Cape Town - Some of the farmers who helped the Zimbabwean farmworkers who were violently chased from their homes in xenophobic attacks in De Doors on Tuesday, received threats shortly afterwards.

The threats came on the same day that the Minister of Labour, Membathisi Mdladlana, threatened to come down "like a ton of bricks" on farmers who employed illegal immigrants as they fanned xenophobic violence.

The threats, apparently made by local workers towards De Doorns farmers who gave shelter to the Zimbabwean workers, were condemned in the strongest terms by the Hex River Valley Table Grape Association and Agri Western Cape, amongst others.

Several farmers gave shelter to their Zimbabwean workers after local residents drove 3 000 Zimbabweans from their homes in De Doorns, broke down their homes and prevented them from going to work.

Job opportunities

The local residents claim the Zimbabweans are willing to work for less than the minimum wage, and steal the local community's job opportunities.

"The agricultural sector is tired of always being accused of all kinds of lies without any of these allegations being backed up by fact. These lies are used to cause a commotion and to create perceptions that don't exist," Agri Western Cape claimed.

"The eyes of the world are already on us and attacks on innocent people are definitely not to the advantage of the country's image - and definitely not to the advantage of the image of agriculture."

Boetie Kriel, a director of the Hex River Valley Table Grape Association, to which all the producers in the region belong, said the association followed the law closely and they would see to it that a producer who transgressed the law, would be prosecuted.

"A person like that won't be hidden," said Kriel.

He added that the majority of producers paid their local as well as their foreign employees more than the prescribed wage.

'Troublemakers'

Kriel said the allegations did a lot of harm to the Hex River Valley's image and it was clear that "troublemakers in De Doorns" were causing the situation.

Fatima Shabodien, executive director of the pressure group, Women on Farms, on Wednesday visited the roughly 2 000 homeless Zimbabweans on the De Doors rugby field.

She believed the root of the problem was the exploitation of farmworkers.

She admitted that the Zimbabweans were paid the minimum wage, but many did not get contracts and were vulnerable due to their refugee status.

"The point is: How do we protect farmworkers' rights? The Department of Labour must do its part," she said.

- Die Burger