, Legal Resources Centre, Pretoria, April 10, 2000.

    659. Human Rights Watch interview with Domini Lewis, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Land Affairs, April 7, 2000.

    660. Human Rights Watch interview with member of the Ingogo Crisis Committee, Ingogo, KwaZulu-Natal, April 7, 2000.

    661. See the chapter on South Africa in Human Rights Watch, Protectors or Pretenders? Government Human Rights Commission in Africa (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2001).

    662. Article 184 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 states that the Human Rights Commission must: "(a) promote respect for human rights and a culture of human rights; (b) promote the protection, development and attainment of human rights; and (c) monitor and assess the observance of human rights in the Republic." It must also each year "require relevant organs of state to provide the Commission with information on the measures that they have taken towards the realisation of the rights in the Bill of Rights concerning housing, health care, food, water, social security, education and the environment." In fulfilment of its mandate to promote and monitor respect for human rights, the commission may investigate abuses, take steps to secure redress, including bringing court cases, and carry out human rights education. It may subpoena witnesses, and has called cabinet ministers before it; it also has powers of search and seizure, though these have not yet been used. On pain of criminal penalty, all organs of state at all levels are obliged to render such reasonable assistance to the commission as it may require in order to carry out its tasks. However, it has no power to enforce its recommendations, or even to require a response.

    663. Article 187 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996, states that its functions are: "(1) to monitor and evaluate policies and practices of government, the private sector, and other organizations to ensure that they protect and promote gender equality; (2) to engage in disseminating information and education on gender equality; (3) to commission research and make recommendations to parliament or other bodies on policies and laws affecting women; and (4) to receive and investigate complaints on any gender related discrimination; and monitor and report on government compliance with international treaties relating to the rights of women."

    664. Unlike the CGE, the Office on the Status of Women is a government structure tasked to serve government departments. It is responsible for formulating and implementing gender policies within the government and monitoring and evaluating the impact of these policies and programmes. For details on the OSW, see South Africa's first report (1997) on its obligations under CEDAW, available at <www.polity.org.za/govdocs/ >, accessed February 7, 2001. Also, see Vetten, "Paper Promises, Protests and Petitions," in Park et al, Reclaiming Women's Spaces, p.93.

    665. Investigation of Alleged Violations of Farmworkers' Rights in the Messina/Tshipise District, Report of the South African Human Rights Commission, (Johannesburg: February 1999)

    666. Protectors or Pretenders?, p.309.

    667. "SAHRC launches inquiry into human rights in farming communities on 11 June," Suoth African Human Rights Commissoin, June 6, 2001; Human Rights Watch interview with Charlotte McClain, commissioner, SAHRC, February 12, 2001.

    668. See the CGE's website at: <http://www.cge.org.za/publications/legal.html>, accessed October 12, 2000.

    669. Human Rights Watch interview, vice chairperson, Commission on Gender Equality, September 6, 2000. Angela Motsa, "Women on Farms Report: Northern Province," and "Women on Farms Report: KwaZulu-Natal Province," Commission on Gender Equality, October 1999.

    670. Human Rights Watch interview, CGE, Johannesburg, April, 2000. See also Lisa Vetten, "Paper Promises, Protests and Petitions," Park et al, Reclaiming Women's Spaces, p.93, on some of the challenges currently facing the CGE.

    671. Human Rights Watch interview, deputy chairperson, Commission on Gender Equality, September 6, 2000.

    672. Ibid.

    673. For example, on February 18, 1994, fifteen ANC youths (twelve of them under eighteen years old) were killed in the village of Mahlele near Creighton. See Human Rights Watch, "Threats to a New Democracy: Continuing Violence in KwaZulu-Natal," A Human Rights Watch Short Report, May 1995.

    674. According to one farmer, six of the nine white farmers in one district have been attacked or come close to being attacked over the last few years. Among other incidents reported: a farm manager survived a stabbing and a shooting; a farmer's son narrowly missed being shot; another farm manager survived a stabbing; and a store owner aged about seventy years was shot during an attempted ambush and survived but left the area. Interview with Dave Mack conducted by Cheryl Goodenough in April 2000.

