South African Wine Industry Trust (Sawit) chairperson Gavin Pieterse has pledged to have the first draft of a new black economic empowerment (BEE) charter for a historically disempowered wine industry ready for review in six months.
On November 1 and 2, approximately 300 representatives from every level within South Africa’s wine industry met at an historic industry conference hosted by Sawit.
Sawit is a quasi-public-private partnership mandated with the primary objectives of: the transformation and growth of historically disadvantaged individuals within the South African wine industry; and the commercial development and promotion of the South African wine industry.
It fulfils these through its section-21 (not-for-profit) companies Busco (a wine industry Business Support Company), Devco (a wine industry Development Support Company) and WEF (Wine Education Fund), which it guides.
At the Conference, wine industry representatives were split into groups to discuss four specific commission areas: poverty alleviation and skills development; enterprise development; equity transactions; and corporate social investment.
All records and recommendations resulting from these group discussions would be considered to form the basis of a wine industry BEE charter that would be in line with the overarching Agri BEE plan.
Pieterse said the key output from group participants was the need for a steering committee to drive the process of drafting the charter. According to delegates, Sawit was in the best position to drive this process.
Sawit would fulfil a lead co-ordinating role and will approach industry directly to assist in the resourcing of the work of the steering committee. The composition of the committee would be fully representative of all stakeholders in the industry including the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).
This group would be tasked with reviewing the outputs from the four commissions and incorporating them into the new charter as far as possible.
“This conference was undoubtedly a success, most notably due to the commitment and support announced publicly by Thoko Didiza, the Minister of Agriculture, who has made her entire executive team available to Sawit and this process. This level of commitment is most encouraging not only to Sawit but the entire wine industry,” said Pieterse at a gala dinner hosted by Sawit for all conference attendees.
Another recurring theme from the four groups included the desperate need for improved and formalised communication for all involved in the wine industry.
“The need for improved communication across the wine industry was strongly expressed. Sawit agrees that communication is the first step towards not only resolving but completely dissolving the problems associated with an industry characterised by historical legacies based on disempowerment. To this end, Sawit will be making a website available which will be online shortly,” added Pieterse.
The new steering committee was set to meet within the next few weeks to finalise its structure, mandate, terms of reference, timelines and output requirements for the wine industry BEE charter, the next step in developing the document.
In her speech marking the official opening of the conference, Didiza said: “I see this as a watershed initiative in setting empowerment and growth in the wine industry on a solid basis for the future. My wish is that it will assist the industry to identify many new and exciting opportunities and will signal an era of refocused collaboration between government and the private sector leading to a prosperous industry benefiting all of our people.” – I-Net Bridge