Cape Town - For the first time, owner of Solms-Delta Company and farm, Professor Mark Solms, admits he made mistakes, but said that he was not willing to give up just yet and is sewing fresh seeds with the help of an American investor.
Solms, a university professor, claims he found himself knee-deep in debt trying to rescue the farm in Franschhoek.
The vision for the farm was to share the land and company with the workers. He said he held on to the bitter end.
Questions arose as to what happened to the millions invested by the government that was meant to empower workers, and what would happen to the workers who claimed they lacked basic municipal services.
As part of a government 50/50 farmworkers empowerment programme, R65 million was invested. Then came a liquidation process which ended in business rescue, and resulted in municipal services being suspended,
Solms told Weekend Argus, his vision and that of his previous business partner, British philanthropist Richard Astor, who is now deceased, would still apply by allowing workers to own a portion of the land they worked on.
“We made mistakes by spending all the money, before making money,” said Solms this week as the 2023 wines for Solms-Delta had already been produced for the market.
“I will not give up now.”
American Fortune 500 executive, African-American investor Tommy Hall is behind the “revitalisation” of the estate.
Hall said there will be several million US dollars invested to restore the farm to a full-service wine estate, including a renovated Fyndraai Restaurant that will be open seven days a week, five-star tasting room with new glasses, cutlery and sommelier-trained staff, an innovative museum and music experience with updated technologies, wedding venues and picnic sites that will showcase the Groot Drakenstein mountains, and a modernised wine cellar including several tractors for efficient harvesting.
“We seek to revitalise the mission to bring good wine and hope back to the community,” said Hall.
“We will do that by keeping a balance of commercial interests and social needs.
“Our intent is to provide sustainable, long-term employment for those living on the farm.
“We will develop a skills programme to ensure that we are prepared and successful in the positions being offered. This will happen as soon as full operations commence later this year.
“Eventually, we will develop a management path for those workers, who aspire to reach the next level in their careers. As the business grows, they will be able to grow with us.”
Solms said when he and Astor started out, they were excited at changing the narrative and dived into providing education, municipal services, home renovations, and even health care for workers who had lived for generations on the farm.
The business/farm was divided into three portions: Astor’s portion, Solms’
portion and the workers who formed a trust called Wijn de Caab. Each had a 33% share in the company.
“We started an education programme and even brought in teachers for support and later placed their children into Model C schools.
“But lingering in the background was a loan of R46 million that we took to buy the workers’ farm.
“We started to run out of money although we thought we would sell enough wine to support this,” he said.
“We therefore formed a new partnership, a 50/50 project in which workers had larger share than before and this was when we made a deal with the government – the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD).
“They would pay off the workers’ farm loan and they also bought a portion of my shares and a portion of Astor’s farm to increase the workers’ share in the company and the land from 33% to 50%.
“The money that Richard got for the portion of his farm, he placed in the Solms-Delta company to pay off the debt, I did so as well.
“The business was losing money and we had no choice and faced liquidation,” said Solms.
“The liquidation process came to a halt at the Western Cape High Court and the farm was placed in business rescue. A business rescue practitioner was hired.
“He would run the business and create a plan to bring it out of rescue. This process normally takes about three months. He has run it for six years now. He didn’t do anything he was supposed to do,” he said.
“Government yet again had to plough money into the company to pay electricity bills, insurance premiums, and rates and taxes which the business rescue practitioner had not seen to,” said Solms.
“Still, he never paid these bills. He also never gave monthly reports and he just sold all the existing stock of our wine and never made any more wine. He didn’t even harvest our grapes.”
Solms said he used his own money to pay off the debt to the municipality but could not pay for all three farms.
“There was no wine, there was no restaurant, and no tourists and so eventually the government cancelled their lease with Solms-Delta,” he said.
Business rescue practitioner, Mahier Tayob, hit back saying he had tried to salvage the business, but to no avail.
“The department of Rural Development was informed that there is no prospect of rehabilitation for Solms.
“Insofar as the municipality is concerned, we negotiated a payment arrangement, and the department was responsible. We have kept Solms in care and maintenance on the instruction of the State Attorney.”
Worker leadership representative, Nico Jansen said he was part of a panel of nine workers who have made applications to be part of a new business partnership on the workers’ farm. Jansen admitted conditions on the farm were not good as they lacked electricity.
“There is no electricity and we are reaching out to the department and the municipality,” he said.
Jansen’s plan for the new partnership is to work with Tommy Hall in his revitalisation project.
Reggie Ngcobo, of DALRRD told Weekend Argus as the matter had been before a liquidation process, they could not comment.
Alvina Abrahams, a farm activist who has been fighting for basic rights said the workers were asking what had happened to the funding.
“They said no-one wants to take responsibility. The government gave a relief fund to help them out and a committee was elected, but no one can say what happened to the millions which were given.”