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At least 2000 farm workers were issued with retrenchment notices on Wednesday as the agricultural sector shed jobs ahead of the implementation of a new minimum wage, and as mechanisation on farms gathered pace.
Analysts are warning that many more jobs will be shed when the new wage comes into effect at the beginning of next month.
Agricultural Machinery Association secretary Jim Rankin told Business Day he expected farmers to look more closely at mechanisation "in the light of the last six months" -- during which workers went on strike and unions demanded big pay rises.
The new minimum wage for farm workers has been adjusted from R69 to R105 a day.
