Anthonie Visagie, Farmworker of the Year 2005, talked to farmers and farmworkers about freeing themselves from the past at the Agri Mega Week Farmworker of the Year competition, recently held in Bredasdorp.
Farmers and farmworkers might be very different, but both have farming in their blood. They were born to farm and their families have often worked the land for generations. Farmworkers therefore have much longer employment histories than other population groups. Many will work on the same farm for over 20 years – sometimes even 40 years. Most menial labourers in rural areas usually last only two to three years at the same employer. This is because we are passionate about what we are doing. Just like farmers, we don’t want to do anything else.
Both farmworkers and farmers currently face a lot of uncertainty due to factors ranging from the changing political environment to climate change and produce prices. There’s also a lot of suspicion. Farmers fear farmworkers are going to take their land from them. Many farmworkers, however, are aware of the great risks and responsibility associated with farming and are content with their position on the farm. Even so, we still need to do something to free one another from the hurts of the past.
Stop playing the blame game
Don’t blame yesterday for the problems you have today and grab new opportunities with both hands. Take charge of your situation. You won’t be able to identify the positive if you continuously focus on the negative. And remember you have to believe in yourself. Others might be able to identify your potential, but they can’t develop it for you.
Stop living in denial
W e can’t afford to ignore problems. Something needs to be done to address the things that went wrong in the past. Something needs to be done about the industry’s negative image, as it has a negative impact on everybody associated with it – from farmers to workers. Problems can’t be argued away. We have to start identifying them and do something proactive about them. e also have to ensure we keep our sides clean, that we as individuals aren’t implicated in negative reports so we can restore the industry’s image. By taking charge of our situation, we are freeing agriculture and ourselves.
Be more considerate
By making a difference in someone else’s life, we can start a chain reaction and soon all the negative factors in the industry will be eliminated. This would start with communication.
Farmers, communicate the value of what your workers are doing, so they know how important they are to your production success. Don’t underestimate their intelligence – tell them about your production costs. In return they’ll have a better understanding of the financial situation, and the importance of working carefully with equipment and effectively on the farm.
Workers, do your work passionately, as if you’re working on your own farm. armers must remember that workers are only human. Everybody makes mistakes. It’s interesting, however, how easily farm managers’ mistakes are overlooked in comparison to those of ordinary farmworkers. Also how easily people generalise when workers make mistakes.
We need to treat each other as equals. If you treat someone or judge them on colour, chances are they’ll do exactly the same to you.
Build up, don’t break down
I became one of the first non-white farm managers towards the end of apartheid. Becoming farm manager was like a dream come true, but it also brought huge challenges. I had to deal with my white colleagues’ perception that non-whites aren’t suitable farm managers. People from my own race started to detach themselves from me because they didn’t know how to deal with my new authority. The isolation even extended to my children. Farmworkers’ children no longer wanted to play with them, because they were the boss’s children. My son sadly suffered due to this, and I believe it stopped him pursuing a career in agriculture.
Despite all this, I decided not to be deterred, but to make it to the top – to make a difference, to prove myself as a champion farm manager and to make a better life for my family and myself. Life isn’t always fair In difficult times remember the hard times we’ve already overcome.
Agriculture has always managed to bounce back and with the right attitude and focus we’ll continue to do so. Don’t look into the depths of your problems, but keep focusing on He who has pulled you through so many times before. Then you will be able to rise above your problems. hatever you do, remember that where you’ll be tomorrow is determined by what you’re doing today. So don’t follow the stream. Do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do. – Glenneis Erasmus Contact Anthonie Visagie on 072 043 8285. |fw
