issued to his boss.176 The worker remarked: “In Tshipise, the workers are not paying R
102 for travel documents.” The lawyer who helps farmers to comply with the corporate
permit provisions told Human Rights Watch: “The farmer deducts the ETD from the
workers’ salary. I charge the farmers R50 to R100 (US$7-14) per worker for a new ETD
application. The precise amount will depend on the numbers of workers.”177 The
lawyer said that he had heard of a company in Johannesburg that charges R5,000
(US$708) to get an ETD for a worker, and the employer deducts the costs from the
worker’s salary. He expressed satisfaction with the service he was providing not only to
farmers but also Zimbabwean migrants. “Those recruited don’t even have that
Z$100,000 [roughly US$1.00] to pay for the ETD. You can also say we are financing the
worker. We’re offering an inexpensive service.”
176
Human Rights Watch interview with a Zimbabwean farm worker, Weipe, April 23, 2006.
Human Rights Watch interview with a white commercial farmer who is also a lawyer, labor consultant, and
labor broker, Makhado, April 25, 2006.
177
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOLUME 18, NO. 6(A)
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