Publications
Partners
“No one has any idea of what will happen yet with Brexit. Britain can stay in the EU or crash out; we don’t know.” So said Robert Joseph, a British wine expert and author of The Future of Wine has Changed, last week. He was speaking at the annual gathering of VinPro, South Africa’s wine industry body.
It is therefore hard to say how this will affect trade relations with the UK – which, according to SA Wine Industry Statistics, an annual booklet of statistics, is the biggest off-taker of South African wine. In 2017, the country imported 107 million litres of wine.
According to VinPro, South African wine producers are keeping a close eye on developments. It is, however, too soon to predict what will happen with the export agreements between South Africa, the EU and the UK.
“We have export agreements in which we will likely retain the benefits should Brexit happen – as is, or pro rata,” said VinPro CEO Rico Basson.
Land expropriation was also discussed at the gathering. Last month, the draft Expropriation Bill was released for comment, giving the public until February 22 to submit their feedback.
According to Wandile Sihlobo, agricultural economist and head of research at the Agricultural Business Chamber of SA, the outcome of this will provide more clarity on the matter.
“The new bill will not be as radical as one may think, and we should feel better than in December 2017, when we first heard there would be expropriation without compensation. If you look at existing policy documents, they are becoming clearer about what areas of public and private land the government wants to expropriate,” he said.
Sihlobo said the draft bill focused on vacant and unutilised public and private land, land held for speculation, land into which the government has invested more than its worth, and land occupied by labour tenants.
According to Sihlobo, the discussion is not just about restorative justice. “It is also about making sure that there is growth in the sector and there is job creation.”
Author and political commentator Max du Preez agrees.
“It is highly unlikely that functioning farming enterprises will be confiscated,” he said. “Farm invasions are extremely rare in South Africa. I do not recall one in the last couple of years.
“Surveys by the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape show that very few black South Africans want to take on the risks of commercial farmers. Not millions, not hundreds of thousands – maybe tens of thousands.”
Besides Brexit and land reform, the climate remains a concern among South African wine producers. Delegates at VinPro were told how last year’s drought cut South Africa’s 2018 wine grape harvest by 14% compared to the year before, making it the smallest harvest in 13 years.
“Last year was the most challenging season ever. Some vineyards were abandoned to save water or to save other vineyards,” said Francois Viljoen, manager of the viticulture consultation services department at VinPro.
The situation could have been worse, he added, had sector stakeholders – including producers, viticulturists and researchers – not dealt with the situation innovatively.
“If it were not for them, 2018 would have been worse. At a certain stage, we thought losses would be 25% to 30%.”
This year’s wine grape harvest is expected to be better, but not substantially so, he said.
“Some vineyards have taken quite a beating and need some time to recover. There will be a carry-over effect.”
