Schalk paid farmworkers between R6 and R10 a day

Schalk Burger Snr Picture: Patrick Louw/Daily Voice

Schalk Burger Snr Picture: Patrick Louw/Daily Voice

Published Feb 8, 2017

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Cape Town -  Schalk Burger Snr could be in trouble with the Labour Department for allegedly underpaying his farmworkers.

Employees this week protested outside his house on his wine farm in Wellington, after he failed to pay their full wages last week.

The workers, who are all permanently employed and live on the farm, say for the past two weeks, Burger paid them between R6 and R10 a day.

In five payslips shown to the Daily Voice, issued by Burger Boerdery, workers earned between R42 and R94 for a seven-day week.

This falls far short of the national minimum wage - which for farmworkers currently stands at R128 for a nine-hour day.

Burger made headlines last year, after workers accused him of attempted murder - in a quadbiking incident - racism and calling them “hotnots”.

However, Burger, the father of Springbok rugby player Schalk Burger, has denied he is underpaying workers, claiming his accountant made a “huge error” with payments last week.

Following inquiries on Monday, Burger, his son Tiaan, as well as his accountant Maryann Fourie, all contacted the Daily Voice, claiming they made a bungle with the wage slips for the six workers employed on Burger’s farm, Welbedacht.

Burger first claimed he was not responsible for the wages, saying he used a “contractor” and that the workers were probably short-changed because they were “lazy”.

“They do not get paid by me, I’ve got nothing to do with it,” he said.

“In the harvest they were probably lazy, lying under the trees, and that was for an hour’s pay they must have

gotten.”

But after the Daily Voice emailed him a copy of the salary slip, Burger changed his tune and claimed his accountant had messed up.

Burger’s farmworkers show payslips showing by how much they have been underpaid. Picture: Patrick Louw/Daily Voice

“This was an incorrect payslip due to a computer fault that was corrected early on Monday morning with the piece workers,” Burger said.

But the workers say it was no mistake, as they received the payslips and corresponding monies two weeks in a row.

Last year, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant announced a new minimum wage for the farming and forestry industry - an hourly rate of R14.25, a weekly rate of R641.32, and a monthly rate of R2778.83.

Last week’s salary slip for Sanna, 43, shows a rate of R9.32 per hour - R5 below the legal rate.

Her net pay after deductions - R5.13 for housing and UIF - was only R46.58, and she wasn’t even paid that.

“I am a single parent, how am I going to survive, I do not have a husband,” says the mom of two children.

“I am not happy because we work long hours picking grapes on the farm and even on weekends.”

Despite Burger’s claims, Sanna said by Tuesday night, she had still not been paid.

“A meeting was held with Tiaan and Maryann on Monday and they promised we would be paid. But when I checked my bank account [on Tuesday], there was just zeroes.”

“It’s not the first time we are underpaid, sometimes it’s R300 or less,” she says.

Worker Rena Pietersen, 50, says she was left with R94 after deductions last week.

By Monday, a further R327 was paid into her bank account.

“I was paid R327 but I am supposed to get R640 for the week so I am not happy,” says Rena.

Workers living on the farm are also required to pay for water, electricity and housing.

Tiaan Burger has slammed their accountant for the “mess-up”.

“These people were all on our payroll and it was all incorrect. It was rectified last night [Monday],” he says.

“She made a huge bugger-up and is in the k**, I sent her to go and explain to them, we made sure the money was paid into their accounts,” he said.

“We are ethical in our payments and our books are

audited.”

But a farmworkers’ rights organisation says it is not the first time the Burgers were exposed for allegedly underpaying staff.

Rosaline Engelbrecht, the spokesperson for the Women on Farms Project, tells the Daily Voice: “That farm is notorious, we have dealt with issues like this in the past where wages were incorrect, it is not right.”

Teboho Thejane of the Department of Labour on Tuesday said an inspector will be sent to the farm to investigate the farmworkers’ allegations.

Daily Voice

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