The workers on Kleine Zalze Wine Estate near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape had often heard stories of other farmworkers across South Africa who had benefitted from empowerment initiatives over the past two decades. However, they never thought such an opportunity would ever come their way.
Gerald Snyman, vineyard manager at Kleine Zalze, says that while he dreamt about it, he didn’t think it was possible; and Alicia Alves, general manager of stock control on the farm, says the thought never crossed her mind.
But in 2017, Kobus Basson, then owner of Kleine Zalze, made his employees’ dream a reality when he negotiated a long-term lease agreement for 20ha of municipal land bordering the farm, and entered into a partnership with his staff.
A year later, the Kleine Zalze Empowerment Trust was established and, through its collaboration with the estate, the black-owned Visio Vintners company was formed that same year.
According to Alves, Basson initiated the project because “he wanted to give something back to his workers for their contribution to his success”.
The model
As it is with many other broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) projects in the agriculture sector, the empowerment trust owns a 51% stake in Visio Vintners, while the estate owns the remaining 49%.
The beneficiaries of the trust don’t hold direct shares in Visio Vintners, which eliminates the problem of what happens to the shares when people wish to sell them, or they leave their jobs at Kleine Zalze or pass away.
Alves explains that all of Kleine Zalze’s permanent workers, whether they joined the labour force before or after the initiative was launched, will share in Visio Vintners’ profits for as long as they work for the estate. The benefit is lost when somebody leaves the company, unless that person has retired or become disabled, in which case he or she continues to receive the benefit for another five years. At the time of writing, Kleine Zalze had about 80 permanent employees.
On the same page
Brandon Uitlander, who is in charge of general maintenance at Kleine Zalze, says everybody knew from the start that the initiative wasn’t a “get-rich-quick [scheme]”.
“Everybody understands that it takes up to four years from planting before vineyards bear commercial yields, and that the winemaking process can add another two years to that.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy ride and that it wasn’t a way to simply make [Kleine Zalze] look good by ticking B-BBEE boxes. The future of Visio Vintners lies in our hands,” he explains.
Before any profit-sharing can take place, the empowerment trust has to repay a R3,5 million loan, which formed its contribution to the establishment and maintenance of the vineyards, as well as the winemaking, bottling, logistics and marketing costs.
“Basson lent us this money, interest-free. Having to repay the loan is actually empowering in itself, as you realise that you don’t work for instant material compensation, but that as business owners we have to be patient and ride out the early cycles of costs and effort before we can move into the black and show a profit,” says Uitlander.
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