Don't buy South African wines: striking workers' plea to foreign consumers

After a two-month violent standoff with South African labour miners, the country's economy is now under pressure from a stop-start farm labourers' strike. Since November, low-skilled workers demanding a pay increase to 150 rand a day (£10.65) have clashed with police and been arrested in their hundreds, while three have died.

Unions and charities supporting the Western Cape's 500,000 farm workers say that South African wines, table grapes and granny smith apples should be as unacceptable to responsible British consumers as they were under apartheid. "The government should be forcing the farmers to the table but it is not," said Nosey Pieterse, secretary general of the black agricultural sector union, Bawusa. "Our only weapon left is for the foreign buyers to pledge that unless the conditions are addressed, they will no longer import South African products."

Most farm workers are not unionised, and many are illiterate and face the danger of eviction because they live on their employers' properties.

When farmer Anton De Vries arrives, slightly late, at De Doorns library, he hugs each of the female strikers. They laugh and seem pleased to see him. "You see, there is no problem," says De Vries. "They want to work. They are being intimidated into striking. We do lots of empowerment things in our company."

At the meeting, De Vries offers a range of pay rises to get workers back under vines which, all around the Hex valley, are drooping with ripe table grapes. "He offered increases of 10-12 rand (71-85p) per employee,'' said Sandile Keni, provincial organiser for the Food and Allied Workers' Union, who was in the meeting. "Those earning 90 rand [a day] were offered 100 rand, those on 127 rand would go up to 137 rand (£9.72). The workers are considering the offer.''

May I recommend a bottle of Pinotage, a blend originated in South Africa?

The majority of wine which I purchase is South African. Maybe I’ll get a bottle this weekend.

Had no idea there was such a thing as South African wine.

If I can piss off some union, though, I’ll give it a whirl.

Stay thirsty, my friend!

Of interest especially to those who are old enough to remember the initial struggle in South Africa. The support in Canada was automatically cast on the Mandela side. The included the portrayal of Winnie Mandela as a sort of black Joan of Arc. This portrayal was dropped as further information revealed Winnie as being somewhat violent(enough said). No doubt there is a deal to be done for poorer labourers.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) carried an excellent South African sherry. It was called "Old Paarl. Dutifully they took it off the shelves. One wine drinker told me he ordered a case, when he got wind of the boycott. I thought at the time, that heaven help my fellow Canadians, if the indigenous population outnumbered them by four to one. This was the dilemna of white South Africa. It is in dispute though, as to whether the black people in that country are actually indigenous.

I hope to be excused this digression, but today, a tiny minority of indigeneous people in Canada are causing some major problems. Idle No More is the movement.There can be few illusions if the more radical of them were actually a majority over non-natives.

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