Farm Wages and Working Conditions in the Albany District, 1957 – 2008¶
Roberts, Tamaryn Jean (2009). Farm Wages and Working Conditions in the Albany District, 1957 – 2008. MCom thesis, Department of Economics and Economic History, Rhodes University (supervisor: Prof. G.G. Antrobus). Rhodes University.
| Type | thesis |
| Scope | Wider apartheid literature |
| Method | mixed |
| Period studied | 1957–2008 |
| Regions | Albany district (Makana), Eastern Cape, Eastern Cape, South Africa (commercial agriculture) |
| Themes | agriculture land, labour markets wages, inequality poverty unemployment, methods data sources, transition post apartheid, demography urbanisation, comparative theory |
| Citation key | roberts2009a |
Argument¶
The thesis updates two earlier Rhodes surveys of Albany farm labour (Roberts 1958; Antrobus 1984) with a 2008 face-to-face survey of 40 farmers. It argues that the district's farm labour market is best explained by profit-maximising behaviour under a price-cost squeeze, with post-1994 legislation (BCEA/minimum wage, ESTA) accelerating adjustments that were already under way. Legislation reduced demand for regular labour, raised the cash share of pay, and pushed farmers towards casual labour and extensive farming. The rise of private game reserves, declining rural services and the departure of resident families also cut labour supply and farm residents. Over 1957-2008 working hours fell, regular labour fell sharply and casual labour became the majority of the labour force.
Evidence and method¶
Structured interviews with 40 Albany farmers in 2008 (farmers only, no workers interviewed), compared with the 1957 (Roberts) and 1977 (Antrobus) surveys; Agricultural Censuses 1955-2002; Antrobus and Antrobus (2008) report; StatsSA data; COMBUD pineapple budgets; Pineapple Growers Association price data; secondary literature.
Place in the debates¶
- Causes of farm labour shedding and mechanisation: political/'non-economic' (Marcus; Simbi and Aliber) vs economic/profit-maximising (see Farm labour: mechanisation, labour shedding, wages and labour control). Sides with the economic school (Antrobus 1984). Labour shedding in Albany is explained by relative profitability and the price-cost squeeze, though the author calls Marcus's purely political reading 'not an objective view'. Legislation is seen as accelerating inevitable adjustments.
- Employment effects of minimum wage legislation in agriculture (see Farm labour: mechanisation, labour shedding, wages and labour control). Albany evidence is read as consistent with the competitive-model prediction of disemployment, especially of unskilled labour, though confounded by ESTA and the price-cost squeeze. Conradie's small-effect findings for Western Cape grapes are noted as contrasting.
- Casualisation: caused by post-1994 labour legislation or not (see Farm labour: mechanisation, labour shedding, wages and labour control). Finds casualisation in Albany (regular share 61% in 1957 to 38% in 2002), attributed mainly to lower transaction costs of casuals under the BCEA/minimum wage. This contrasts with Conradie's Hex River evidence of no legislative effect.
- Paternalism and in-kind payment vs cash wages (see Farm labour: mechanisation, labour shedding, wages and labour control). Farmers moved to cash largely for administrative convenience before and after the 10% deduction cap. The author is sceptical of Shabodien's 'hallmarks of feudalism' claim, treating it as exaggerated.
Findings¶
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Regular farm labour in Albany fell by roughly half, while casual labour barely declined. (p. 137)
an approximate 50% fall in Albany regular labourers was noted from 1955 to 2002
-
Regular labour intensity per 1000ha fell between the 1977 and 2008 surveys. (p. 137)
the average number of permanent workers (including males, females and youths) was 8.24/1 000ha in 1977 and declined by 36% to 5.58/1 000ha in 2008
-
The labour force composition inverted from mostly regular to mostly casual between 1957 and 2002. (p. 131)
From 1957 to 2002 it inverted as previously where regular labour made up 61% of the total farm labour force (regular and casuals), in 2002 casual labour made up 62%.
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Cash became a larger share of pay as farmers stopped rationing, with only 17 of 40 still giving regular rations in 2008 (versus all farmers in 1957 and 1977). (p. 83)
Cash payments have become a more significant part of remuneration in comparison to the 1950s and 70s.
