Veel meer as die frustrasie in die markplek van wynliefhebbers wat sukkel om ’n bottel wyn in die hande te kry of van gaste wat die Boland droëbek besoek omdat wynproe by ’n duur kelderrestaurant ook verbied is, ly boere, werkers en dorpe onder ’n drakoniese maatreël wat die verkoop en vervoer van wyn verbied.
Met die verskoning dat alkoholverbruik tot huismoles, straatgeweld, ongelukke en ander euwels lei wat beddens in hospitale se hoësorgeenhede beset wat vir COVID-19-pasiënte beskikbaar moet wees, mag restaurantgangers nie eens ’n glasie wyn vir middagete koop nie.
’n Kombersverbod op alle alkohol is die stompste instrument wat die regering kán gebruik om ’n delikate operasie mee uit te voer. Intussen bloei honderde wynplase en tientalle dorpe dood, gaan werksgeleenthede vinniger verlore as wat COVID-19-geld in die staatsdiens wegraak en dreig een van Suid-Afrika se oudste landboubedrywe om deur die vloer te gaan.
Die argument dat ’n alkoholverbod beddens in hospitale beskikbaar maak soos wat ons oor Nuwejaar in hospitale beleef het, hou beslis water. Maar net soveel beddens word deur taxi-ongelukke in beslag geneem en daar is geen poging aangewend om hulle van ons paaie af te kry of selfs die passasiersbelading minder te maak nie. Die regering sê dat dit oor werk, inkomste en lewensbestaan gaan. Maar met watter mandaat kan die regering besluit dat die oorlewing van werksgeleenthede in die taxibedryf belangriker is as dié van die wynbedryf?
Daar is in elk geval ’n aandklokreël wat motoriste tussen 21:00 en 05:00 van die paaie af hou en wat deur beamptes en padblokkades gepolisieer word. Daar is geen rasionele rede om die voortbestaan van ’n familieplaas wat reeds eeue lank die Bolandse ekonomie aan die gang hou, in gedrang te bring omdat ’n kantoorwerker dink hulle kan daardeur ’n paar beddens vir COVID-19-pasiënte oophou nie.
In ’n soortgelyke saak het Saai en ander belanghebbendes ’n saak oor die tabakverbod voor die hof gebring en waarin ’n verdoemende uitspraak teen die grondwetlikheid en rasionaliteit van die verbod gelewer is. Ons kan aantoon dat 20 weke van ’n tabakverbod en die miljarde rande se skade aan die ekonomie, werksgeleenthede en lewensbestaan van derduisende gesinne volgens die staat se eie syfers dalk hoogstens 18 beddens kan spaar!
Wyn is ’n landbouproduk en wyn en kos gaan saam, daarom kan ’n mens dit (anders as ander alkohol) van rakke in supermarkte koop. Honderde wynboere staar ondergang in die gesig. Selfs as die bedryf nou weer van sy kettings bevry word, is die skade onherstelbaar .
Tanks en vate in kelders is vol en daar is nie plek vir 2021 se oes nie. Boere kry nie leweringskwotas nie en oestyd het begin. Jy kan nie ’n plaas vir ’n jaar sluit nie – veral nie nadat dit die vorige jaar gesluit was nie.
Een werker op ’n wynplaas het vir ons gesê hy sterf eerder aan COVID-19 as aan honger en verdriet; maar dood is dood!
Ban on wine sales: Stop the absurdity
Much more than the frustration in the market place of wine lovers struggling to get their hands on a bottle wine or than guests visiting the Boland being disappointed because wine tasting at an expensive cellar restaurant is also prohibited, farmers, workers and towns are suffering as a result of a draconic measure prohibiting the sale and transport of wine.
With the excuse that alcohol consumption leads to domestic violence, street violence, accidents and other crime occupying beds in the high care unit of hospitals that need to be available for COVID-19 patients, restaurant-goers cannot even buy a glass of wine for lunch.
A total ban on alcohol is the dullest instrument the government possibly could have used with which to carry out a delicate operation. In the meantime hundreds of wine farms and dozens of towns are bleeding to death, job opportunities are lost quicker than COVID-19 money going missing in the public service and one of South Africa’s oldest agricultural industries is on the verge of collapsing.
The argument that an alcohol ban leads to the availability of beds in hospitals as we experienced over New Year in hospitals is accurate. But just as many beds are being occupied as a result of taxi accidents, but no attempt was made to rid them from our roads or even to reduce their passenger load. The government says that it is all about work, income and livelihood. But with what mandate can the government decide that the survival of job opportunities in the taxi industry is more important than those of the wine industry?
There is already a curfew keeping motorists off the roads between 21:00 and 05:00 and that is being policed by officials and roadblocks. There is no rational reason risking the continued existence of a family farm that has been keeping the Boland’s economy afloat for centuries simply because an office worker thinks that they can subsequently keep a few beds open for COVID-19 patients.
In a similar case, Saai and other stakeholders brought a case before the court involving the tobacco ban and in which a damning judgement was delivered against the constitutionality and rationality of the ban. We can indicate that 20 weeks of a tobacco ban and economic damage amounting to billions of rand, job opportunities and livelihoods of thousands of families will save maybe 18 beds at most according to the state’s own figures!
Wine is an agricultural product and wine and food go together, that is why one can purchase it from the shelves of supermarkets (unlike other alcohol). Hundreds of wine farmers are staring financial ruin in the face. Even if the industry is soon freed from its shackles, the damage is irreparable.
Tanks and barrels in cellars are full and there isn’t any room for the harvest of 2021. Farmers aren’t getting delivery quotas and harvest time has begun. You cannot close a farm for a year – especially not after it was closed the previous year.
A worker on a wine farm told us that he would rather die from COVID-19 than from hunger and sorrow; but death is death!
