PORT ELIZABETH - ATHOL TROLLIP BREAKS DOWN DURING MEDIA ADDRESS ABOUT FORMER FARM WORKERS ABUSE ALLEGATIONS

Nelson Mandela Bay DA mayoral candidate Athol Trollip broke down and cried on Friday, while addressing the media on allegations that several former farm workers were abused and treated with no dignity at his Mount Prospect family farm in Bedford in the Eastern Cape.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) called a press conference after the former farm workers gave a tearful account of their alleged experiences at an African National Congress (ANC) press conference on Thursday.

Allegations that Trollip and his family abused workers' rights is subject to two law suits that he launched against former DA PR Councillor Knight Mali and ANC councillor Lawrence Troon.

The allegations first surfaced last year and Trollip has continually denied statements calling it “manufactured, baseless and politically motivated”. Trollip dismissed the claims as a “ dirty smear campaign”, an “orchestration” by the ANC adding that some of the “workers” had never been employed on the family's farm.

Trollip said that he was the first to ask the SA Human Rights Commission earlier in March to conduct an investigation into the matter. “The SAHRC have not done their work, they have confounded the defamation and reputational harm that was done by these complainants...if the SAHRC do not investigate this matter properly and give me the pre-scripts of the provision of the administration justice act we will take them to the High Court on review, this matter is that serious,” said Trollip.

Trollip went as far to pull out his wage book from 1983 as to show that he proof of salaries paid with the names of the people who worked for him. He said that Rich Ngalo was the youngest child of a man he respected very much, he added that he tried to assist Ngalo to get a job with the South African Police Service but disputed that he had ever worked for him Trollip said when the family farm was sold in 2005 the arrangement was that the staff would be ensured their jobs and residential security.

“When the farm was finally sold workers were paid the relevant severance packages and one week wages for every year worked. This calculations was done including the weekly grocery allocation which was incidentally excluded in legislation to determine the minimum wage at the time...my staff earned considerably more than the going wage and I carried food price inflation at my cost,” said Trollip.

Trollip appeared deeply hurt by allegations made by his former “right hand man” David Kota who claimed he was paid a mere R6 a month. “I assisted him to get his driving licence, we attended many funerals together and the funeral of his wife.”

The former farm workers previously claimed they endured unfair working hours and were made to live without electricity and no toilets. But Trollip said that he too at a time lived with no electricity.

“There was a long drop on that farm, things improved as means allowed and as pumping water became more and more available. There was no electricity at first, I grew up with a generator. When we got Eskom electricity I put electricity into the houses, I paid for all of it,” he said.

Meanwhile, 63-year old Mabel Skhepe who worked for the Trollip's as a domestic worker for over 10 years attended the press conference, she said that she wanted to give her account after hearing “lies” about Athol Trollip.

Trollip went as far as explaining how she made her journey to the press conference in Central and that Skhepe had attended the meeting through her own initiative.

“Mlungisi Tshotyana never worked for the Trollip's he must not lie, these people never did these things he is claiming. He [Tshotyana] was an ANC councillor with my husband,” she said.

VIA - iol.co.za