Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism
- (a) What are the projected production volumes for (i) table grapes and (ii) wine grapes in the province for the 2025 harvest season and (b) how do these projections compare to the previous year’s yields;
- (a) how many workers are expected to be employed during the 2025 harvest season and (b) what portion of these are seasonal employment opportunities;
(a) what measures has his Department implemented to support producers with market access and export readiness ahead of the harvest and (b) which international markets are expected to receive the largest share of province’s grape exports?
- (i) Table Grapes
Province | 2025/26 Estimate* | 2024/25 Actual |
National | 79.4 million cartons (4.5 kg equivalent cartons) | 78.9 million cartons (4.5 kg equivalent cartons) |
WC | 48.7 million cartons (4.5 kg equivalent cartons) | 49.1 million cartons (4.5 kg equivalent cartons) |
*SATI (26 September 2025 – First crop estimates for the 2025/26 season)
- (ii) Wine grapes
Province | Tonnes | Hectares | ||
2024 Actual | 2025 Estimate | 2024 Actual | 2025 Estimate | |
National | 1,116,780 | 1,285,211 | 86,544 | Available March 2026 |
WC | 1,069,459 | 1,217,646 | 84,231 | Available March 2026 |
NC/other | 47,321 | 67,565 | 2,313 | Available March 2026 |
*Mr Hendrik le Roux - SAWIS
- (a) & (b)
Table grapes:
- SA: ± 100 000 jobs; ±14 843 permanent; ± 86 870 seasonal workers (86%/87%)
- WC: more than 29 000 jobs
Wine grapes:
- SA: ± 270 364 jobs
- WC: ± 245 128 jobs
- Wine tourism: Directly employed 6 304 permanent, 4 798 casuals during peak season & 2 870 casual employees the rest of the year (2022 Macro Economic Impact Study)
- (a) Strategic Partnerships:
In supporting the Western Cape farmers through advice, mentorship, training, inputs, and market access, as well as mutual in-kind contributions, the Western Cape Department of Agriculture renewed its MoUs with commodity organisations for another period of three years in 2025, including partnerships with the South African Table Grape Industry and SA Wine.
The commodity organisations are involved in CPACs, which play a fundamental role in evaluating and monitoring the applications of farmers. This also permits the Department to enhance its capacity through utilising the sector knowledge, financial, and other resources of the industry.
Table grapes:
Despite the current tariffs on exports to the USA, SATI is running market development campaigns in both Canada and the USA. The Western Cape Department of Agriculture supports them in this effort. The Department is working with SATI, Transnova Africa, and Transnet to expand the Prescriptive Logistics Model and improve data sharing and real-time logistics coordination that would enable growers to make data-driven decisions about the most efficient route to market. The Department is supporting focused market development campaigns for the Philippines, where, for the first time this season, South Africa is exporting table grapes, following new market access secured earlier in 2025.
Wine grapes:
The Western Cape Department of Agriculture, in partnership with South African Wine Industry Transformation Unit (SAWITU) and the Agricultural Research Council, launched the Stellenbosch-based brand home and wine tourism hub, The Wine Arc, to speed up transformation by providing black-owned wine brand owners with a strong business platform and access to markets.
The strategic goals of the Department include enabling the provincial agricultural sector to keep its export position through value addition growth and to advance market access for the whole agricultural sector.
Infrastructure and support services:
Through the Agricultural Producer Support and Development programme the Department provides extension and advisory services to famers, both smallholder and commercial across the entire province.
- The biggest markets for the export of grapes from South Africa and the Western Cape will be the European Union and the United Kingdom, which traditionally take more than 75% of South Africa's table grape exports. Other key markets include Asia, the Americas (Canada and the US) and Africa.
