Guide to Tenure Security Rights on Farms (English)

The Security of Farm Workers Project has contact every day with farm workers. Through this, we have found that there is a misconception by occupiers that the Extension of Security of Tenure Act 62 of 1997 (ESTA) grants occupiers ownership rights to their residences which they occupy on farms. A farm worker does not receive ownership of a house that has been allocated to him on a farm. In the past, prior to November 1997, farm workers had no protection regulating their rights of residence on a farm. As a result, farm workers were unfairly evicted without any court processes being followed by a land owner.