2007年VOA标准英语-South African Commission Holds Hearings on Farm

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
18 September 2007

South Africa's Human Rights Commission has launched hearings into labor¹ relations and land rights on the country's farms. The hearings follow a threat by a government minister to seize the land of farmers who abuse their workers. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from Johannesburg.

South Africa's Human Rights Commission has summoned representatives of farm workers, farm owners, the government and legal groups for three days of hearings on social turmoil² in the agricultural sector³.

Chairman Jody Kollapen says the Commission wanted to follow up on the recommendations of a major study four years ago.

"It was evident that the farming sector was still beset⁴ with a whole host of problems, problems with regard to evictions, with regard to the safety of farmers, with regard to simply the material conditions under which farm workers lived," he said.

Many of South Africa's 60,000 farmers and their nearly one million workers are under considerable stress as they try to adapt to global competition and new laws mandating⁷ better wages and living conditions for the workers.

Activists⁸ say these pressures have led to a rise in evictions of workers from farms on which they have lived for generations. There are no official figures, but activists say eight million people have been evicted⁹ in the past 20 years.

Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana last week told parliament the government was prepared to seize the land of farmers who illegally evict⁵ workers.

"The law of the land allows us to expropriate, especially in cases where the law is not followed," she said.

Farmers' organizations quickly protested. The president of Agri-S.A., Lourie Bosman, admitted that a small minority of farmers are guilty of abuses, but said not a single illegal eviction⁶ had been reported to his group this year.

"This creates huge uncertainty," he said. "How can people be threatened with expropriation if they have worked in the laws of this country?"

Farmers complain that the government has done little to address attacks against them. They say 1,800 farm owners have been murdered in the past 16 years.

South Africa's white minority owns an estimated 80 percent of the country's land, down from 87 percent at the end of apartheid 13 years ago.

But the government is under pressure to deliver on a pledge to bring 30 percent of the country's land under black ownership in seven years.

The government prefers to buy land to redistribute to landless blacks and says it will not seize white-owned farms.

But some groups advocate land invasions, such as occurred in neighboring Zimbabwe, to press for more rapid change. Some farmers have received such threats.

Kollapen of the Human Rights commission says the biggest obstacle is implementing¹⁰ the existing laws.

"By and large the problem is not so much one of policy and legal frameworks, but the inability to convert those policies and legal frameworks to good practice," he said.

He says farm workers often do not know how to contest an eviction order and cannot afford to defend themselves if the court is in a town hundreds of kilometers away.

Government officials told the Human Rights Commission they are studying the creation of a call center with advisors¹¹ and an agency to provide lawyers for farm workers. Farmers' groups say they are educating their members on the new labor laws.

But Kollapen says the process will be slow, and some activists say it is too slow to fulfill¹² the expectations of some members of the community.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

3 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 beset   

v.镶嵌；困扰，包围

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• The plan was beset with difficulties from the beginning.这项计划自开始就困难重重。

5 evict   

vt.驱逐，赶出，撵走

参考例句：

• The lessor can evict the lessee for failure to pay rent.出租人可驱逐不付租金的承租人。
• The government always says it's for the greater good when they evict farmers from their land.当政府把农民从他们的土地赶出去的时候，总是号称是为了更大众的利益。

6 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

7 mandating   

托管（mandate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Current requirements mandating that committees keep minutes are too general. 目前对委员会要保持详细记录的指令性要求，还是太过一般化了。
• Mandating that workers who quit without permission forfeit a month's wages. 规定工人私自离岗将受到罚没一个月工资的处罚。

8 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

10 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

11 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

12 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。