Farmworkers’ dissatisfaction with their low pay is warranted, Stellenbosch Deputy Executive Mayor Martin Smuts said last week at a book launch outside the Winelands town. “Privileged kids often have breakfast in the morning with a value of around R150, so asking for a living wage of R150 is reasonable,” he said. Smuts was speaking at a workshop around a new Stellenbosch … [Read more...]
Parties unite to solve 400-year-old problem
The Western Cape is one step closer to finding long-term solutions for dealing with damage-causing jackal and caracal, reportedly costing farmers across South Africa a total of R20 million last year. CapeNature met with organisations representing animal welfare, conservationists, veterinarians, academic and research institutions, farmers and professional hunters earlier this … [Read more...]
52 Cranes perish in the Karoo
Farmers and farm workers are encouraged to report mortalities of Cranes and show where they occur, so that they can be recorded and some proactive measures can be taken to prevent such incidents in the future (such as marking of power lines with flappers). In total, 52 mortalities were recorded from January to November 2010 (these can be seen in the table below). These … [Read more...]
Is this the price of your Sunday roast?
In South Africa the killing of leopards and predators on livestock farms continues, on the grounds that they are a problem to farmers. A leopard caught and left in a trap on a livestock farm in Uniondale died of dehydration and sepsis, and was left to rot in the trap. The use of gin traps (alias 'soft-catch traps'), poisons, denning and hunting dogs is common and still legal … [Read more...]
