© Wine-Searcher

A farm that's long fallen into disrepair could be a sign of times to come.

The South African government has threatened to confiscate farmland. James Lawrence visited to see the effect on winemakers.

To the untrained eye, all is right with the world in the Western Cape.

Despite the keenly-publicized drought, the industry continues to battle on, while major conglomerates such as Distell have already put in place initiatives to tackle the effects of the water shortage, most notably their Water Management Programme. "The drought has had a devastating impact on many farmers, it is not only this year, but the pressure has been building over time," says KWV's CEO Boyce Lloyd.

"There is therefore very substantial cost pressure in our value chains, some of which we will need to absorb, but price increases are inevitable. On the positive side, farmers are benefiting from increased grape prices without which they cannot survive. Time will tell the extent to which inevitable price increases of wine on shelves will impact sales."

Overall though, there was a tangible sense of optimism, not pessimism, that permeated through the winelands during my recent visit. Tourists continue to flock to the Cape regardless of the water issue, lured in by the region's impressive infrastructure and expanding firmament of glossy hotels and tasting rooms.

Yet bubbling under the surface of this apparent prosperity, there are some troubling developments lurking in South Africa's notoriously volatile political sphere. On 27 February, the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa, the National Assembly, voted in favor of amending the South African Constitution to allow land expropriation without compensation.

The vote was carried overwhelmingly – 241 MPs voted in favor of the motion, while 83 voted against it. Its chief proponent is Julius Malema, leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party, who points to the historic abuse of black people's property rights before and during apartheid.

In essence, Malema wishes to amend Section 25 of the Constitution (which currently forbids land seizure without compensation), arguing that is has forestalled equitable land reform. Now that the motion has passed, a parliamentary committee has been established which will look into the viability of amending the Constitution to permit expropriation of property without the obligation to pay compensation.

He's also pushing for a new land tenure system, which would make the state the legal custodian of all South African land. However, the vote would have never been carried without the support of the nation's key political party, the ANC (African National Congress), which decided to adopt the policy at its December conference 2017.

But what is the current feeling across the Cape? Do white farm owners fear an eventual land grab, with terrifying overtones of Mugabe's disastrous policies initiated in Zimbabwe over 18 years ago?

As one would expect, most people I approached for comment would not touch this issue with an 18 inch cattle prod. When questioned about the potential consequences of a new era of aggressive land reform, DGB's International Director Greg Guy simply noted that "DGB also doesn't own any land – we buy in all our fruit so not really an issue for us regardless."

But what about private family enterprises? If this policy is formally adopted, then surely a lavish homestead funded by white money would make an attractive target for the more radical elements of South Africa's political class?

"The 'land issue' is politically highly charged but, funnily, isn't driven by any mass popular movement. African nationalist politicians are using it to deflect attention from their shortcomings, and to use white farmers as an easy and convenient target for scapegoating," says a Stellenbosch farm owner who wished to remain anonymous.

To protect his identity, I've bestowed the pseudonym Fortescue-Pinotage.

He continues: "White farmers are, literally and figuratively, 'the boer'. The boer carries a historical guilt for apartheid, but he then compounded his sin by giving the country to the 'liberation movement'. The ANC won no war – it was drawn into negotiations and a peaceful transition to majority rule arranged. This rankles."

According to Fortescue-Pinotage, the EFF is a ragtag movement lacking both ideology and firm policy. "The EFF is a construct that grew out of Malema's personal antipathy towards Zuma [former leader of the ANC]. No Zuma equals no glue holding the EFF together," he says.

"Another bogey was needed – white farmers and land expropriation without compensation fill the void as a rallying cause. No black land was ever taken by wine farmers – the original Khoi and San inhabitants fell to alcohol and smallpox."

Nevertheless, the fact remains that today there are more than 495 private cellars in operation in the Western Cape, the vast majority backed up with white money. If this radical change in policy reaches fever pitch and does build into a mass popular movement, then facts about the history of ownership of wine farms may become irrelevant.

"The vast majority of black people who claim land don't want to farm – they want the value of their land claims, i.e. free money," answers Fortescue-Pinotage. "The tiny minority who wish to farm want cattle or, perhaps, maize."

Meanwhile the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, a state-funded organisation, is doing its bit to try and address the vast levels of inequality in the Western Cape. According to deputy communications director Vuyani Nkasayi, the department is planning to review the viability of all farms as part of its groundbreaking project to ensure farmworkers own a stake in the business they work for.

Yet ironically, members of staff at the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform picketed the offices in April 2018, alleging unfair dismissal of employees‚ disadvantage for rural workers and corruption by management.

They also made headlines recently following their announcement that the organization would take full ownership of the Solms-Delta Wine Estate in Franschhoek to help secure the jobs of workers who acquired 45 percent of the business and land.

"Our responsibility was to make sure we secure the jobs of people by buying a stake in the business to make sure that we improve the lives of farmworkers," says Nkasayi.

The department acquired an initial equity stake of Solms-Delta in 2016.

"As the department that is responsible for land reform, we intend to buy the farm and put up a turnaround strategy to revive the business. Farm workers will continue to work and later become beneficiaries of the farm in the form of leasing the land from the state. The state will own the land," she adds.

But is this essentially an undertaking of Malema's rhetoric through more polite means? At the time of writing, Nkasayi could not confirm what compensation former part-owner Mark Solms would be entitled to following the transfer of complete ownership to the department.

However, Fortescue-Pinotage offers some clarity.

"Solms-Delta was a failing business making average wine. It was in hock to the banks for an unspeakable sum. Mark Solms had a history of doing good for his staff, but he saw the potential that land redistribution offered. In short, he sold a chunk of his equity to his workers, funded by government," he says.

"Nevertheless, it was a badly run, lousy business and it hit the wall. Nothing sinister in the government – simply incompetence that they got involved."

Incompetence that could hurt the farm industry dearly, if left to escalate unchecked. A recent story that hit local headlines involved a once-flourishing grape and citrus farm of 480 hectares in Limpopo that was reduced to ruins.

According to local press, the now dilapidated Sunningdale farm was transferred to the Sunningdale Workers' Trust by means of a land reform process in 2010.

The farm once employed approximately 158 workers, but following the dismissal of Hannes Korff, the former farm manager of 13 years, it fell into disarray and is now due to be auctioned.

A foretaste of what is to come, or an isolated case of mismanagement and incompetence? One only needs to look at Zimbabwe to realise that South Africa is teetering ever-closer to a very dangerous path.

Zimbabweans might have cheered Mugabe's policy of seizing land without compensation 18 years ago, but they collectively paid for it through eight consecutive years of economic decline that led to job losses, de-industrialization and a loss of agricultural export revenues.

Therefore all eyes are on the final decision yet to be reached by the parliamentary committee tasked with navigating this hugely contentious proposition. But, considering the rhetoric to date, and the fatuous promises made by the ANC, this issue is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, to the satisfaction of all involved.