-
Albany wages clustered near the statutory minimum in 2008, and farmers differentiated wages less. (p. 87)
Figure 5.1 showed that 16 of the 23 (70%) extensive farms paid an average lowest wage, of less than R1 201
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Total average male remuneration in 2008 was R2 038 per month, with cash wages 72% of the total. (p. 106)
Cash wages made up a total of 72% of total remuneration.
-
Farm weekly working hours fell markedly from 1957 to 2008. (p. 134)
Average 63.2 51.1 43
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Farm residents fell sharply as families moved to town; farmers restricted residents because of ESTA tenure fears. (p. 61)
In 2008, as seen in Table 5.1 the average population of all farm residents, including the owner and his family was 38.5, indicating a marked decline over the past 31 years.
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Labour's share of current farm expenditure fell substantially from 1957 to 2002. (p. 132)
Labour as a % total 43 37 34 36 17.6
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The price-cost squeeze (pineapple price flat while diesel and fertiliser costs rose) drove the shift to extensive farming and cut labour demand. (p. 120)
The farmers' nominal income from pineapples was only approximately 1% (R5) higher in 2008 than it was in 2003, however, wages and particularly fertilizer and diesel increased significantly in price.
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Farmers largely favoured casuals or contractors because of lower transaction costs under the legislation. (p. 111)
A majority (56%) agreed that with the statement that "Changes in legislation have encouraged me to employ more casual as opposed to regular labour".
Evidence ledger¶
Sources used¶
| Source | Kind | Period | How used |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 Albany farmer sample survey (structured face-to-face interviews with 40 farmers, questionnaire in Appendix 1) | author survey or fieldwork | 2008 | Primary evidence on 2008 farm population, employment, wages, in-kind payments, housing, services and farmer attitudes to legislation. |
| Roberts 1957 Albany farm labour survey (Labour in the Farm Economy, 1958; interviews March 1957–June 1958, plus supplementary postal questionnaire) | author survey or fieldwork | 1957-1958 | Baseline for the 1957 comparison of wages, labour force composition and conditions, accessed through Roberts (1958) and Antrobus (1984). |
| Antrobus 1977 Albany farm labour survey (PhD thesis 1984; 81 farms) | author survey or fieldwork | 1977 (with 1957-1976 series) | Baseline for 1977 comparisons of population per farm, labour density, rations, working hours and leave. |
| Agricultural Censuses (Censuses of Agricultural and Pastoral Production), various years 1953/54–2002, incl. Census of Agricultural Provincial statistics 2002 – Eastern Cape | agricultural census | 1953/54, 1955-1956, 1976, 1988, 1993, 2002 | Number and size of farms, area under crops and regular/casual labour force in Albany, used for long-run trend comparisons. |
| StatsSA Survey of Large Scale Agriculture 2006 / gross farming income by division 2002 (StatsSA 2007c, quoted in Antrobus and Antrobus 2008) | official statistical series | 2002 | Table 6.1 gross farming income by main division, showing the dominance of livestock in Albany. |
| Antrobus and Antrobus (2008) Agriculture in Makana, unpublished report for Makana Municipality | secondary literature compilation | 2002-2006 data | Source for 2002 income shares, farm numbers, labour share of current expenditure, losses to predators and theft, and commentary on ESTA evictions. |
| StatsSA employment and labour statistics: Employment Trends in Agriculture (2000), P0210 (2007a), Census of Commercial Agriculture 2002 (2005a) and 2007 (2009), Statistical release 11-02-01 (2005b) | official statistical series | 1954-2007 | National context on agricultural employment share, regular versus casual labour trends, and share of in-kind pay. |
| Census '96 (1996 Population Census) income and unemployment data on agricultural workers | population census | 1996 | Distribution of monthly incomes by race among agricultural workers and expanded unemployment rate. |
| Department of Agriculture, Handbook of Agricultural Statistics 1960 and Abstract of Agricultural Statistics 2003 | official statistical series | 1954-2003 | Share of agriculture in GDP over time and male share of agricultural workers in 1954. |
