When I received the invite sometime in May this year I was so touched and right away said to myself come hell or high water I must do something to honor this invitation. It was so early to make commitment but went ahead and told my staff that on the day of this invite they must make sure that my diary is cleared. I quote from my own instructions that I gave to my secretary 'This invite is very early, I hope and pray that I do not disappoint these people, I really want to attend'.

The reason this invite was particularly touching to me was because the beneficiaries of this project are people who, at this day and age are still marginalized, people who barely smell the fruits of our political independence and let alone experiencing it. When talking about Farm Workers I am reminded of one farm worker that I met in one of community meetings somewhere in Worcester.

In tears he said and I quote, 'Minister, meanwhile most people are now talking in terms of economic freedom, referring to Black Economic Empowerment Prorammes, farm workers are yet to experience their own political independence'. These words always linger in mind up until such time that we have collectively won the battle against the ill treatment of farm workers in this country.

The reason I did not want to miss this particular day is not only the fact that these 8 families are today getting their houses new houses, I also wanted to thank the Papkuilsfontein Vineyard owners for the manner in which they have treated their farm workers-without being compelled by law, which most farm owners blatantly ignore, you have treated the farm workers with high level of respect and dignity.

You are probably the first farm owners, I would argue, who have set a unique example that has never crossed the minds of your counterparts. Most farm owners think that farm workers are only human beings when it comes to generating them those millions of rands and cease to be when they have to be treated as such.

Every time I hear a story about farm workers, rest assured it's negative, our people getting evicted without any Court Order, without alternative accommodation, others get beaten to death while the some are deliberately being run over by tractors, all sorts of sad and absurdly inhuman stories.

In the light of all these perpetual negative stories, one would therefore hardly think that there are still descent and humane farm owners like the Papkuilsfontein Vineyard owners, who would take it upon themselves to conduct a survey with the sole intention of identifying their own workers' needs. Upon identifying those needs you acted accordingly. For that, I would like to say on behalf of government, we are truly grateful.

I am told that the farm workers' houses initially did not have ceiling, only a cement floor, they would walk a long distance when going to the toilet because they were outside, typical of the apartheid design and that the rooms were not subdivided-meaning that the parents had no privacy at all. I am grateful to you for realizing that this situation was not conducive for any normal human being to stay in. With your own money you conducted the survey, with your own money you renovated these houses.

Not only did you just do that for the sake of closing their mouths, you still made sure it was descent and of high quality standard. Building an 82 square meter house without even asking a cent from government could only illustrate your sense of humanness and that of commitment to building this country. These houses are by far the biggest than those built by developers and contractors-who use government subsidy and still cannot afford to give beneficiaries at least a 36 square meter house.

All they are ever interested in is nothing else but profit, some developers do not even complete those projects and would run away. Today these families can shower in the privacy of their own houses, no longer have walk in the cold and sometimes in the rain when they visit the small room, the parents won't have worry about children when conducting their bedroom business, which is in line with the restoration of moral regeneration, and I take my hat off to the Papkuilsfontein Vineyard owners.

The fact that you even agreed to the establishment of Maluti Groeneklooof Community Trust to represent the farm workers, whom I am told have done the wonderful job in doing so, demonstrates that you have no hidden agendas and that you really want to work in harmony with your workers.

As if that was not enough, you went on to making sure that as farm owners you did not remain the sole beneficiaries of this farm's produce. I am told that through the Maluti Groenekloof Community Trust you have turned these farm workers from just mere workers into skilled farm workers. They now have farm management as well as grape growing skills. Those are very rare skills and I challenge the beneficiaries of this project to make something out of them. I hope to see some of you at some stage managing your own farms, and I honestly don't believe that this idea is far fetched.

I would like to end by asking the Papkuilsfontein Vineyard owners to challenge their counterparts to treat our people with respect. Make them realize that just because people have gotten old and some of them disabled does not mean they cease being human beings.

Those farmers who continue ill-treating our people, ignoring the law, their days of doing that are just about to be over. The Land Affairs Department is even tightening more screws in as far as the Extension of Security of Tenure Act is concerned.