    675. Wilton Mthethwa, "Burglars murder Ixopo farmer," Natal Witness, October 2, 1999.

    676. Interview with Dave Mack conducted by Cheryl Goodenough in April 2000; Ingrid Oellermann, "Farmers enraged over latest murder," Natal Mercury, October 13, 1999.

    677. Reginald Khumalo, "Farmers' boycott threat," Natal Witness, October 21, 1999. Mack said that his investigations subsequent to Bruce's murder showed that there was "no tolerance for the white farmer." He was warned not to travel alone after the attack and employed an ex-soldier as his bodyguard. Interview conducted with Dave Mack by Cheryl Goodenough in April 2000.

    678. Ingrid Oellerman, "Farmers enraged over latest murder," Natal Mercury, October 13, 2000.

    679. Reginald Khumalo, "Farmers' boycott threat," Natal Witness, October 21, 1999.

    680. C.B. Lea-Cox (Colonel), managing director, Ixopo Farm Watch, "Minister lets down Ixopo farmers," Natal Witness, October 26, 1999.

    681. Telephone interview by Cheryl Goodenough with the original investigating officer Andre Vorster, in about May 2000.

    682. The police officers on the scene claimed that Mbaba Shezi (the son of Mpekiswa Shezi) was arrested and then said that he could show them a gun that he allegedly returned to his father after committing the murder. He could not find the gun that was alleged to be buried in the ground and then told the police that he could produce another weapon that was used by Bonile Mkhize in the murder. Mkhize had been arrested in April. The police allege that after digging in the ground, Shezi threw the pick that he was using at the police and took a buried gun out of a bag, pointed it at the police, and, when he cocked the weapon, was shot and killed by the policemen.  This case is being investigated by the Independent Complaints Directorate, and the original investigating officer in the Mack murder case, Andre Vorster, who was allegedly involved in the shooting, has been suspended from the police as a result of being charged in a corruption matter unrelated to this case. Telephonic interview conducted by Cheryl Goodenough in May 2000; Cheryl Goodenough, "Murder suspect shot and killed by police," Natal Witness, May 5, 2000.

    683. Roger Foster, Stainton, Ixopo, "Two sides to every story," a letter published in the Mail and Guardian, September 15 to 21, 2000. The letter was written in response to the article by Cheryl Goodenough, "Vigilantes terrorise farm workers," Mail and Guardian, September 8 to 14, 2000.

    684. Letter dated September 13, 2000, from Col. C.B. Lea-Cox, managing director, Ixopo Community Watch, to the Mail and Guardian, and supplied to Human Rights Watch by the author. The letter was written in response to the article by Cheryl Goodenough, "Vigilantes terrorise farm workers," Mail and Guardian, September 8 to 14, 2000.

    685. Interview conducted by Cheryl Goodenough with the managing director of the Ixopo Community/Farm Watch, former army colonel Clive Lea-Cox, in approximately April 2000.

    686. Letter dated August 1, 2000, from Assistant Commissioner P.F. Holloway, Office of the Area Commissioner, Umzimkulu, to Mary de Haas.

    687. Ibid.

    688. Letter dated September 13, 2000, from Col. C.B. Lea-Cox, managing director, Ixopo Community Watch, to the Mail and Guardian.

    689. According to the KwaZulu-Natal director of the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD), Advocate S'thembiso "Stix" Mdladla, the ICD was by September 2000 following up about six cases of assault involving soldiers and four involving police members, all opened at the Creighton Police Station. Additional dockets had been opened at the Ixopo, Highflats, and Donnybrook Police Stations. An estimated six cases were being investigated by detectives based at the Ixopo Police Station. Interview by Cheryl Goodenough with the Independent Complaints Directorate in Creighton, September 6, 2000. See also, Cheryl Goodenough, "Vigilantes terrorise farm workers," Mail and Guardian, September 8 to 14, 2000. It is not known whether the victims were all farm workers.

    690. Since these incidents, the police management in the Umzimkulu policing area, that includes Ixopo, have issued an instruction that full-time police officers, and not only reservists must be present when soldiers go on operations. Interviews with several police officers in Ixopo and Port Shepstone conducted by Cheryl Goodenough, August and September 2000.

