The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has reportedly warned that farmworkers in the country's Western Cape province could resume violent strike action after the government said it was unable to review minimum wage arrangements prior to 4 December.
Protests in early November in the table grape-growing region of De Doorns were followed by further action, notably in the key fruit-producing area of Ceres, with many growers reportedly obliged to employ private security firms in order to protect their businesses.
As reported by Bloomberg, South Africa's largest labour group managed to broker a two-week suspension of strike action pending a minimum-wage review, but Labour Minister Edna Molewa has since told the press that the law precludes the government from setting new minimum wages until April, 12 months on from the last revision.
Cosatu warned in a statement that further strikes “can set back labour relations on farms by decades and could see a reversal to the low-level civil war we all witnessed on farms a few weeks ago".
It added: "The entire country saw the desperation and anger of the workers against these low wages."
Farming group AgriSA has estimated the damage caused by the strikes so far to be worth an estimated R120m (€10.5m), with grape growers in the Western Cape suffering the most damage.
