Women from different areas in the Langeberg region commemorated Women\’s Day by reflecting on the One Woman, One Hectare campaign and consider how to intensify the campaign.

In a small town called Rawsonville in the Western Cape, more than one hundred women, mostly farm workers and farm dwellers, gathered to commemorate Women\’s Day on 9 August. The women came from different areas including Robertson, Ashton-Zolani, Worcester, Le Chasseur, Montague and Montague Koo and Rawsonville. This year also marks 10 years since the historic farm workers uprising in the Western Cape. Farm workers, especially women, came together to say \’enough is enough\’ demanding better wages and land amongst other demands. The strike first started in De Doorns, and quickly spread to other towns. But farm workers still only earn enough to just about survive and are still without access to land.

In 2014, RWA launched the ONE WOMAN – ONE HECTARE campaign to ensure that women have access to at least one hectare of land with water to grow food. “If women have access to land, it will create opportunities for families to grow their own food and sell it at local markets and shops. Access to land for food can also help women\’s independence, especially for women living in abusive relationships” Denia explained.

Ma Olga, a single mother of five who works as a health worker in her community said, “freedom for me is just a word. It has no meaning for us who are poor. After 25 years I still stay in a shack with my five children and we have almost no access to water and sanitation.”

The rest of the day was spent planning and preparing how to take the campaign forward so that the women could each access a hectare of land, with water. “We must go to the municipalities and demand One Woman One Hectare. If we don’t, we won’t get!” said Denia.