    691. Letter dated June 2, 2000, from Mary de Haas to the Area Commissioner, SAPS Umzimkulu, Port Shepstone and to the Officer Commanding, Natal Command, Durban. According to De Haas, based in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Natal Durban, a case of malicious damage to property was opened at the Creighton Police Station (case number 01/06/2000) as a result of the search.

    692. Letter dated June 28, 2000, from Mary de Haas to the Officer Commanding, SANDF, Natal Command, Durban.

    693. Ranjeni Munusamy, "SANDF soldiers tortured us, claim villagers," Sunday Times KZN Metro, July 2, 2000.

    694. Community/Farm Watch employee John Arkley drives a vehicle with a registration containing the letters NU before a number. It is suspected that this is the vehicle to which the victim was referring.

    695. Interview with the victim conducted by Cheryl Goodenough assisted by an interpreter, Sibizane, September 6, 2000.

    696. Letter dated August 1, 2000, from Assistant Commissioner P.F. Holloway, Office of the Area Commissioner, Umzimkulu, to Mary de Haas.

    697. Ibid.

    698. Telephonic interview by Cheryl Goodenough with policeman from Ixopo Police Station, November 13, 2000.

    699. Ibid.; Eric Ndiyane, "Residents tortured by army: seven soldiers arrested," Daily News (Durban), July 10, 2000.

    700. The soldiers were riflemen Bhekabantu Dlamini, aged twenty-seven, of Table Mountain; Mlungwana Ngcamu, twenty-four, of Glenwood; Reginald Mazibuko, twenty-six, of Sweetwaters; Sifiso Mlaba, twenty-seven, of Ashburton; Philani Ntombela, twenty-seven, of Imbali; and thirty-two-year-old Corporal Brandon Eldridge of Westville, Durban.

    701. The state did not oppose bail for Arkley or for the soldiers. However, a bail application is required under the law for such a serious offence. During the bail application for the soldiers, police captain Bongani Sibiya testified that Eldridge had a previous conviction relating to an assault that was committed in 1998. The other accused did not have previous convictions and were not facing other charges. The following account is taken from notes by Cheryl Goodenough, who attended the court proceedings at the Ixopo Magistrates' Court on July 17 and July 19, 2000. See also Bongani Mthethwa, "Soldiers linked to Ixopo killing," Natal Witness, July 7, 2000; Cheryl Goodenough "Ixopo residents 'scared' of soldiers," Natal Witness, July 18, 2000, and Cheryl Goodenough "Six Ixopo farm raid suspects refused bail," Natal Witness, July 20, 2000.

    702. When questioned about why the state had not opposed bail, police inspector Zibuse Gwala said that it was a decision taken by his superior, the head of detectives in the Umzimkulu policing area. When asked by the presiding magistrate whether he thought in hindsight that this was correct, Inspector Gwala said that he did not agree with the decision. See also, "Ixopo assault case: soldiers released on bail into military custody," Natal Witness, July 28, 2000.

    703. Eric Ndiyane, "Hundreds flee army's 'terror attacks' in KZN," Daily News (Durban), March 5, 2001.

    704. According to Mayor Mhlaba, the same group of suspected gangsters are believed to have been behind the killing of King and Msomi. King was killed in his house and Msomi's body was found not far from his home after he disappeared during a family function. According to the police, two people were arrested for the Msomi case a month or two after the memorandum was handed to the court.

    705. Memorandum March--Ixopo Community, handed to court officials and read out during the court proceedings relating to the Basil Jaca case in the Ixopo Magistrates' Court on July 17, 2000. Spelling as in the original.

    706. Interview conducted by Cheryl Goodenough with Mayor Themba Louis Mahlaba outside the Ixopo Magistrates' Court, July 17, 2000.

    707. Writing to the police area commissioner on July 12, 2000 and on July 17, 2000, Mary de Haas stated that the pattern of abuse had continued subsequent to her earlier correspondence: "Credible local sources in the broad area in which these abuses have been occurring allege that those involved are extremely racist (e.g. conversations about black people not having minds have reportedly been overheard) and virulently opposed to the government which, if they are army employees, pays their salaries. In ways which are reminiscent of the worst excesses of apartheid, it seems that black surrogates are made use of in the infliction of harm to the numerous victims of these abuses." Letter dated July 17, 2000 from Mary de Haas to the Area Commissioner, SAPS Umzimkulu, Port Shepstone. Emphasis in the original.

