BRINGING RELIEF to wine tourism workers

by Dr Dirk Troskie, dirkt@elsenburg.com

OOne can state with certainty that of all the industries in the South African agricultural sector, the wine industry has been affected the worst by COVID-19. Since lockdown started on 26 March 2020, wine exports were blocked for four weeks and the domestic sale of liquor was banned on and off over a period of 21 weeks. During a further nine weeks only off-site consumption was allowed, and for limited hours only. The result was that no on-site consumption – and hence liquor sales in restaurants – was allowed for 30 weeks since the start of the lockdown. As can be expected, this stop-start approach to liquor sales had an immense impact on the economy of the province and on the livelihoods of some of its citizens.

The average wine estate has three main streams of revenue: wine sales, some form of restaurant/tasting centre, and tourism activities. All three streams were severely disrupted by the lockdown regulations, with the result that wine businesses were experiencing serious cashflow challenges. As the wine tasting and tourism facilities were idle, the concern developed that wine tourism workers would be the first to lose their jobs. As a result of these challenges, the wine industry, through Vinpro, approached the Western Cape Department of Agriculture for support and one of the options presented by the industry was a wine tourism workers support stipend (WTWSS).

The department considered this request favourably, not only from the perspective of individual wine tourism workers, but also because of the key role of the industry in the economy of the province. Wine grapes represent 50,3% of the 181 233 ha under fruit production in the Western Cape and the replacement value is R33,94 billion. Wine is the third largest export product of the Western Cape economy and contributes 6,5% to the value of exports from the province. The Department of Agriculture estimates that 45 610 people work in the primary production side of the industry and support the livelihoods of 228 053 people. Finally, the wine industry has strong linkages with the tourism sector because of its iconic nature and contributes to the Western Cape being an investment destination of choice.

As a result of the request and the importance of the industry, the department made R12 million available to fund the WTWSS. The key features of the stipend were as follows: a) To prevent the loss of 1 333 wine tourism jobs. b) To make funds available to all qualifying wineries in the Western Cape. c) To allow wineries to claim for three months. d) To make available a stipend of R3 000 per worker per month. e) To enable wineries to apply on behalf of their employees, receive the funds, and pay the stipend to the affected employees. f) Each winery was allowed to claim for a maximum of 10 employees (this was later increased to 20). g) Vinpro collected and retained beneficiary information.

Vinpro administered the stipend and added some of its own funds as a top-up. In the end 1 362 workers working at 254 wineries received benefits from this initiative. The majority (66%) of the recipients were females and 55% were younger than 35 years of age. Finally, about half (48%) of the recipients were coloured, a quarter (25%) black and the balance (27%) white.

It was heart-warming to hear some of the responses from the wineries. Winery 1 commented that “… (the stipend) enabled us to keep people in employment and to protect their livelihoods during these difficult and uncertain times. Winery 2 added that “the funding not only allowed us a breather, but also gave us hope in a hopeless time”. Winery 3 stated that “… the financing … enabled us to retain our personnel and not retrench any of our personnel …”. According to Winery 4 “It was not just about the money, but also the spirit in which this was done”.

The Western Cape Department of Agriculture is grateful that it could bring hope in the lives of people most affected by working in the industry during the pandemic.