Sound labour practices and relations under the spotlight

ESTIE DE VILLIERS, editor, SA Graan/Grain

In the February edition of SA Graan/Grain we spoke to Mr Kallie Schoeman of Schoeman Boerdery (Delmas). We asked him what his approach to labour relations is and also what the main labour practices are that they place an emphasis on. In this edition we are focussing on their contribution to the socio-economic development of the labourers on the farm.

Training and financial assistance

“Training is important to us. We have nursery schools on the farm as well as a primary and high school. Even children who live in the town, are being brought by bus to the schools on the farm. The schools practice discipline and we are very proud of our matrics who had a pass rate last year of 78%,” Schoeman proudly told SA Graan/Grain. “We also give study loans and sponsorships to the top students of our personnel.

“We furthermore have a training programme for the bread winners of the families to teach them financial management and how to apply it in their households. We have a loan scheme with subsidised interest rates for our personnel in order to help them not to have to loan money from loan sharks (who ask absurd interest rates). We always tell them to rather talk to us when they want to buy something.”

Spiritual care

A full-time pastor on the farm provides counselling and helps personnel to conquer social wrongs, such as divorce, alcohol abuse, trauma and child molestation.

Clinic

At the clinic on the farm a full-time clinic sister is on call and the clinic also serves as an HIV/Aids centre.

“Roughly ten years ago, we launched an HIV/Aids campaign and all our personnel went for a voluntary aids test so that everyone could know their status. There are currently 52 employees who are HIV positive and who receive free antiretroviral treatment at the clinic,” Schoeman said. He said that since the campaign was launched, no one on the farm has passed away due to aids related illnesses.

Sport and recreation

“We provide transport to our personnel for sporting events and funerals, which are very important to them. They spend a lot of time playing netball and soccer. Regular competitions are held between the farms and between the farms and the towns.”

Job creation programmes

Schoeman Boerdery helps where possible to provide work creation programmes on the farm for the spouses of our personnel. There is currently a sewing project on the farm where school uniforms as well as uniforms for security companies are being made and sold. The farm also boasts our own bakery, which is run by our personnel’s spouses, where personnel can buy fresh bread and rolls on a daily basis.

“A new project being driven by my wife, Elna, is ‘Junk to Funk’, where recyclable materials, such as newspapers and plastic bags, are being reprocessed. They make gift bags from newspapers and from the plastic bags they weave place mats and even cell phone bags.”

It is no surprise that Schoeman Boerdery’s vision is “Through the generations we are and will continue to be a blessing to our people, our community and our country.” Clearly this is what they strive towards.

Share your good labour practices with your fellow producers

Grain SA members are welcome to share with other producers their positive labour practices and relations on the farm or methods that they’ve implemented that works for them. Send an email to estiedv@mweb.co.za and we will contact you.