Workers are currently earning between R2,900 - R3,500 before deductions. This is in a country where it costs R3,027 a month to feed a family of five with a nutritionally complete diet without including other needs such as education, toiletries and transportation.
The Rand Merchant Bank WineX Festival kicks off on Wednesday, 26 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre where Robertson Winery will exhibit its products – on the same day that will mark the 9th week of the Robertson Winery’s workers strike for a living wage.
Workers are currently earning between R2,900 – R3,500 before deductions. This is in a country where it costs R3,027 a month to feed a family of five with a nutritionally complete diet without including other needs such as education, toiletries and transportation.
“It is a slap in the face of workers that Rand Merchant Bank supports slave wages, when the workers have called on the public to support their cause,” says amandla.mobi Executive Director, Koketso Moeti.
Particularly as this comes in the wake of some Danish supermarkets pulling South African wines from their shelves, following the screening of a documentary on farm worker conditions in South Africa. The documentary, Bitter Grapes – Slavery in the vineyards, documents violations of labour laws and worker conditions.
“It is unthinkable that organisations elsewhere are refusing to endorse exploitation, when companies based in South Africa are unable to do the same and continue to give those accumulating wealth through exploitation of huge platforms such as this,” adds Moeti.
It is also particularly shocking as the CEO of RMB Holdings and RMI Holdings, Herman Bosman, is one of the signatories of the CEO pledge which claims to stand against injustice and for “social justice and transformation so that South Africa truly becomes a country that belongs to all who live in it”.
By having Robertson Winery as part of WineX, the duplicity of those who sign the pledge is exposed as the very same companies that fail to put their words to practice, stripping them of meaning.
See the campaign on here.
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For more information and interviews, contact:
Koketso Moeti
082 583 5869
