Tesco has come under fire from anti-poverty campaigners accusing it of failing to meet pledges to improve South African fruit pickers’ pay and working conditions, the Guardian has reported.

Three years ago the UK’s number-one retailer agreed to examine conditions for the - mainly female - workers, the newspaper reported, but interviews it conducted with female workers on Tesco supplier farms near Cape Town reveal they are still only being paid South Africa’s “minimum” rather than a “living” wage - which they say leaves them with barely enough money to feed and clothe their children.

Those interviewed receive just 1,231 rand (£97.90) a month.

Tesco is signed up to the UK’s Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), under which it agreed to ensure that “living wages are paid” and “wages should always be enough to meet basic needs and to provide some discretionary income”.

A spokesperson for Tesco told the Guardian that it sourced fruit from around 790 farms in South Africa, “representing a sizeable investment in jobs for thousands of workers, although it is up to individual suppliers to decide how many employees they take on depending on factors such as seasonal demand”.

The retailer also told the newspaper that its ethical trade programme in South Africa went beyond “anything currently attempted by other large supermarkets”, but that it did not think it was “appropriate” for a non-South African organisation to dictate specific pay levels.

It said: “While there remain important challenges, we believe that the South African fruit industry with its partners, including Tesco, is making real progress on improving worker conditions.

“Our responsibility on wages is to ensure that suppliers are following guidance in the ETI base code and national laws. We do not believe it would be appropriate for a non-South African organisation to dictate specific sums - particularly as the national government retains close links with unions and worker organisations.”

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