The South African Wine Initiative

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The South African Wine Initiative is an organisation that seeks to create global awareness of the exploitation of workers and environmental abuses as they allegedly relate to the South African wine industry and its practices.

Strike-breaking with mechanical harvesters

Until the late 1990s, all grapes in South African

Mechanical harvesters
were originally brought in as a strike-breaking ploy, however vineyard owners quickly saw their economic benefits for the profitability of their businesses. Each machine replaced 200 workers and could be operated by only one driver. As a result of the introduction of these machine during the last year of Apartheid (1994) thousands of South African workers were left unemployed and homeless.

Legacy of the dop system

The South African wine industry was also responsible for the "

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) in the world. According to research, some 25,000 FAS children are born in South Africa every year.[2] The wine industry does not currently carry any responsibility in terms of addressing these issues.[3]

Animal parts in wine

Mechanical harvesters are machines that straddle grape vines and through a combination of vibration and suction harvest grapes off the vine. As a consequence of this action, an indeterminate number of insects, reptiles, small mammals and bird's eggs are processed with the grapes as they are turned into wine. Manual labourers claim that since there is no human perception and decision-making in the mechanical reaping process, these creatures end up in a "destalking screw" where their blood and debris contaminates the wine.[4]

Cape Dwarf Chameleon

Of particular concern is the decimation of the

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)-protected species.[5] South African law (ordinance 19 of 1974, 44.1C) states that it is illegal to produce a product with a part of a protected species without the necessary permit. To date the Department of Cape Nature Conservation has issued no such permit to the South African Wine Industry. Thus, advocates for environmental rights claim the use of mechanical harvesters is illegal if their use endangers the chameleon.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ripe with Abuse. Human Rights Conditions in South Africa's Fruit and Wine Industries". Human Rights Watch. 23 August 2011. p. 8. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
  2. ^ "Alcohol ravages South Africa's children". Agence France-Presse. 22 September 2007. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  3. ^ a b "South Africa's Wine Industry: A Horror Story". Biophile Magazine. No. 12.
  4. ^ South Africa Wine Initiative Website
  5. ^ "Checklist of CITES Species" (PDF). CITES. 2008. p. 57. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2011.

External links

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