| COMBUD Enterprise Budgets – Natal Region, 1991–1995 (pineapple, Hluhluwe area) | official statistical series | 1991-1995 | Table 6.4 per-hectare incomes and costs for pineapple production, used to show boom and decline in profitability. |
| Pineapple Growers Association prices and Department of Labour minimum wage series, 1998–2008 (Venters 2009 personal communication) | interviews oral history | 1998-2008 | Figure 6.1 and Table 6.5 compare nominal pineapple price with diesel, fertiliser and minimum wage costs to show the price-cost squeeze. |
| Sectoral Determination 8 and 13: Farm Worker Sector (BCEA Act 75 of 1997), Government Gazette Nos. 24114 and 25657, and Department of Labour minimum wage rates | legislation gazette | 2002-2009 | Minimum wage level (R5.59/hour, R1 090/month), ten percent cap on in-kind deductions, and housing requirements used to benchmark 2008 survey wages. |
| Labour legislation 1992–2001 (BCEA 104 of 1992, ALA 147 of 1993, LRA 66 of 1995, Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act 3 of 1996, ESTA 62 of 1997, BCEA 75 of 1997, OHSA 85 of 1993 etc.) | legislation gazette | 1992-2001 | Establishes the legal framework whose cost and tenure effects farmers' views are tested against. |
| Department of Labour (2002) study of farm worker conditions and minimum wages; Department of Labour 2001 investigation | commission or official report | 2001-2002 | Provides evidence on farm worker poverty and wages prior to the sectoral determination, motivating the minimum wage. |
| Restructuring the South African Labour Market: Report of the Presidential Commission to Investigate Labour Market Policy (Lewis et al. 1996) | commission or official report | 1996 | Source for employers' and business organisations' positions on minimum wages and for job-loss and wage-structure context. |
| National Manpower Commission (1983) Report on the principle and application of a national minimum wage | commission or official report | 1983 | Cited for arguments for and against minimum wages in the theoretical literature chapter. |
| Sparrow et al. (2008) demand for regular farm labour study using census series 1960–2002 | secondary literature compilation | 1960-2002 | Time series of regular and casual farm employment and estimated wage elasticities of labour demand before and after 1991. |
| Naidoo, Klerck and Manganeng (2007) study of Eastern Cape farms, April 2003–December 2005 | secondary literature compilation | 2003-2005 | External evidence on compliance with minimum wage and farm worker living conditions. |
| Murray and van Walbeek (2007) survey of 103 KwaZulu-Natal sugarcane farmers, 2005 | secondary literature compilation | 2005 | Comparative evidence on casualisation, job shedding and reduced in-kind payments after the Sectoral Determination. |
| Conradie (2003, 2005, 2007) studies of Western Cape wine and table grape farms | secondary literature compilation | 1976-2005 | Used to show that demand elasticity is industry specific and that casualisation evidence is mixed. |
| Sims-Castley (2003) and Sims-Castley et al. (2004, in TB Network 2005) studies of private game reserve incomes and employment | secondary literature compilation | 2003-2005 | Compares income per hectare and jobs on PGRs with livestock farms to explain the shift to game tourism. |
| Bekker (2009) map and land-use data for Makana municipality; Development Bank of Southern Africa (2004) socio-economic profile | maps spatial data | 2001-2009 | Land area under protected areas (32%), commercial agricultural area and Makana unemployment rate (49.2% in 2001). |
| Fedhasa Cape News (2008), Farmers Weekly (Burgess 2007), Grocott's Mail (Lang 2008), The Herald (de Kock 2009) | newspapers periodicals | 2007-2009 | Tourism minimum wage, pineapple cadmium contamination, planned relocation of the processing plant, and water problems. |
| Personal communications and informant lists (Emslie, Penny, Bekker, Venters, Conradie) | interviews oral history | 2008-2009 | Informants compiled the farmer list for sampling and supplied supporting information. |
New data¶
A 2008 structured questionnaire survey of 40 Albany commercial farmers (about 105 in the district), covering farm population, regular, casual and domestic employment, cash wages, rations and other in-kind pay, labour turnover 1993-2008, housing, services and farmer attitudes. It was coded in Excel and aligned with the 1957 and 1977 questionnaires. Farm workers were not interviewed.
