LIMPOPO — Farm workers in Limpopo are calling on the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to set up voting stations closer to their agricultural workplaces, citing severe safety concerns and physical hardships caused by long commutes to cast their ballots.
The agricultural sector remains one of the key employers in the province, with many workers living permanently on the farms where they are employed. However, agricultural employees in Routen, near Moong, report having to walk up to 6 kilometers to reach the nearest voting station.
Workers highlighted the physical toll of the commute, noting that the long walks are exacerbated by extreme heat and a lack of access to water.
“I walk 6 kilometers to the voting station, and usually it is hot and there is no water,” one farm worker stated. “I think it will be better for IEC officials to come to the farm so we can vote.”
While some farm managers assist by transporting their employees to the distant polling stations, workers maintain that bringing a voting station directly to the farm would be a much more efficient solution given the high concentration of residents on the properties.
Impact on Agricultural Production
The distance to polling stations also creates logistical and economic hurdles for farm owners. A local cattle and crop farmer, noted that his property is situated about 6 kilometers from the nearest voting station. To ensure his employees can exercise their democratic right, he personally transports some of his workers and grants them time off to vote independently.
“Without a doubt, the distance has a negative effect on our production,” he explained. “We try and manage them the best way we can. We go to vote ourselves, we pick up workers, and we also give the workers some time off so they can go and vote on their own.”
Balancing Essential Services and Civic Duties
Farm workers involved in cattle, poultry, and dairy production are classified as essential service providers, meaning their duties often extend through weekends and public holidays.
A representative from the Transvaal Agricultural Union explained that farmers typically make special arrangements to accommodate their workers’ civic duties without compromising animal welfare.
“Certain commodities do have essential work, and you cannot put that aside,” the Transvaal Agricultural Union representative noted. “We think here about the dairy, or feeding the sheep, the pigs, and the chickens. There are a lot of things that farmers have to do. On a day such as election day, that is something that the farmers normally make an arrangement with their workers so that they can fulfill those essential services, but thereafter the workers are in a position where they can also go and vote.”
IEC Logistical Challenges in Farming Areas
In response to the growing rural population, the IEC in Limpopo has successfully established 110 voting stations in farming areas across the province. The Waterberg district alone accounts for 60 of these stations, marking the highest concentration of farming-area voting stations in the province.
Despite these efforts, an IEC Limpopo spokesperson highlighted the complex logistical challenges involved in placing stations directly on private agricultural land. The commission aims to set up voting stations at the nearest possible point to the farms, but property transitions frequently disrupt their planning.
“In the farms, things change almost on a daily basis,” the IEC spokesperson explained. “You find that originally there was a farm school that the IEC was using as a voting station. Now, with time, when that farm is sold to a new owner, that new owner never wants to have anything to do with a farm school, and then the farm school gets closed.”
The spokesperson added that when the IEC attempts to negotiate with new landowners to allow partial use of these former school facilities for electoral purposes, they are sometimes refused access, forcing the commission to relocate stations further away from the workers.
