AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY:
Transformation poster child goes to the wall
Solms-Delta wine estate in picturesque Franschhoek was the poster child of the transformation of the wine industry in the Western Cape. It was owned by Mark Solms, the Richard Astor family and a trust supposedly representing workers. It was widely touted as a means of bringing marginalised people into the economy. With its museum honouring all the workers who toiled on the farm — including slaves — a music programme and tours of workers’ homes, it had a happy tinge of rainbow nationism. All the workers were on medical aid, their children attended model C schools and the trust hired two permanent social workers to attend to generational social ills prevalent in rural communities. This dream was rudely dashed in the Western Cape High Court when Solms-Delta recently applied for liquidation. Court papers reveal a business that hardly made a profit but was wracked by mismanagement, incompetence and alleged governance and ethical violations. There are also questions about the involvement ...
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