De Doorns ‘calm’

 

14 November 2012 - 10:28
By Sapa

No violence occurred overnight in the farming community of De Doorns, Western Cape police said on Wednesday morning.

"The situation is calm and being monitored by police," said De Doorns police station spokesman Lindikhaya Mkhontwana.

He said various arrests were made on Tuesday.

Farmworkers protested over wages and living conditions in the verdant Hex River valley last week.

Workers, who earned around R70, wanted R150 a day. The N1 highway leading into De Doorns was closed during the violence, in which vineyards were set alight and stones thrown.

The highway was open on Wednesday morning, with trucks passing through with fruit and other cargo. Fruit stalls and roadside shops were closed.

The remains of a burnt vineyard could be seen outside the town centre.

Food and Allied Workers' Union president Attwell Nazo and general secretary Katishi Masemola will later address workers in Ceres and De Doorns. They will hold a meeting at the Ceres taxi rank at 11.30am and then proceed to the Stofland stadium in De Doorns at 1.30pm.

The leaders are expected to tell the crowd about the government's response to their demands.

Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson visited the area on Tuesday, where she said she would pass on their grievances to Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant. She asked workers to return to farms.

Very few farm workers could be seen in the vineyards on Wednesday morning.