‘”To farm is our only survival” – Schalk Burger Snr on alcohol suspension
Former Springbok lock Schalk Burger Snr tells Martin Bester how the family wine farm has been affected by the lockdown.
Welbedacht Wine Estate is in Wellington, on the northwest side of Groenberg Mountain, and has been producing wine since 1830 on 140 hectares of land.
The wine is produced and bottled on the farm in Welbedacht Wine Estate's cellar.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the suspension of alcohol sales was motivated by the strain of booze on the health system.
Schalk Burger Snr tells Martin Bester with a heavy heart: "We harvest once a year. At the end of March, we finished harvesting. We would usually be bottling now. Wine is an agricultural product that contains alcohol, not an alcoholic beverage that contains some agriculture."
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"We are vulnerable. To farm is our only survival. The losses are immeasurable."