Industry news Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Liquor Licence Lawyer South Africa

Our courts need to send a consistent message about alcohol, consent and sexual violence

23 April 2024

Reprinted from Women’s Agenda, by Caterina Giorgi – 2024-04-22

t was a judgement hailed as a huge step forward in the fight for sexual assault survivors to be believed by the justice system.

After the federal court ruled Network Ten had not defamed Bruce Lehrmann – finding on the balance of probabilities, their story that he raped Brittany Higgins was true – journalist Lisa Wilkinson said she hoped it would, “give strength to women around the country.”

WCLA issues nearly R7m in fines to Western Cape liquor outlets

18 February 2024

Reprinted from Cape Town etc., by Ilze-Mari van Zyl – 2024-02-15

The Western Cape Liquor Authority (WCLA) issued 169 fines amounting to nearly R7 million to licensed liquor outlets across the province between November 2022 and November 2023.

The total number of fines amounted to R6 990 000, of which 49 totalling R2 100 000 were issued to licence holders in the priority areas.

Cops discover fake booze distillery in Khayelitsha

9 January 2024

Reprinted from iol.com, by Byron Lukas – 2024-01-08

Cape Town – Cape Town law enforcement officers cracked down on an illegal distillery in Khayelitsha where people were allegedly dealing in, and manufacturing, alcohol.

Law Enforcement spokesperson Wayne Dyason said the officers were out on patrol in the area on Friday when they came across the goods.

“The vehicle seemed heavily loaded but had only two occupants, which seemed odd and raised the suspicion of the officers.”

According to Dyason, after officers stopped and searched the vehicle they found eight 25-litre sealed canisters containing what they thought were chemicals.

“The driver claimed it was water. The officers then took the vehicle to Harare SAPS and went with the two suspects to their residence,” he said.

At the property, the officers discovered several bottles of various alcohol brands like Old Buck Gin, Gordon’s Gin, Jameson Whiskey and Smirnoff Vodka. The officers also found empty boxes of Gordon’s Gin bottles, bottle caps and stickers as well as 17 sealed 25-litre canisters containing chemicals.

Nine large canvas bags of empty Old Buck and Gordon’s Gin 750ml bottles, Gordon’s Gin cardboard boxes and R2750 in cash were also discovered.

Dyason confirmed that both suspects were arrested and charged under the Liquor Act.

“Both suspects were detained at Harare SAPS and charged with dealing in liquor without a liquor licence, and manufacturing and bottling of alcohol without a liquor licence. All charges are under the Liquor Act,” he said.

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System of taxing liquor calls for an urgent review – opinion

31 July 2023

Reprinted from Business Day, by Fatsani Banda – 2023-07-28

It is understood that builders should focus on foundations as the houses they construct will not stand if they are not firmly set.

This analogy fits aptly into recent discussions on pricing strategies directed at the reduction of liquor harm, namely excise taxes and more recently minimum-unit pricing (Mup), where the former forms the base of the policy norm, and the latter is yet to gain momentum as global best practice.

Limpopo liquor traders are against midnight alcohol sales cut-off

26 July 2023

Reprinted from Times Live, by Sinesipho Schreiber – 2023-07-25

Limpopo liquor traders have vowed to take the provincial government to court over the new regulation restricting alcohol sales after midnight.

Limpopo MEC for economic development, environment and tourism Rodgers Monama announced the provincial government would from August 1 implement a law restricting the sale of alcohol after midnight.

Monama said alcohol was a contributing factor in gender-based violence, child abuse, community instability, trauma incidents, rape and other crimes in the province.

South Africa’s power cuts hit vineyards: No power, no pinot

8 February 2023

Reprinted from bbc.com, by Vumani Mkhize – 2023-02-07

Load shedding is bad news for all of us, but particularly for our wine industry right now during the harvest. But the fact that our difficulties are attracting international attention is good news – South African wine is held in high regard around the world.

South Africans are struggling with crippling power cuts on a daily basis, which are imposing huge costs on business. As the country’s grape harvest gets under way, there are fears about the impact on the wine industry.

The rumble of tractors, the churning of the wine press and occasional bouts of laughter from the farm workers provide the soundtrack to the busiest time of the year for the Groote Post vineyard.

Everyone is active as the picking and processing of the grapes begin at this winery in the picturesque town of Darling, less than 80km (50 miles) from Cape Town, in the west of the country.

Bunches of dark pinot noir grapes lie in wooden pallets stacked next to the wine press. A fork-lift truck tips a pallet into the press, releasing a sweet odour into the air. I taste a grape, which is smaller than the supermarket varieties, and much sweeter and full of robust flavour.

“In 16 months from now these grapes will be in your glass and you’ll be sipping on some lovely bubbly,” Peter Pentz, Groote Post communications manager says.

And while that may be true, the winemaker will be having a harder time getting it on to tables in South Africa.

The difficulty for every firm in the industry is that this crucial time of year coincides with the worst rolling power blackouts the country has ever experienced.

Not a day has gone by in 2023 without the electricity from the state-run power company Eskom going down. The interrupted power supply is having a big effect on those hoping to make wine.

“As soon as the power cuts, it means that [without a generator] none of the operation can continue within the cellar,” Mr Pentz tells the BBC.

“No labelling can continue, no bottling and [no] cooling. Especially in the harvesting season it’s vital for us to get the fermentation process started.”

This vineyard, like many others in the region, has been forced to invest in a back-up generator, but the exorbitant price of diesel is driving up costs and making it hard for small and medium-sized wineries to survive.

Groote Post is spending around 50,000 rand ($2,800; £2,400) per month on diesel for its generator and the farm still has to spend more on fuel for its tractors.

This is representative of the extra costs facing an industry which has big ambitions to grow.

