Interviews
Farming
A large number of the several thousand people inhabiting the Maandagshoek community rely on small-scale farming. Residents are of the opinion that people are no longer farming because the abundant grazing lands of old have either been taken over by the mine or are slowly dying from incessant environmental degradation. People who once farmed in Maandagshoek are now the poorest in the village as a result of the impact of mining activities in the region. Prior to 1994, the majority of residents from Rammolutsi, located adjacent to the small farming town of Viljoenskroon in the Northern Free State, were either farm workers or workers in a local manufacturing plant, living in township houses built by the apartheid state and/or certain farmers. These days only a few residents remain full-time farm workers, as permanent farm work has been replaced by low-paid 'piece jobs' on surrounding farms. Sometimes the only jobs available on farms are during harvest times. Those not involved in farm work survive predominately on state welfare/pension/social grants and remunerations from relatives working outside the community. Since 1994 Rammolutsi has seen a huge influx of people, mostly as a result of the mass evictions/retrenchments of workers from surrounding farms in the region as well as the local manufacturing plant. Increased job shedding in the commercial farming sector due to mechanization to enhance its global competitiveness has led to an unemployment rate of more than 80%. Many of the farm laborers feel that farm work and relations with white farmers prior to 1994 were better than they are now.An interview with unemployed worker and lifelong Rammolutsi resident Mokete Tsolotlo by Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava.
Date: July 23, 2007An interview with pensioner Molefi John Phasha of Rammolutsi by Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava.
Date: July 24, 2007Part one of the interview with Gabriel Mashakhale, pastor of the local branch of the Apostolic Church and ex-ward councillor in Rammolutsi, by Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava.
Date: July 24, 2007Part two of the interview with Gabriel Mashakhale, pastor of the local branch of the Apostolic Church and ex-ward councillor in Rammolutsi, by Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava.
Date: July 24, 2007First interview with farm labourer Samuel Mahoko of Rammolutsi by Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava.
Date: July 25, 2007This interview with Rabase Lehlohonolo, a Grade 10 high school student and a member of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), was conducted by Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava in Rammolutsi in 2007 as part of the South African History Archive's Alternative History Project, titled 'Forgotten Voices in the Present'.
