Agricultural activity takes place within a wider social, environmental and economic context, and so any attempt at compiling a list of the laws which affect agriculture necessarily goes beyond the laws administered by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD). The reader will find two lists of legislation: one of laws pertaining immediately to agriculture, and a second list of other legislation. The latter could be more exhaustive, but at the expense of its helpfulness.
Several websites will be of assistance to the reader, like www.gov.za, www.polity.org.za and www.acts.co.za. Information can also be found on related / relevant websites e.g. to find out more about the Meat Safety Act, visit the website of the Red Meat Abattoir Association – www.rmaa.co.za; if you are looking for information about the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), visit www.cites.org etc.
All bills and their current status are available at https://pmg.org.za/bills, website of the Parliamentary Monitoring Group, and under the legislation option at https://agbiz.co.za (Agbiz website).
In no way is this page meant to take the place of professional legal aid, and you are encouraged to consult a qualified practitioner should you be requiring legal expertise.
Find “Legislation and legal procedures” under the “Resource Centre” option at www.dalrrd.gov.za.
Find copies of the legislation at www.dalrrd.gov.za.
See also the “Labour, staff and education” subheading
The Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act 57 of 2002) and the National Disaster Risk-Management Framework of 2005 address agricultural risk management and climate change, and are supplemented by climate change-related policies and programmes.
See “Environmental legislation” page.
Note also that there are various provincial ordinances.
Should you wish to check up on the status of a bill, visit https://agbiz.co.za/legislation/bill-tracking on the website of Agbiz, or www.pmg.org.za, website of the Parliamentary Monitoring Group.
Refer to the “Labour and agriculture” page for details of companies which do health and safety training, and stock safety clothing and equipment.
It is important for farmers to maintain certain standards with regard to labour regulations – not only to protect farm workers, but also themselves.
Health and safety issues in the South African agricultural sector are becoming increasingly important, following an international trend that focuses on this field. The health and safety of workers is also important in terms of compliance with labour law and for the prevention of occupational injuries.
Measures to improve health and safety on site include enforcing workers to wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), for example:
Effective use of signage also contributes to compliance with health and safety standards and should be easily visible to all active working areas. Signage should be diagrammatic in nature, so that its meaning is easily understood by people of different education levels / home languages. Signs can be used for a number of different purposes, such as:
Effective health and safety on site also requires the designation of responsible persons for a specific task, e.g. fire marshal in charge of a fire evacuation exercise. In this way, management of specific events can be controlled more efficiently.
Agri SA compiled an information document on how to deal with unlawful occupation of land.
A clear distinction must be made between unlawful access to property and “squatting” in the normal course of events on the one hand and a sudden and orchestrated invasion of property by people on the other hand. In the case of a sudden and orchestrated occupation of property, swift and determined action must be taken against the people concerned. This will require the participation of all role players.
When the police are informed of a large-scale land invasion, it is important that action be taken as soon as possible. Land invasions are usually accompanied by violent occupation of land.
If this happens, the owner could obtain an urgent eviction order in terms of Prevention of Illegal Eviction and the Unlawful Occupation of Land of 1998. The SA Police Services (SAPS) SAPS must investigate the incident to ascertain whether any offences had been committed.
In all cases where land invasions are policed, a detailed record must be kept for evidence purposes.
The following procedures were cleared with the police at national level for action taken by land owners or persons authorised to act on behalf of the owner: Any action that is indicative of unlawful occupation of farms must immediately be reported by the land owner or his/her authorised representative to the local police and a complaint of trespassing must be lodged in terms of section 1 of the Trespass Act (Act No. 6 of 1959). If the land owner has any information or has received any threats which are indicative of a farm invasion, this must also be reported to the local police without delay.
If a period of time had already elapsed before such occupation was noticed, the land owner or his representative must apply to the court for an eviction order in terms of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction and Unlawful Occupation Act (Act No. 19 of 1998) and the incident must also be reported to the nearest police station.
The following operational procedures are also in place and organised agriculture’s representatives in the local joints priority committee must become involved in the execution thereof:
Intelligence will, on a weekly basis, monitor the climate which could lead to unlawful farm occupation and will observe the groups that could become involved in orchestrating such actions.
Land owners should take the following action:
(Find contact details below)
Further reference:
Courts
Included amongst the many Useful Guides on www.labour.gov.za are the following:
Find the documents and necessary forms on www.labour.gov.za. These include information on:
Amongst the other useful websites, publications and other media aids are the following:
