'The South African wine industry cannot hold its head high after seeing such a disaster on its doorstep,' the chairperson of the South African Wine Council, Kader Asmal, and his counterpart on the South African Wine Industry Trust, Thandi Ndlovu, said in a joint statement released on Tuesday.
Nineteen wine farm casual workers died and 17 were injured when the truck carrying them was hit by a train at a level crossing. Asmal and Ndlovu said the incident was a tragedy not only to the affected families, but also to rural communities and the wine industry in its entirety.
'It is our responsibility as an industry as a whole to ensure that those performing their daily tasks can do so in an environment which is safe,' they said. "We appeal to the entire wine industry to provide all forms of assistance to the families directly affected."
Earlier on Tuesday, train operator Metrorail said a board of inquiry had been set up to investigate the accident.
'It must be noted that the accident has nothing to do with commuter rail and the state of our infrastructure. It is an accident at a level crossing on a road leading to a private property,' spokesperson Lucky Montana said in a statement. He said the inquiry would involve the Rail Safety Regulator, which was independent of Metrorail.
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