Inference¶
Quantification: Descriptive tables.
Descriptive comparative case study of a single magisterial district. The 2008 farmer survey is compared with the 1957 and 1977 surveys and with agricultural census series for 1955–2002. Causal attributions (legislation, price-cost squeeze, ESTA) rest on farmers' stated reasons, reasoning from neoclassical labour theory, and secondary studies, not on econometric testing.
Key claims¶
| Claim | Basis | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Regular farm employment in Albany fell sharply over 1955–2002 and labour density per 1 000 ha fell from 8.24 (1977) to 5.58 (2008). (p. 128) | Agricultural Censuses 1955/1976/2002 (Table 6.7), Antrobus's 1977 survey and the 2008 survey, compared by simple ratios. | Partial data |
| Casualisation occurred: casual labour rose from 39% of the total labour force in 1957 to 62% in 2002, mainly after 1976, attributed to labour legislation lowering transaction costs of casuals. (p. 131) | Antrobus (1984) and Agricultural Census figures in Table 6.8; farmers' stated reasons from the 2008 survey, with a census caveat on changing methods. | Partial data |
| Minimum wage legislation and the BCEA reduced demand for regular labour and, together with ESTA and the price-cost squeeze, reduced the number of farm residents. (p. 140) | Farmer opinions in the 2008 survey (Table 5.12, attitude statements) and anecdotal reasons given for decline, supported by the theoretical literature. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| Cash became a larger share of remuneration while rations declined; in 2008 only 42.5% of farms gave regular rations and cash wages were 72% of total remuneration. (p. 83) | 2008 survey Tables 5.7–5.11 compared with Roberts and Antrobus findings that all farms rationed. | Partial data |
| Most farms paid roughly the statutory minimum as their lowest wage, with wage differentiation within farms compressed after minimum wage legislation. (p. 87) | 2008 survey wage Tables 5.7–5.8 and Figure 5.1 against the R1 090 minimum; farmers' comments. | Systematic data |
| Working hours fell from an average of 63.2 per week in 1957 to 51.1 in 1977 and 43 in 2008. (p. 134) | Antrobus's recalculation of Roberts's 1957 data, the 1977 survey and the 2008 survey (Table 6.11). | Partial data |
| A price-cost squeeze (pineapples, diesel, fertiliser, wages) and growth of private game reserves drove farmers toward extensive, low-labour farming. (p. 121) | COMBUD budgets, Venters/Pineapple Growers price data and Department of Labour wages (Table 6.5, Figure 6.1); farmer testimony; Sims-Castley studies on PGRs. | Partial data |
| Labour costs fell as a share of current expenditure (43% in 1957 to 17.6% in 2002) despite farmers' complaints about rising labour costs. (p. 132) | Antrobus (1984) and Antrobus and Antrobus (2008) citing the 2002 Agricultural Census (Table 6.10). | Partial data |
The author's caveats¶
Acknowledges that the 2008 sample (40 of about 105 farmers) is not a random stratified sample because farm purchases by private game reserves obscured the farmer population, and that only four 'survivors' from earlier surveys were found. Farm workers were not interviewed, so farmer-reported answers on workers' behalf must be treated with caution. Past quantities were recalled as approximations. Farmers' recalled March 2003 wage rates were too rough and were excluded. Census casual labour figures use inconsistent methods across years. The 1957 questionnaire had severe limitations on wages and in-kind payments and needed a supplementary postal questionnaire. Census comparison for 2002 and the survey comparisons are acknowledged as cautious.
Gaps in the evidence¶
The argument that legislation caused casualisation, job loss and decline in residents rests on farmers' self-reported reasons, with no worker-side data, payroll or wage-bill records, or before-and-after comparison with a control group. Farm-level census microdata for Albany, Department of Labour inspection records, and worker interviews or household surveys would test causal attribution and compliance. The 1957 and 1977 questionnaires and datasets exist in archives and thesis form, so re-analysis of the raw responses was possible. The 2003 wage baseline was dropped, and no real-wage series or controls for output prices, land-use conversion to game reserves or farm consolidation are provided, so legislation cannot be separated from the price-cost squeeze.
Replicability: Data described but not public.