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HST provides free electronic access to over 500 health systems research related reports, publications and papers. Close to 300 of these are publications that have been commissioned and funded by the Trust. Topics include among others district systems development, drug supply management, human resource development, informatics, legislation, finance, environmental health, mental health, lessons learnt, nutrition and sexually transmitted diseases / HIV/AIDS. The main publication of the HST is the annual South African Health Review. From 2005 all HST publications will be available in low resolution only. To explore the range of publications HST offers use the Advanced search to search using a variety of criteria.

Part 1

The purpose in Part I is to arrive at a better understanding of the social and economic position of farm workers in South Africa. To this end, some methodological issues in the measurement of poverty are first discussed. Here, we come to the conclusion that the 'capability model' of Amartya Sen provides an appropriate conceptual framework for such measurement. This is followed by more concrete empirical evidence based on formal data sources as well as field research carried out for the purposes of this report. The main conclusions drawn from this analysis of the data are:

• agriculture and hunting provide 930 000 jobs or 11,4% of South Africa's formal employment , while contributing less than 5% of GDP. 20% of all South African farm workers are found in 10 magisterial districts, mostly in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal

• 70% of all agricultural workers are male . Farm workers are also relatively young, their average household size is relatively small, and the overwhelming majority are South African citizens

• children living on commercial farms are more likely to be stunted and underweight than any other children , while only children in the former homeland areas had a higher prevalence of wasting. Almost one in three children on commercial farms are stunted, one in five are underweight and one in twenty-five display the symptoms of wasting.

• only one in four children on commercial farms are 'food secure' , and almost a third are at risk of hunger. Nevertheless, children on commercial farms are better off than children from other rural and informal sector households

• more than 65% of all farm workers live in a formal dwelling . The quality of housing symbolises the dignity of workers. People find poor quality housing inconvenient and unpleasant, and also degrading and dehumanising

• farm workers have the lowest rates of literacy in the country. The unemployed non-urban labour force has a higher average education level than the average farm worker

• the average cash wage in agriculture in 1996 was R419,00 per month (or R544,00 at current prices 2000) . There is considerable variation at provincial level. Farm workers earn the lowest wages among those formally employed in the country. The ratio of mean to median income in agriculture of below 50% means that farm wages are more skewly distributed than in any other sector of the economy. About a quarter of remuneration is paid in kind. The benefits that accrue to permanent workers depend substantially on the gender of the worker

• female farm workers are paid less than male. This gender disparity exists despite the fact that the female are better educated than male. Female are paid less because the tasks typically performed by female are viewed as less skilled, and because employers often choose to view male workers as 'permanent' while female are viewed as 'casual' workers whose employment is contracted via a male partner

• the gap between female and male who reported receiving UIF, training, medical services and pension or provident funds is substantial. Some employers define only male as permanent workers, so that a distinction between the benefits provided to permanent and temporary workers is manifest as a gender distinction

• there is considerable evidence of a cycle of debt together with high interest rates either to farm shops or directly to the employer on many farms. This appears to be due to the isolation of farms and reliance on employers to provide transport into town. Workers also identified what can be termed 'forced purchases' where the employer insists that they buy certain items, normally farm produce, at specific rates

• there appears to be a lack of clarity among employers and workers on the distinction between payment in kind and benefits . There also appears to be a conflation of payment in kind and deductions. In practice there may be substantial grey areas, particularly in the case of accommodation and for other goods and services for which deductions are made but at below a market rate

• despite the fact that 54% of workers sometimes worked longer hours than the legal limit they generally do not receive any compensation for working overtime. There was no substantial gender discrepancy between the maximum working hours cited by female and male in the sample

• 27% of the sampled farm workers do not get annual leave even though they qualify for full or pro-rata leave. Of those female who indicated that they get annual leave, 28% indicated that they do not get paid for their days of leave, while 92% of the male reported they did get paid during annual leave

• while children of 14 years and younger were reported to be working on farms in seven of the nine provinces, this was found on less than a quarter of the farms in the sample

• there is substantial room for improvement in compliance with labour legislation on farms. Few workers enjoy full labour rights, and female enjoy fewer rights than male

• the position of pregnant female is a cause for concern because many do not get paid maternity leave, and few are members of the UIF. The prevalence of child labour is a further cause for concern. These results should also be assessed against the absenteeism rates experienced by most employers. 72% of employers said that they do not lose more than 5% of labour time due to absenteeism.