# Tot System > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tot_System > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tot_System.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tot_System > Source revision: 1352130061 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Notorious truck system used at South African wine farms}} The '''Tot System''', also known as the '''Dop System''' (after the [Afrikaans](/source/Afrikaans) word 'dop' meaning an alcoholic drink), is a notorious [truck system](/source/truck_system) which was used in [South African](/source/South_Africa) wine farms particularly in the [Western Cape](/source/Western_Cape). Farm workers would receive payment in the form of money with a daily measure of cheap wine as a fringe benefit. This practice increased and exacerbated alcoholism among farm workers, which resulted in widespread social damage among communities, particularly the [Cape Coloured](/source/Cape_Coloured) community. The practice goes back to the European settlers of the seventeenth century. It was outlawed in 1960, but the ban was not enforced until the 1990s when South Africa's new democratic government under [Nelson Mandela](/source/Nelson_Mandela) saw the demise of the practice. In 2003 a new ''Liquor Act'' which outlaws the "dop" system was adopted by the South African Parliament.{{cite news| url=http://mg.co.za/article/2003-09-05-new-liquor-bill-outlaws-dop-system| title=New Liquor Bill outlaws 'dop' system| first=Marianne|last=Merten| newspaper=Mail & Guardian online| date=5 September 2003}} The bill states that "an employer must not supply liquor or methylated spirits to any person as an inducement to employment; supply liquor or methylated spirits to an employee as or in lieu of wages or remuneration; or deduct from an employees’ wages or remuneration any amount relating to the cost of liquor or methylated spirits.{{cite web| url=http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=68036| title=Liquor Act, 2003|publisher=Government Gazette| date= 26 April 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612063257/http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=68036|archive-date=12 June 2012|access-date=23 October 2018}} Although there have been reports that some farm workers still do receive partial payment in wine,{{cite news| url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/taking-w-cape-s-deadly-dop-system-to-court-1.362932| title=Taking W Cape's deadly dop system to court| date=21 July 2007| first=Lynnette|last= Johns| newspaper=IOL news}}{{cite web| title=Ripe with Abuse. Human Rights Conditions in South Africa's Fruit and Wine Industries| url=https://www.hrw.org/node/101085/section/8| publisher=Human Rights Watch| date=23 August 2011| page=8| access-date=2 September 2011}} the "tot" system has been largely eradicated. However, the legacy continues as alcoholism is still rife. A 2000 study of [Fetal Alcohol Syndrome](/source/Fetal_Alcohol_Syndrome) (FAS) in a community in the Western Cape Province shows that the “historical presence of the wine industry in the Western Cape and the drinking patterns that have developed have produced a high FAS rate.”{{cite web| url=http://www.mrc.ac.za/bod/Alcoholburdentechinical.pdf| title=Estimating the burden of alcohol abuse in South Africa in 2000| first1=Michelle| last1= Schneider| first2=Rosana|last2= Norman|first3=Charles|last3= Parry| first4=Debbie|last4= Bradshaw|first5= Andreas|last5= Plüddemann| date=May 2007| publisher=South African Medical Research Council|page=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151024174144/http://www.mrc.ac.za/bod/Alcoholburdentechinical.pdf|archive-date=24 October 2015|access-date=23 October 2018}} Today some areas of the Western Cape have the highest incidence of FAS in the world.{{cite news| url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/020520/archive_020802.htm| title=Cycle of Shame. South Africa has the highest rate of fetal alcohol syndrome in the world| first=Jeff|last= Glasser| date=12 May 2002| newspaper=US News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014000631/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/020520/archive_020802.htm|archive-date=14 October 2012|access-date=23 October 2018}} Although now paid in cash, many workers spend their wages on alcohol, often sold to them by the farmers, or from illegal [shebeen](/source/shebeen)s in the area. In 2007, the South African Wine Industry banned the 'papsak' (an Afrikaans word meaning 'soft sack' referring to cheap wine sold in a foil-lined plastic bag),{{cite news| url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=125&art_id=nw20070918165947189C804515| newspaper=IOL news| title='Papsak' runs dry| date=18 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020184358/http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/papsak-runs-dry-1.371260|archive-date=20 October 2012|access-date=23 October 2018}} and [NGO](/source/NGO)s such as [Dopstop](/source/Dopstop) are striving to address alcoholism and other substance abuse problems that plague the poor rural communities of South Africa.{{cite web| url=http://www.sahealthinfo.org/admodule/dopsystem.htm| title=Addressing the legacy of the Dop System: Tackling alcohol abuse among South African farm workers| first=Leslie|last= London| date=1999| publisher=SAHealthInfo|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326162109/http://www.sahealthinfo.org/admodule/dopsystem.htm|archive-date=26 March 2012|access-date=23 October 2018}} ==External links== *{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.uct.ac.za/asl/info/DopSystem.pdf|title=Dop System in South Africa 1793-2008. A Bibliography|last=Louw|first=Allegra|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320051928/http://www.lib.uct.ac.za/asl/info/DopSystem.pdf|archive-date=20 March 2012|access-date=23 October 2018}} *{{cite web|url=http://www.nlsa.ac.za/vine/lieoftheland.html|title=The Lie of the Land|publisher=Fruits of the Vine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020224834/http://www.nlsa.ac.za/vine/lieoftheland.html|archive-date=20 October 2011|access-date=23 October 2018}} *{{cite web| url=https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2009-05-29-voa52-68825792/414022.html| date=October 22, 2010| title=In South Africa, Unborn Children Harmed by Alcoholic Mothers| author=Darren Taylor| publisher=Voice of America}} *{{cite web| url=http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71656?oid=253784&sn=Detail&pid=71616|title=Dop system an evil practice. Minister van Rensburg Responds to Farm Worker Reports|first=Gerrit |last=van Rensburg| date= 31 August 2011}} == References == {{reflist}} {{Political history of South Africa}} Category:South African wine Category:Economic history of South Africa --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tot System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tot_System) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tot_System?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.