2 days ago
From poor farmworker to lifeline for vulnerable Western Cape residents — an activist's tireless mission
Billy Claasen knows what it's like to struggle and has dedicated his life to fighting against the abuse of farmworkers and violence against women and children.
Billy Claasen (52), who hails from Piketberg, is the son of a farmworker who was addicted to the 'dopstelsel'. He never wore shoes to primary school and hunted animals at night with his late father for supper.
Despite his difficult upbringing, he beat the odds and now works closely with farmworkers facing evictions, helps family members of victims of gender-based violence (GBV) and murder in court, and takes part in searches for missing children.
His NGO, the Rural and Farmworkers Development Organisation, was established in 2017, and Claasen travels long distances to crime scenes across the Western Cape, often with little more than the goodwill of local businesses for support.
He's stepped in to help residents and victims' families on a number of high-profile cases, including the recent Joshlin Smith trial.
'I always dreamed of becoming something more than just the child of poor farmworkers. In my search for success, life took me in different directions,' said Claasen in an interview.
'I worked on farms and later also had a brief stint in the defence force. I became involved in politics and trade unions and thus emerged as a leader in my communities.'
Recalling the nightmares that still haunt him today, about how farmers used the 'dopstelsel' payment system for farmworkers during apartheid, turning them into alcoholics, he said:
'It wasn't nice to see my father every night drunk and no food in the home. Then my father and I had to go hunt animals so that we had something to eat before going to bed. We lived in an unused pig den, with the walls just raised a bit higher.'
Early this year, Claasen's NGO distributed food, school items and sanitary pads worth R1-million to poor schools in parts of the Western Cape.
On goodwill, a hope and a prayer
Claasen is passionate about the fight against the abuse of farmworkers, illegal evictions and violence against women and children, and he often helps families in their quest for justice.
During the conviction and sentencing of Joshlin Smith's mother, Racquel Smith, and her co-accused, Jacquen Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn, who were sentenced to life in prison for human trafficking and 10 years for kidnapping, Claasen posted on social media that he needed taxi money for Joshlin's father, Jose Emke, to travel from Springbok to attend the proceedings in the Western Cape High Court, which were held in Saldanha Bay.
'There was a huge response, and enough money was raised to allow Joshlin's father to attend the judgment and sentencing proceedings. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who contributed,' he said.
A number of businesses support Claasen's work, but he asked that they not be named.
'Every month a certain petrol garage fills up my tank to ensure that I am prepared for any emergency that may come.'
When 13-year-old Jerobejin van Wyk disappeared in February 2022 in Klawer, the owner of a local guesthouse told Claasen: 'Whenever you are in this town to do work, your accommodation is free.'
He cites the case as one of the most difficult he's encountered. Following Jerobejin's disappearance he received a call requesting his help.
'At that time I was in Klapmuts, 262km from Klawer. I didn't have petrol money when I received the call. My late parents, Jeanetta Andrew and Lewies Andrew, each took R500 from their Sassa grant for me to go and help and look for someone else's child.'
Jerobejin's remains were found in a drain on the accused's property. Claasen says he's never been the same since seeing the drain and 'pieces of flesh of Jerobejin inside'.
In November 2024, the Western Cape High Court, sitting in Vredendal, sentenced Klawer killer Daniel Smit to life imprisonment for Jerobejin's murder.
'Light the flame and rise'
Claasen has a message for children growing up in poverty: 'There is something good in each of you. Light the flame and rise.'
He grew up on a farm called Papkuilvlei, near Redelinhuys. He has five brothers and a sister. He remembers walking 15km barefoot to Redelinghuys Primary until Grade 7.
'I didn't know shoes up until Grade 7. During the cold winter morning with the dew on the grass, I had to urinate on my feet to keep them warm. When I started at Noordhoek Primary, I received my first pair of school shoes from my sister-in-law's brother.
As a child of a poor farmworker, it was always his dream to make something better of his life. He told his dad he wanted to be an advocate one day.
'That was because I saw a farmer beat up farmworkers in front of me, put their furniture along the street, and no one lifted a finger, not even the police,' he explained.
While his school career was cut short, during the 1990s he became involved in the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and, according to Claasen, Cosatu's former Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich was an instrumental guide.
Having worked for years helping farmworkers and victims of crime, in December 2022 Claasen obtained his advanced diploma in public administration from the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
He is immensely grateful for his mentor, Dr Llewellyn MacMaster, now at the Cape Crime Crisis Coalition, who inspired Claasen to never give up hope and brought him sandwiches at UWC.
MacMaster told Daily Maverick: 'One cannot adequately summarise the contribution in terms of quality of an activist like Billy in words. It is incredibly difficult to fight for justice and human dignity for such a long time, not for yourself but for other people.'
Claasen is currently keeping a close eye on the case of a six-year-old boy from the West Coast town of Lutzville who suffered fractures to both his legs after allegedly being run over by a 70-year-old man in September 2024.
The most recent scene Claasen attended was in Slanghoek, Rawnsonville, where a 24-year-old woman, Jolene van Wyk, had been swept away by a swollen river on Saturday, 7 June.
Although Claasen was satisfied with the search efforts to retrieve the body, he said the case serves as an important reminder to authorities:
'Please treat these poor farmworkers with the same urgency and respect as you would affluent foreigners injured at Table Mountain or other areas.' DM
