Farmworkers to France
2006-11-02
TWO local cellar employees are among five employees in the wine industry who will visit France soon to obtain experience on the management and maintenance of wine barrels.
They are Adam Alexander, barrel cellar manager at Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons, and Hans Johannes, cellar assistant at Graham Beck Wines.
The other three members of the empowerment group sponsored by the industry (SAWIT) and the Department of Agriculture Western Cape, are Clements Page of Distell, Norman Ketelo of De Grendel en Naithan Adams of Morgenster.
They will visit the agricultural college in Beaune from 13 to 25 November and will attend lectures and received practical exposure concerning the impact of wood maturation on wine.
This specific program was included in an agreement earlier this year when a French delegation consisting of representatives from the Centre de Formation Professionelle et de Promotion Agricole (CFPPA) Beaune, the Vice President responsible for International Relations in the Burgundy Regional Council and French wineries visited the Western Cape.
This was done in terms of the bilateral Co-operation Agreement between the Burgundy Region and the Western Cape Province, which was signed in September 2002.
The primary aim of this project is to provide vocational training and social upliftment to wine farm workers with no formal qualification, but with a relevant experience in viticulture and cellar technology, to obtain a recognised certificate.
This project follows on a successful first phase of the exchange programme pioneered by the CFPPA, SAWIT and the SA Embassy in Paris since 2001.
The project is partly sponsored by the Burgundy Regional Council and the French Department of Foreign Affairs.
The project, which strengthens the bilateral co-operation between France and South Africa as well as between Burgundy and the Western Cape, includes the exchange of learners at training centres; the implementation of joint professional training in the wine industry; the exchange of students; and practical internships.
The workers will attend a preparatory course, including French, at Elsenburg beforehand.
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