What is WIETA
WIETA was one of the first multi-stakeholder-led social standards in South Africa to drive social compliance and best practice down the wine and agricultural supply chain. The WIETA standard is designed to transform business’ behaviour and workplace relationships to ensure fair, just and respectful treatment of all workers in wine and agriculture, demonstrating that companies can actively contribute to the creation of more sustainable and dignified environments for farming communities.
The WIETA Standard guides the implementation of human rights due diligence and ethical best practices through participative inspections methodologies and rigorous multi-stakeholder social dialogue, ensuring the amplification of worker voices and business commitment to actioning remedies while reducing wine business’ risks in the wine and agricultural supply chain.
WIETA proudly demonstrates how a multi-stakeholder model can successfully promote a world-class ethical trade and human rights programme within the wine value chain. Innovative social dialogue engagements and a rigorous capacity building and training programme for both workers and producers are coupled with a participative multi-pronged approach to auditing and a remedial approach to ensure sustained corrective actions.
The organisation’s Ethical Code of Conduct serves as a rigorous framework through which its members and their supply chain are monitored. Social audits serve as a primary monitoring tool to measure not only legal compliance with South Africa’s labour and occupational health and safety legislation but also go beyond compliance requirements to ensure that the company’s management systems reflect sustainable ethical principles and human rights due diligence and practices.
Mission Statement
WIETA’s vision is to promote fair treatment, respectful relationships and dignified lives toward achieving a transformed agricultural sector.
WIETA’s mission is to develop and implement a pro-active world class and sustainable ethical trade programme for the South African wine industry and aligned sectors by:
- Setting a social standard and providing ethical assurance.
- Creating the platform for ethical advocacy and social dialogue.
- Providing services to improve decent work and support sustainable ethical trade.
- Developing and delivering innovative programmes for ethical transformation.
- Promoting wellbeing through responsible production, distribution and consumption.
- Ensuring an effective and efficient organisation.
What is contained in the WIETA code?
The code contains information pertaining to:
- Ethical and socially responsible management systems.
- Prohibition on child labour and the employment of young workers.
- Prohibition on forced, bonded, prison or indentured labour.
- A safe and healthy work environment.
- Unfair discrimination against workers.
- Fair treatment, working conditions and disciplinary measures for workers.
- Fair wages
- Housing and tenure security.
- Striving towards social responsibility and community development as best practise.
- Freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively.
Who may join WIETA?
Any individual or body that is committed to the objectives of the organisation, including growers; producers; agents, trade unions; non-governmental organisations; retailers, and government.
How is this body managed?
A Board, comprising labour, business, non-governmental organisation and government representatives, manages the body. Representatives from these constituencies are elected onto the Board at the Annual General Meeting. A Chief Executive Officer, who reports to the Board, is responsible for the day-to-day management of the association.
What is required of members?
Members of the association have different responsibilities and make different contributions in meeting the aims and objectives of the association. All members who join the association agree to abide by the constitution and to support the objectives of the organisation. In addition to this:
- Board members are requested to contribute their expertise and time in the development of the code and in taking important decisions about how the association will best meet its objectives.
- Producer members are required to implement the base code at their workplaces, and to allow the association to monitor compliance.
- Trade union members play an important role in creating awareness of the provisions of the code among their members.
- Non-governmental organisations provide a valuable resource to the association in terms of their expertise, training capacity and research capabilities.
- Government is an important service provider in the sector, and their participation in the association provides an important opportunity for WIETA to identify ways of working together in ensuring more effective service delivery affecting compliance with the code in under resourced rural areas.
How will WIETA monitor member' compliance with the code?
Independent social auditors, who have a good understanding of the sector and are familiar with labour and tenure security legislation, will be selected and trained by WIETA to monitor compliance with the code.
Members who comply with the base code will become accredited members of the association. Those that do not comply will be required to develop an improvement plan, setting out the steps that will be taken towards compliance within reasonable time frames agreed with the association. Follow up audits will be conducted to ascertain the extent to which these measures have been implemented.
What services will WIETA provide?
- Educating members (new and current) and workers on the code, standard and the social auditing process.
- Sharing up to date information on best practice in implementing the code.
- Monitoring producer and grower member' compliance with the code.
- Assisting retailers to monitor their suppliers.
- Offering risk and remedy consulting.
- Offering ethical support programmes pertaining to wellness, ethical leadership and communication & relationships.
- Offering webinars focusing on Occupational health & safety, hazard identification & risk assessment and ESTA.
The WIETA Seal
The Fair Labour Certification seal testifies to best practice working conditions, based on rigorous and closely monitored qualification criteria. This is believed to be a world first among wine-producing countries. This seal is a parallel effort to Fair Trade or Fair for Life, which are also recognised as ethical certifications. WIETA audit companies to monitor the WIETA Standard.
Bulk Wine Social Traceability
To ensure compliance with global human right due diligence requirements, WIETA encourages all bulk wine exporters to apply to have their bulk wine socially traced for ethical assurance from the vineyard to the packaging. Social traceability ensures that full transparency and vigilance is applied to ensure consumers can have the fullest confidence that the product is sourced sustainably, ethically and responsibly.
Visit the WIETA website at www.wieta.org.za
Contact us
Office Address
Unit 9 Cotillion Place
Techno Drive
Technopark
Stellenbosch
7600
Linda Lipparoni
Tel: +27 (0)21 880 0580
Cell: +27 (0)82 864 1816
Fax: +27 (0)21 880 0576
Email: info@wieta.org.za or linda@wieta.org.za