Almost 18,000 jobs destroyed… This is the price paid to Covid-19 by the wine industry in South Africa, the largest in the world, which employs 300,000 people. During their nine weeks of confinement, the South Africans were put on a dry diet: no longer the right to buy alcohol. As a result, accidents and crime have declined, relieving the hospitals that had to prepare for the influx of coronavirus patients.
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But that plunged the winegrowers into crisis. And the rush of consumers to the bottle since the partial lifting of the ban in early June - the sale remains prohibited from Friday to Sunday - is not enough to heal his wounds. "It is estimated that in the long term up to eighty of our cellars will close," regrets Maryna Calow, spokesperson for the organization Wines of South Africa, which promotes local wines. The blow was all the more severe since, for six weeks, the authorities had also prohibited sales abroad. "We are the only country in the world where wine exports were not allowed," said Boyce Lloyd, CEO of KWV, one of the main producers.
In countries like Canada, Sweden, Finland, South African vintages have disappeared from the shelves very quickly. And may not find their place anytime soon. International buyers are now cautious and look for wines from other countries "in case there is another problem" in South Africa, sighs Boyce Lloyd, who fears that government decisions will affect the sector for years to come .