Vinpro supports the decision of President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a National State of Disaster on Sunday 15 March 2020, along with certain guidelines as per the Disaster Management Act Regulation 8.

“As such we have sensitised our staff on the regulations as set out by President Ramaphosa and have implemented certain measures to prevent and curb the spread of COVID-19 in the Vinpro Group’s own environment, which includes Vinpro, Vititec and WineMS,” says Vinpro MD, Rico Basson.

“Just as we support and adhere to the measures announced by the President, we encourage our members to act with the necessary caution in their businesses according to the national guidelines, within the context of their own environment. This includes ensuring the safety of employees, clients and visitors to wine tourism destinations,” Basson says.

As a basic precaution, Vinpro adheres to and encourages members and the general public to follow these guidelines in the workplace: COVID-19 Q&A: Employee guidelinesCOVID-19 Q&A: Wine tourism

In the past week, Vinpro was in continuous discussion with organised agriculture (Agri Western Cape, Agri SA and Agbiz, and inputs to Nedlac), as well as the greater South African liquor industry (ABInbev, SAB, Pernod Ricard, Distell, Heineken, Diageo, Vinpro and SALBA), where all possible issues such as harvest time, ports, logistics, wine tourism, announced trading hours, numbers on premises and events such as weddings, and registers to be kept were conveyed and discussed.

The liquor industry would have had a meeting with the Minister of Police, Minister Bheki Cele, on 23 March 2020 to discuss these issues; however it was cancelled early this morning due to an urgent cabinet meeting at 09:00 on 23 March 2020.

“Of course, we are well aware of the myriad of practical challenges, as well as the monetary impact on the SA wine industry, including harvest time and all that goes with it, but more importantly the impact on sales volumes and the ripple effect on wine businesses and their respective producer members,” Basson says.

The voices of wineries and wine grape producers are therefore passed on to government as comprehensively as possible, but Basson says the reality of a global pandemic and what is happening all over the world and here in South Africa dictates all government action.

“We realise that this is a challenging time for our members and their employees. We would like to call on our members to remain calm, equip themselves with objective, factual information, to put contingency plans in place and try to change their way of doing business to adapt to the new circumstances. We will continuously communicate any future developments,” Basson says.

Vinpro and the other business units strive to keep the latest information and announcements alive and to keep our members informed on the following portal - https://www.wineland.co.za/covid-19-info.

Follow the developments here and email us at [email protected] if you have questions or suggestions about any issues not addressed on the abovementioned portal.

MORE INFORMATION: To receive information directly from the South African National Department of Health, save the number +27600123456 on WhatsApp and send ‘hi’. The Coronavirus Outbreak 24-hour Hotline Number is 0800 029 999.