Poverty pushes children to leave school and toil on farms

Msinga teenager Zandi Xaba, 15, has not attended school since she was eight because she has seven mouths to feed.

For Xaba, who lives in the remote northern KwaZulu-Natal area, generating a meagre income has taken precedence over attending school .

Xaba, who this week found work on a potato farm, earns R300-R500 a month. "I don't want to go to school . I haven't been since 2000. I have a duty to help my family. There are seven mouths to feed."

Xaba's plight is reflected in a recent study by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), that investigated child agricultural labour in three communities in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. It also looked at non- agricultural work .