Agri Kultuur July / Julie 2016 | Page 30

Charlene Nieuwoudt E xploring innovative ways in which to make contracts easier to understand for farm workers, Indigo Fruit Growers who produce, pack and supply Clemengold™ mandarins to the local and international market, is championing change in the industry by offering their fruit picking employees the world’s first Comic Contracts. Comic Contracts® is an idea developed by Robert de Rooy, a South African lawyer based in Cape Town and legal counsel for Clemengold™ for many years. A Comic Contract uses visualisation to improve the understanding of contractual terms: the parties are represented by characters and illustrations are used to explain the terms of the contract. Challenging the taken-for-granted assumption that only text can capture the terms of a contract, a Comic Contract is a binding agreement using mainly pictures instead of words. The parties sign the comic as their Contract. Robert de Rooy explains: “It is based on the fact that pictures are easier to understand and easier to remember. The purpose of a Comic Contract is to empower the parties to understand each other, to understand what they expect from each other, and what they are committing to.” Comic Contracts® have been especially designed to address the needs of vulnerable employees: employees who either cannot read well or have difficulties understanding the language in which the contract is written. Whilst the legal system requires that all employees have an employ- ment contract, it assumes that everyone can read proficiently and understand the contractual terms presented to them. However, this is rarely the case in South Africa. Especially in sectors employing lowskill workers (agriculture, mining, manufacturing, domestic workers), employees are rarely in a position to understand – or question – the contracts that they are given to sign. For Robert de Rooy, “the way in which most contracts are drafted and presented (‘this is standard,