Agriculture
With reference to the wine industry:
- What (a) have been the latest trends in the (i) volume and (ii) value of wine that has been exported from, or consumed within, South Africa, (b) are the changes over the last few years in the areas on farms on which grapes are cultivated and (c) are the plans of his Department to support the wine industry and to grow employment on Western Cape farms;
- whether there are any signs or initiatives from the national government to specifically support emerging Western Cape farmers in the wine industry; if so, what are the relevant details?
(1) (a): The volume of South African domestic wine sales and exports, as well as the value of wine exports, is presented in the table below.
Year | Domestic wine sales (Million litres) | Wine exports (Million litres) | Wine exports (R Billion) |
2013 | 320.4 | 525.6 | 8.34 |
2014 | 347.0 | 422.7 | 8.51 |
2015 | 376.3 | 420.0 | 8.94 |
2016 | 387.8 | 428.3 | 9.74 |
2017 | 402.2 | 448.4 | 9.56 |
2018 | 379.8 | 420.2 | 10.37 |
2019 | 356.3 | 319.8 | 9.57 |
2020* | 10.17 |
*2020 values are tentative as obtained from the World Trade Centre.
(b): The area under wine grape production in South Africa is presented in the table below. The majority (96%) of this area is in the Western Cape Province.
Year | Area under wine grapes (ha) |
2014 | 123 839 |
2015 | 123 397 |
2016 | 120 477 |
2017 | 119 181 |
2018 | 117 808 |
2019 | 116 766 |
(c): The Western Cape Department of Agriculture is supporting the Wine Industry with a range of projects. These projects includes:
- Support Wines of South Africa (WOSA) to promote local wines abroad.
- Support the Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association (WIETA) to increase farmers adhering to the code of ethical practices.
- Train students in viticulture and oenology. Indeed, Elsenburg College is one of only two institutions in South Africa where the art of winemaking can be studied.
- Provide a once-off stipend for three months to 1 336 wine tourism workers in the Western Cape.
- Provide support to producers and brand owners in the Industry through the Producer and Brand Owner Protection Support Grant.
Over a number of years the National Government has made grants available through the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP). Through the Wine Commodity approach, the Western Cape Department of Agriculture has used the CASP money to assist a number of primary producers and brand owners over the past number of years
