I was arrested on October 9, 2005, while I was working on the farm. I’m a tractor driver. They accused us of poaching wild animals on the owner’s game farm. We denied. In the car driven by the white farmer, we were taken to the security company car. They took us to the bush. At the bush, we were instructed to get the snares from the bush. There we were brutally assaulted with batons. Late at night, around 7 p.m., they took us to Musina to their private-like jail. We slept there. Next day we were taken to the farm. That morning they assaulted us. Again we were being forced to point to snares. They start taking statements without asking us anything. They take us to the owner. Then to Musina in the bush. We were kept there. We were not given any food, no water. Around 3 p.m. we were taken to the police station. We were locked into the police cells. On the third day, we went to court. The case was remanded [on two occasions]. On March 15 the case was withdrawn for lack of evidence. I want to take civil action against the security officials.160 The Nkuzi Development Association’s lawyer who represented the man said the police wanted to deport the two Zimbabweans (one has since died) but they could not because they had permits.161 Housing and living conditions In the apartheid era, white commercial farmers received state subsidies to build workers’ housing. Since that time, provisions in the Sectoral Determination for farm workers have discouraged employers from building worker housing. Farmers told Human Rights Watch that in the Sectoral Determination the prevailing maximum deduction allowed for accommodation—10 percent of a worker’s wages if an individual worker occupies the house and a lower percentage deduction for each worker when a house is shared—and the high prescribed standards (see above) give them no incentive to provide housing for farm workers.162 Section 26(1) of the constitution states: “Everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing.” Section 26(2) says: “The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of this right.” The Constitutional Court in its 2000 ruling directed the government to take 160 Human Rights Watch interview with a Zimbabwean farm worker, Tshipise, April 22, 2006. Human Rights Watch interview with lawyer Shirhami Shirinda, Nkuzi Development Association, Tshipise farm, April 22, 2006. 162 Section 8(3) of the Sectoral Determination specifies the prescribed standards of housing, and sections 8(1)(b), 8(5), and 8(6) govern maximum deductions for accommodation. 161 45 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOLUME 18. NO. 6(A)

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