South Africa is the eighth largest wine producer in the world, generating about $3bn in revenue every year.

Around half of the wine made in the country is exported to overseas markets, with UK drinkers being the largest consumers of South African wine.

Many wineries are exploring opportunities in Asia – exports to China, for example, have doubled in recent years.

But the constant power cuts are slashing growth forecasts.

The impact is being felt across all sectors of the economy. According to global accounting firm PwC, the South African economy could have increased by around 7% – instead of less than 2% – last year were it not for “load shedding”, as the power cuts are known locally.

“This is challenging for us, in fact this is a crisis for us,” says Christo Conradie, manager of wine business at Vinpro, which represents nearly 2,600 wine producers and sellers.

“Power is important for our producers because we need to irrigate, specifically at this time of the season we are looking at the ripening of the berries.

“That’s why we need to have it [power] and now we are sitting with Eskom that can’t supply at an optimal level,” Mr Conradie adds.

Though South Africa’s power crisis is not new, the problems seem to be getting worse.

The country has a fleet of old and inefficient coal-fired power stations that are constantly breaking down. There are two new power stations, but they are not up and running yet and are massively over-budget.

Eskom is expected to impose load shedding on a continuous basis for the next two years while it works on a plan to extricate the country from the crisis.

The wine industry is not being passive in its criticism of load shedding. Representatives are talking with the government and have put proposals on the table.

Mr Conradie says they have drawn up a timetable of when the winemakers need power most – usually in the early hours of the morning and just after lunch – and have asked for the blackouts to be scheduled around them.

The industry is also seeking rebates for diesel fuel and for the government to remove red tape so there can be more investment in solar and other alternative sources of power.

Load shedding during the harvest season will exacerbate the situation for battered winemakers which have been lurching from one crisis to another.

The wine industry was just starting to make a comeback following a tough period during the Covid-19 pandemic. Alcohol sales were banned in South Africa during the height of the health emergency and domestic wine sales dropped by 20%.

This year’s crop is set to be smaller than that of 2022 due to unfavourable weather conditions earlier in the season.

To try and alleviate some of the pressures, the department of agriculture last month set up a task team to monitor the impact of load shedding.

“Technical work to measure financial costs is under way and will help to underline the strategy,” says department spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo.

But when that strategy emerges is hard to know.

Nevertheless, back at the Groote Post vineyard, work continues despite the challenges.

There is a resilience and defiant optimism. Mr Pentz is proud of the wines they produce and the way that they can touch different parts of the globe.

Holding up a fat bunch of grapes he says: “It’s amazing to think that we start off from this, and we end up with someone, somewhere in the world, sipping on some grapes coming from South Africa.”

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Kaapzicht and the continued search for profitability

8 February 2023

Reprinted from winemag.co.za, by Christian Eedes – 2023-02-08

The wine industry is having a tough time at the moment (see SOUTH AFRICA’S POWER CUTS HIT VINEYARDS: NO POWER, NO PINOT) so it’s good to share some good news.

Bottelary property Kaapzicht has potential for 160ha of vineyard although currently plantings amount to only 120ha. “We’ve taken a lot of vineyard out. We were producing a lot of bulk and we were selling it for less than it cost to produce,” says current winemaker Danie Steytler Jnr.

As is well documented, there’s continued profitability decline at farm level throughout the wine industry. The net farm income per hectare has remained significantly below sustainable levels and this gap is widening. With 38% of producers loss-making in 2022, a further 3% at break-even and 50% in a low-profit situation, vineyard is inevitably being removed and not replaced – total national plantings are predicted to fall from a current level of 90 500ha to 82 000ha by 2030.

None of this lost on Steytler of Kaapzicht. The property founded in 1946 by his great grandfather, he became involved in production activities in 2009 and has been driving a process of both rationalisation and premiumisation ever since.

“We’ve decided to focus on Chenin Blanc and Pinotage – it seems growing conditions are only going to get warmer and drier over the next 50 years and these are both earlier ripening varieties. We can get the stuff into the cellar quicker,” he says.

In the case of Chenin Blanc, he’s excited about getting consumers to trade up by offering higher quality, although he relates that this hasn’t been straightforward. “We noted the emergence of bigger, riper examples of Chenin Blanc selling at higher prices and in 2008, we launched our own version labelled as “Wooded Reserve” at R60 a bottle – it didn’t sell”.

Leveraging the value proposition that old vines represent is also part of the way forward for Steytler but this is also not without its challenges. “Old vines yield between three to five tonnes a hectare – if we’re selling that wine for R80 a bottle, then we’re not making enough money to farm let alone replant,” says Steytler. “Put sheep or cattle on that land and at least we can braai something”.

Kaapzicht is home to the second oldest Chenin Blanc vineyard in the country, this planted in 1947, but this came very close to being eradicated. Originally 6ha in size, 5ha were pulled out on the basis that the block would therefore cease to be an economic burden.

Just before it was all gone, however, Steytler put his mind to create something superior and so The 1947 was born, maiden vintage being 2013. Total production is 1 800 bottles, the wine now selling for R650 a bottle.

Buoyed by the success of The 1947, a second old-vine Chenin called Kliprug followed, grapes in this instance from a 4.18ha block planted in 1982. Maiden vintage was 2015, total volume then set at 3 000 bottles. By the 2021 vintage, this had grown to some 17 000 bottles and released in February last year it was sold out by June. The decision was consequently taken to bottle everything the vineyard was capable of and there are 29 000 bottles plus 200 magnums of the recently released 2022.

The 2021 vintage of Kliprug was much acclaimed but I think the 2022 is even better, being that much more energetic – Steytler says that as vintages go by, he’s aiming for slightly more freshness and he’s now inclined to pick half a Balling earlier and “sulphur up” after ferment with a view to restricting malolactic fermentation.