Marianne Merten
Since 1996 several wine estates have introduced black empowerment by, for example, allocating shares to farm workers. But research has found these schemes often flounder because the newly empowered workers lack business skills.
Another key shortfall is?the lack of visible shortterm benefits for weekly wage earners who have?to wait for a return on their investment, says Lina Keyter, a business management lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch.
“It’s like saying, ‘Here’s a car, drive it’, when the person has never had a car before, and then asking ‘Why didn’t you drive straight'” says Keyter.
Research was conducted at the five established wine empowerment groups active in the export market. But more recently several newly formed wine manufacturing and marketing companies linked to wine estates have introduced empowerment shareholding.
Other shortfalls include benefits being paid mainly to male?beneficiaries, discrimination against women because they are seasonal?workers usually barred from participating, and a lack of understanding of the rights and responsibilities of being a shareholder.?
“It you want this to be successful you need interim payments,” Keyter says.?People must feel part of the decisionmaking process, which in many cases is still the prerogative of the farm owner, she says.
At the other end of the scale, farmers could also benefit from training. Many believe that building a school or providing transport is empowerment, thus?blurring the lines with social responsibility.
Keyter is optimistic that most of these shortfalls can be addressed through proper training of business skills, including longterm planning,?interpretation of market information and financial decisionmaking.
In 1999 the International Trade Council of the World Trade Organisation started a pilot training programme on global competitiveness in the South African wine industry, which was funded by the Dutch government. Although the focus was on the New Beginnings wine farm in the Paarl valley, the council wants to continue a modified training programme, such as the translation of training material into Afrikaans.