The burden of responsibility and the breakdown of traditional paternalism on farms in the Western Cape

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Periodical article

Title:	The burden of responsibility and the breakdown of traditional paternalism on farms in the Western Cape
Author:	Walters, Handri
Year:	2012
Periodical:	Anthropology Southern Africa (ISSN 2332-3264)
Volume:	35
Issue:	3-4
Pages:	91-99
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	farms workers' housing legislation
Abstract:	The transition that followed the 1994 democratic election in South Africa brought with it a host of progressive legislation aimed at the provision of a secure environment for those previously marginalised. The Extension of Security of Tenure Act (ESTA) (1997) was an example of such progressive legislation and aimed at providing tenure security specifically for farm workers. To a large extent ESTA, and other legislation, interrupted traditional paternalism on the farms, where farmers, now faced with legislated expectations and accompanying responsibilities to comply with basic requirements for housing on the farms, started to imply strategies to lessen their responsibilites and, in the process, lessen the amount of housing available to farm workers. The implementation of ESRA and the move away from paternalism on the farms brought with it a number of unintended consequences, often resulting in the creation of a less secure environment for exactly those it was supposed to protect. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]