Much talk recently about South African wines and shady agricultural practices. Is the web a marketing medium or a vehicle for analysis? It’s both of course. The dop system, while illegal, still seems to be around. How is one to discern if one’s “pinotage” is a product of such practices? WTF is a “pinotage” anyway? Personally, I’d prefer a good screw-top varietal, like Mad Dog 20/20.
Many farm workers in South Africa continue to live and work under adverse conditions that are the legacy of apartheid policies. Despite its official prohibition, the arrangement by which workers are given alcohol as a benefit of employment, known as the ‘dop’ system, appears to persist. Even though it is a minority of farms that currently actively practice the dop system, the ramifications of the historical institutionalisation of massive alcohol consumption are widespread. Heavy alcohol consumption is not only directly injurious to the health of farm workers and their families, but places them at risk to various social and environmental hazards. This is illustrated in a case of pesticide poisoning in which 24 workers were poisoned when given wine contaminated with the carbamate insecticide aldicarb. The case illustrates (i) the ongoing application of the dop system on farms in South Africa and (ii) the interaction between social factors and chemical exposures amongst farm workers. Public perceptions about the natural tendencies of coloured’ people to drink heavily have much to do with perpetuating the dop system, and reinforcing a system geared towards the social control of rural farm workers and their families. The dop system poses a major challenge to the public health authorities in South Africa who are charged with the task of restructuring health services to address the human rights and health needs of marginal farming communities within a primary health care framework.
You fail to mention the item you quote was published 8 years ago (May 1999). A lot has happened since.
Really Rex. Maybe Yesterday is recent enough? – http://business.iafrica.com/news/962108.htm
Which Rex Talbot are you, I wonder? Or is it a pseudonym and are you really the infamous King Turbot?
Mark Umbers loved playing air force hero Rex Talbot – even though his plane never left the ground.
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Rex Talbot of The Bay Tree Restaurant in Melbourne say’s “We have never been approached by a supplier to ask our opinion on what would help a product sell, which is amazing really. We are the ones who understand the restaurant business, especially what will sell in our restaurant; so to be approached in this way although unusual makes perfect sense! The new designed labels look great and the bottled spring water sales have been very healthy as a result.â€