Special report on land reform, Part 2

Namibia's land reform programme has not addressed the crucial issue of security of tenure for farmworkers. Secretary-general of the National Farmworkers Union (NFU), Alfred Angula, said the drafters of the Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act missed an opportunity to enshrine security of tenure for farmworkers. Since the legislation was enacted in 1995, "nothing has changed" in terms of farmworkers' rights to live on land they had worked, sometimes for decades. In the past few months 15 families have been evicted from farms where they lived and worked, an issue that has sparked debate in a country where racially skewed land ownership remains a sensitive topic. Agricultural Employers Association (AEA) chairman Hellmut Fortsch told IRIN that imposing security of tenure - as was done in neighbouring South Africa - would lead to greater unemployment and make farming more difficult in the drought-prone country. The NFU has taken some of these cases to court, but is finding it difficult. A lack of funding is one reason. "It has become more difficult for us to fight because you need a huge amount of money to challenge that in court, and we depend on the monthly [membership] subscriptions of workers. To fight evictions you have to go to the higher courts, and the lawyers are expensive," Angula said. "Also, how do you fight it? Because there's no legal provision for security of tenure [for farmworkers]. There also might be numerous cases which we do not know of - the cases we have are only those where our members are affected," he added. The government announced in mid-February that the cabinet had approved the introduction of a Temporary Intervention Policy of Eviction. The Namibian newspaper reported that the policy would be aimed at farm labourers and their dependents, and would take into account their length of service on a farm. "Depending on these and other considerations, the policy should prohibit outright evictions in no uncertain terms," Information Minister Nangolo Mbumba was quoted as saying. Last year Labour Minister Marco Hausiku set up a commission of inquiry to investigate recent evictions, but it failed to get off the ground because of a lack of funding. Fortsch said the AEA had as yet received no communication on the new policy and it was too early for a new policy to be formulated on farmworker evictions, as negotiations among stakeholders were ongoing. "Like any other industry, an employee who loses his job by way of disciplinary action or retrenchment, or whatever, has to leave his housing. The same happens to be true for any government institution - many teachers are living in peripheral villages in housing provided by government; the same is true with police officials. I don't think government can force anything on the agricultural sector, as far as providing housing after pensioning [off a worker], for instance," Fortsch said. "You cannot have a situation where you do not employ someone, yet they are still staying on your land," he added. RISKS INVOLVED "The South African way of [ensuring] tenure rights, which is eight years in operation, is not seen as a good example of how to do it yet. One recommendation from [a commission looking into the issue] is based on the South African concept: if you've been working for 10 years for an employer then you get tenure rights. I've seen [reports that said] up to 300,000 employees in the agricultural sector have lost jobs because of that obligation on the employer [to provide security of tenure]," Fortsch said. "What South African employers [presumably] have done is [applied a] forced retrenchment process, and outsourced many labour intensive functions [on their farms], keeping only core employees who they could afford to offer tenure rights," Fortsch explained. A similar move by Namibian employers could negatively impact on the poverty alleviation goals of the government - over 30 percent of the population is unemployed. "So we will go into these negotiations [with government and unions] and point out that we cannot afford to lose any jobs", said Fortsch. POLITICS Land reform is inextricably linked to politics in Namibia. The country will hold elections this year, and the land reform question is back on the agenda. The new interim policy on evictions was "probably the only real effort made by the ministry, so far, to look at aspects of farmworkers' tenure rights", said Legal Assistance Centre researcher Willem Odendaal. "The [Agricultural Land Reform] Act did not really make mention of the rights of farmworkers, and this is an issue that has some serious implications for land reform - it can easily be used as a political weapon to cause a lot of havoc in the country," he said. "This leaves us in a very difficult situation," said Fortsch, "with negotiations ongoing, we might come up with a solution. This is also a year of elections in Namibia, and anybody who has any political ambitions is trying to jump on the wagon, [making] demands." Angula told IRIN a draft amendment to the Agricultural Reform Act was being finalised. "I have seen the draft, and security of tenure is mentioned, but we have a problem with some of the language," he said. "In terms of having a peaceful country and crime free, one learns from your neighbours. What happened in Zimbabwe - the land-grab and those problems - if we want to be proactive, there are some measures we can take to avoid those problems. But if you're adamant, you might invite those kinds of problems. It's better to put programmes in place that suit both parties in terms of benefits with regards to land reform. The 'willing-buyer, willing-seller' [policy] is not going to work, as government does not have the money to purchase and resettle people and fulfil their needs, and the whole process is slow and frustrating to people who want land," Angula warned. "People working on farms for long periods of time, who get dismissed or retrenched - what do you do with these people in the absence of tenure rights?" he asked. Angula said the NFU's demands were simple: "Security of tenure for farmworkers now. They should also be allowed to work the land they live on for their own benefit. Otherwise, how will they sustain themselves if a farmer says he has no work for them? Because there's presently a lack of retirement funds and social-safety nets if you lose your job." PENSION FUND PLANNED Organised agriculture believe they might have a solution. "For the long term we are looking at establishing a pension fund for farmworkers, so they then can take a third [of the funds upon retirement] to buy some housing scheme, and the other two-thirds will buy them a pension," Fortsch explained. "The fund is special, in the sense that employees will be able to take out a home loan against the fund," a Namibian Agricultural Union statement said. Final approval for the fund is anticipated at an AEA congress on 24 June this year. The Permanent Technical Team currently reviewing the land reform process in Namibia is expected to have its report out by June this year. NAMIBIA: Special report on land reform, Part 1