An article that appears in the
Danish consumer magazine, Taenk, claims that Delheim Wines
evicts farm workers from their homes after decades of service.
The claim was refuted and discounted by Delheim when a journalist
working for Taenk contacted Delheim on 27 January 2009 to verify
this story.
Delheim is in negotiations to resolve a situation involving
one family that is allowing a number of illegal occupants (ie
people who do not work on the farm) to live with them in cramped,
crowded and unsanitary conditions.
In over fifty years of wine farming, no-one has ever been evicted
from the Delheim estate.
Delheim Wines is liaising with their Danish agent in respect
of the legalities and the issuing of a writ against Taenk magazine
for defamation and damages to trade.
Notes to editors:
Delheim is home to the Sperling
family owners and to 13 other families. The Sperlings believe
that everyone’s lives on
the farm are entwined in the same way that the land and the vines
are integrated. The community that grows up and works together
on the Delheim estate is, in turn, supported by a mini infrastructure.
1. The crèche is attended
by 11 children and four babies. It has a fully qualified teacher
whose recent training courses
(including one on how to work with special needs children in
support of the Pebbles Project) were sponsored by Delheim
2. The Pebbles project has helped establish a library for the
community and the children on the farm as well as an after care
club for the school children. They also take the children on
monthly outings and support the families with educational lectures
3. Four families on the estate have so far received financial
assistance to buy their own houses
4. A vegetable garden has been established to supply vegetables
for the communities and also to the Delheim Garden Restaurant
5. The Anna Foundation is involved in the after-school club,
with educational, sports and life skills training to farm children.
One pupil has received a full bursary to attend school in Stellenbosch
6. Employee training is given on everything from AIDS awareness
and heavy vehicle driving to restaurant management, cellar stock
control and nursery and seed propagation.
7. Lwando Lenga son of our gardener
Vita Lenga achieved the best results for a black scholar in
the Western Cape, achieving
100% for maths and 6 A’s for his studies. He will be going
on to study medicine. Delheim will support him with his studies
8. Delheim is a partner in black economic empowerment (BEE)
project with Isak Julies to give employment equity, skills development,
preferential procurement for BEE suppliers and enterprise development
9. Giving to the wider community, Delheim also donates food
from the restaurant to the Stellenbosch Night Shelter, helps
to raise funds for Child Welfare, contributes to Life Line and
collects the money that tourists throw into the Delheim pond
for the local hospice.
By sharing the land amongst all the stakeholders and by training
people to work with the land, Delheim is fostering a system that
yields a livelihood for everyone who lives on the farm and one
that will continue to do so for future generations.
Issued on behalf of Delheim Wines by Wines of South Africa (WOSA)
