Rural communities – used as ‘voting cattle’ – trapped in vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation, says EFF

By Alicia Mmashakana

THE EFF said the recent HSRC study on the plight of rural communities is a confirmation that the poor in farming or agricultural communities have been ignored with apartheid era disparities of race, gender and class still deeply entrenched in society. 

The party on Wednesday responded to the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) report which found that 60% of households in rural or farming communities are living below the poverty line and called for interventions to address widespread hunger and malnutrition in South Africa.

The HSCR study was commissioned by Tshintsha Amakhaya – a Cape Town-based national alliance of NGOs working in solidarity with social movements to advance land, water and food justice.

“The so-called rural and agrarian transformation is a facade, with farmworkers and farm dwellers enduring relentless exploitation. This means that for 30-years, the African National Congress (ANC) has reduced rural communities to ‘voting cattle’,”