Cape Town – Wine industry body Vinpro said while it objected to certain principles included in the report by the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform, it supported the process through which the wine industry can provide further input over the next eight months.
The panel of experts endorsed the proposed policy shift towards using the provisions of the Constitution to expropriate land without compensation (EWC).
Their majority view was that it is an inescapable fact that Section 25 of the Constitution is compensation-centric.
“In other words, the notion and origin of “expropriation” draws from global examples where it is inextricably linked with some form of compensation,” the panel said.
The panel had therefore offered a proposal for a constitutional amendment that clarified that EWC may be necessary in limited circumstances, but certainly in order to elevate the objectives of land reform.
The state was already empowered under Section 25 of the Constitution to expropriate land for land reform purposes, but was required to pay “just and equitable compensation”. Whether, and when, such compensation could be set at zero had been the subject of debate over the past 18 months.
Vinpro managing director Rico Basson said they and their industry partner SA Liquor Brand owners Association (Salba) have participated in consultation processes regarding land reform from the onset, and will continue to emphasise their position on behalf of the wine industry in the next eight months.
Basson said that the wine industry remained committed to transformation and would continue to assist new entrants.
It would do this by developing workable partnership models, facilitating blended financing models for these businesses, helping establish market access and ensuring that the necessary systems are implemented to provide technical, financial and other support to land beneficiaries.
"The industry provided jobs to approximately 300 000 people throughout the value chain, of which 30 000 are at farm level,” said Basson.