Acrobat PDF - Kubatana

In rural areas, agricultural labour is often the only source of employment.
Women working on farms tend to be classified as casual
and seasonal labour. During the apartheid era, it was common
practice for farmers to use women and children as unpaid labour,
and threaten them with expulsion from the land if they refused to
work. The women were frequently beaten and abused by the
farmers. But they tolerated this violence out of fear of being
evicted. Exploitation of labour on farms is still rife. Ilne-Mari
Hofmeyer of the Women on Farms notes that, “Women in agriculture
face oppression from four sides – because they are black,
because they are women, because they are poor and because they
live in rural areas. Farm workers of both sexes are trapped in
rigidly defined gender roles and exploitative practices. However,
the consequence of disempowerment is more painful for women,
who suffer further abuse at the hands of men, stripped of dignity
and unable to control their lives.” Domestic violence is still prevalent
in the farms despite the existence of legislation prohibiting it.
Male elders who are supposed to resolve this generally side with
the abusive husband, and advise women that, “If you are tired of
being beaten, then you are tired of being a wife.”
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Legal Position
Under the colonial and apartheid regimes, African indigenous law
(already patriarchal in nature) was interpreted and codified by
white officials, who added their own distortions, and created an
inflexible system, which did not recognise women’s changing role in
society. In terms of this customary law, women were reduced to
perpetual minors under guardianship of their male relatives.
Recent legislation has improved the position of black women, but
in practice, many women are still treated as minors, with male
relatives insisting on managing women’s financial affairs, and
controlling other aspects of their lives.
Access to Resources
Within the traditional patriarchal family structure, property is
owned by men and inherited by senior male relatives. Women