Abstract
M.A.
The modern day approach towards community development is to
facilitate a community-driven and self-sustaining development
process. Development is a process by which the members of a
society increase their personal and institutional capacities,
mobilise and manage resources, produce sustainable and justly
distribute improvements in their quality of life consistent with
their aspirations. The reasons why farm workers in commercial
agricultural communities are becoming involved in their own
development; what motivates them; and the capacities they need
to remain involved; are some of the areas that this study
addresses. This study focuses on the labour-extensive and
labour-intensive farming communities in the Boland/Swartland
regions of the Western Cape Province.
A purposeful non-probability sample was taken from five labourextensive
and five labour-intensive commercial farming
communities within a fifty kilometre radius of Wellington.
Focus groups as method were used to interview the specifically
selected respondents. Qualitative data was collected according
to a participatory research method and a visualization technique
was utilized to record the data.
Some of the important results of this study indicate that the
commercial farmer has to take an interest as an important
resource and partner in the development of the farm worker's
communties. The farmworker's communities are seeking support
from the new democratic structures, the Transitional Rural
Councils, to assist them with their development efforts. The
process of developing ownership and taking responsability for
one's own development, needs to be strengthened by including the
farmworkers in the decision-taking process on farms regarding
community development through structures like farm-forums or
farm-committees.