IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/deveza/v24y2007i4p595-606.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Down on the farm and barefoot in the kitchen: farm labour and domestic labour as forms of servitude

Author

Listed:
  • Stu Woolman
  • Michael Bishop

Abstract

This article evaluates the claim that working conditions for farm workers and domestic workers in South Africa can be analysed in terms of the constitutional prohibition against servitude. Recent research and statistics suggest that for most of these workers the conditions fit the accepted definition of servitude. Although a finding that the constitutional right to be free from servitude has been violated is not a straightforward matter, the existing research provides the empirical and legal predicates for such a finding. The appropriate remedy for violations of the 1996 Constitution's prohibition against servitude is the creation, by the state, of a comprehensive and coordinated programme designed to realise the manumission of these workers. The use of law as a tool for social transformation has inherent limits. At a minimum, however, a legal finding of such a constitutional infraction obliges the state to employ all available means at its disposal to restore the dignity of these workers. No one may be subjected to slavery, servitude or forced labour. (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Section 13)

Suggested Citation

  • Stu Woolman & Michael Bishop, 2007. "Down on the farm and barefoot in the kitchen: farm labour and domestic labour as forms of servitude," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 595-606.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:deveza:v:24:y:2007:i:4:p:595-606
    DOI: 10.1080/03768350701577764
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03768350701577764
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/03768350701577764?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rulof Burger & Derek Yu, 2006. "Wage trends in post-apartheid South Africa: Constructing an earnings series from household survey data," Working Papers 10/2006, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Darma Mahadea, 2012. "Prospects Of Entrepreneurship To The Challenge Of Job Creation In South Africa," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(04), pages 1-17.
    2. Derek Yu, 2007. "The comparability of the Statistics South Africa October Household Surveys and Labour Force Surveys," Working Papers 17/2007, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    3. Hassan Essop & Derek Yu, 2008. "The South African informal sector (1997 – 2006)," Working Papers 03/2008, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    4. Arden Finn, 2015. "A National Minimum Wage in the Context of the South African Labour Market," SALDRU Working Papers 153, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    5. Rulof Burger & Rachel Jafta & Dieter von Fintel, 2016. "Affirmative action policies and the evolution of post-apartheid South Africa's racial wage gap," WIDER Working Paper Series 066, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Nicola Branson & Martin Wittenberg, 2014. "Reweighting South African National Household Survey Data to Create a Consistent Series Over Time: A Cross-Entropy Estimation Approach," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 82(1), pages 19-38, March.
    7. Heinrich R. Bohlmann, 2012. "Reducing illegal immigration to South Africa: A dynamic CGE analysis," Working Papers 201213, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    8. Nicola Branson, 2009. "Re-weighting the OHS and LFS National household Survey Data to create a consistent series over time: A Cross Entropy Estimation Approach," SALDRU Working Papers 38, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    9. Serena Merrino, 2020. "Measuring labour earnings inequality in post-apartheid South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-32, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Charles Meth, 2007. "Sticking to the Facts: Official and Unofficial Stories about Poverty and Unemployment in South Africa," Working Papers 07123, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    11. Neil Rankin & Rulof Burger & Friedrich Kreuser, 2015. "The elasticity of substitution and labour-displacing technical change in post-apartheid South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 101, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Rulof Burger & Rachel Jafta & Dieter von Fintel, 2016. "Affirmative action policies and the evolution of post-apartheid South Africa's racial wage gap," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-66, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Abhijit Banerjee & Sebastian Galiani & Jim Levinsohn & Zoë McLaren & Ingrid Woolard, 2008. "Why has unemployment risen in the New South Africa?1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 16(4), pages 715-740, October.
    14. Carlos Gradín, 2018. "Occupational gender segregation in post-apartheid South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 53, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Rulof P. Burger & Francis J. Teal, 2015. "The Effect of Schooling on Worker Productivity: Evidence from a South African Industry Panel," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 24(5), pages 629-644.
    16. Friedrich Kreuser & Rulof Burger & Neil Rankin, 2015. "The elasticity of substitution and labour-displacing technical change in post-apartheid South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-101, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Paula Armstrong & Janca Steenkamp, 2008. "South African Trade Unions: an Overview for 1995 to 2005," Working Papers 10/2008, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    18. Dieter von Fintel, 2016. "Wage flexibility in a high unemployment regime: spatial heterogeneity and the size of local labour markets," Working Papers 09/2016, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    19. Haroon Bhorat & Sumayya Goga, 2012. "The Gender Wage Gap in the Post-apartheid South African Labour Market," Working Papers 12148, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    20. Derek Yu, 2008. "The South African labour market: 1995 – 2006," Working Papers 05/2008, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:deveza:v:24:y:2007:i:4:p:595-606. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CDSA20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.