A trade built on slaves

Groot Constantia was conceived in the same bloody chapter of South Africa’s history as the arrival of white settlers on the shores of the Cape.

The Dutch East India Company’s Heere Sewentien granted the land that now comprises the estate to Simon van der Stel in 1685 in recognition of his years of loyal service as governor of the Cape of Good Hope.

For 100 years thereafter, two of every three litres of wine produced on the farm went to the Dutch East India Company.

By 1706, 60 slaves were responsible for the labour in the Groot Constantia vineyards.

The Cloete family bought the farm, and more slaves to work it, in 1778. Slavery was abolished in 1834.

It remained in the family for generations before, on the brink of financial ruin, it was bought by the Cape government for a pittance on auction in 1885.

Groot Constantia remained in government hands throughout the 20th century, passing through the control of the Agricultural Technical Services and the South African Cultural History Museum.

In 1976, the government established the Groot Constantia Control Board to oversee the winemaking. The farm was declared a national monument in 1984. In 1993 the Groot Constantia Trust, which owns and represents the farm, was established. addressed by requiring workers to sign for it.

The estate said it had submitted a remedial action plan and had taken immediate action to rectify the noncompliance issues. Two matters remained outstanding — a risk assessment, which needed more time, and a second water test by Wieta, which revealed a blue stain. “We have taken action to locate the cause of the blue colour and once identified to have it rectified,” the estate said.

But Boitumelo Ramahlele, a CSAAWU health and safety officer instrumental in bringing the working conditions at Groot Constantia to Wieta’s attention, said the actions taken by Groot Constantia were cosmetic.

The farm had implemented some immediately visible changes but the water running from the new showers still stained blue, chemicals were not safely stored and workers using pesticides were not protected. The experiences of workers at the estate “are very harsh”, he said.

The audits also reveal that Groot Constantia is among the growing number of farm owners who are sidestepping obligations established in post-1994 labour legislation by employing workers through labour brokers on precarious contracts.

Both Wieta inspections of Groot Constantia noted “insufficient and ineffective management of the temporary employment service in terms of the legal obligations towards his/ her workers”.

The workers have not been paid out for their leave by the labour broker. Some have not been provided with contracts. According to Ramahlele, some workers have worked at the estate for more than four years on casual contracts. Amendments to the Labour Relations Act in 2012 guaranteed employees who had worked for the same employer for more than three months the right to a permanent contract of employment.

Groot Constantia said meetings were conducted with the labour