    708. Interview conducted by Cheryl Goodenough, Creighton, September 6, 2000, interpreted from Zulu. See also Cheryl Goodenough, "Vigilantes terrorise farm workers," Mail and Guardian, September 8-14, 2000.

    709. Interview conducted by Cheryl Goodenough, Durban, November 10, 2000.

    710. Interview conducted by Cheryl Goodenough with member of the Creighton community, Creighton, September 6, 2000.

    711. Schönteich and Steinberg, Attacks on farms and smallholdings, pp.50-51.

    712. Human Rights Watch interview with Arno Engelbrecht, farmer and commando member, Paulpietersburg, September 14, 2000.

    713. Ruarí Ó Conchúir, "Participatory Rural Safety Plans to Counter Farm Attacks in the Free State Province," Briefing Document for the Department of Safety and Security, Free State (undated); Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Ruarí Ó Conchúir, who is now with the NGO Farm Africa, October 11, 2000.

    714. Ibid. TRC/TLC stands for Transitional Regional Council or Transitional Local Council, structures that have now been superseded by new municipal authorities. The MEC is the Member of the Executive Council, the provincial "minister" for policing, in this case.

    715. "The Desk," ten point summary proposal handed to Human Rights Watch, September 14, 2000.

    716. Human Rights Watch interview with Mike de Lange, formerly KWANALU security desk, Eshowe, September 14, 2000.

    717. "Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Addendum, Report on the mission of the Special Rapporteur to South Africa on the issues of rape in the community," U.N. Document E/CN.4/1997/47/Add.3.

    718. For an overview discussion on racial discrimination and related intolerance, see Human Rights Watch, World Report 2001 (New York: Human Rights Watch, December 2000), pp. 500-508.

    719. See Human Rights Watch, Violence Against Women in South Africa (New York: Human Rights Watch, November 1995), Human Rights Watch, "South Africa: Violence Against Women and the Medico-Legal System" (1997), and Human Rights Watch Scared at School, (2001).

    720. United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Background Paper: "Integrating Gender into the Third World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance" (New York: UNIFEM, 2000), available at <http://www.unifem.undp.org/> accessed February 10, 2001.

    721. Vetten, "Paper Promises, Protests and Petitions" in Park et al (eds.), Reclaiming Women's Spaces, p.85. For more on the debate about the intersection between race and gender, see Human Rights Watch, Unequal Protection, Unequal Treatment: Domestic and Maquiladora Workers In Guatemala (New York: Human Rights Watch, forthcoming 2001); Human Rights Watch, World Report 2001 (New York: Human Rights Watch, December 2000), pp. 500-508; and UNIFEM, "Integrating Gender into the Third World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance."

    722. Vetten, "Gender, Race, and Power Dynamics in the Face of Social Change," in Park et al, Reclaiming Women's Spaces, p.60.

    723. Human Rights Watch interview, Alida van der Merwe, director, Woman on Farms Project, Stellenbosch, April 13, 2000.

    724. Human Rights Watch interview, group of women farmworkers, Western Cape, April 13, 2000.

    725. Human Rights Watch interview, Rita Edwards, director, Woman on Farms Project, Stellenbosch, April 13, 2000.

    726. See Vetten, "Gender, Race, and Power Dynamics in the Face of Social Change," in Park et al, Reclaiming Women's Spaces, p.60. Although Human Rights Watch has carried out research on sexual violence against women of all races in South Africa in the past (see Human Rights Watch, Violence Against Women in South Africa, 1995; "South Africa: Violence Against Women and the Medico-Legal System," 1997; and Scared at School, 2001), we did not specifically examine the response of the criminal justice system to violence against white women in this report.

    727. For a detailed discussion on governments' responsibility to remedy sex-based discrimination, see also Human Rights Watch, "A Job or Your Rights: Continued Sex Discrimination in Mexico's Maquiladora Sector," A Human Rights Watch Short Report, (New York: Human Rights Watch, December 1998), vol. 10, no. 1(B).