South Africa's Women's Day and the Women Changing Viticulture
On August 9th, South Africa celebrated National Women's Day, a date with a moving history. Today, it commemorates not only the brave women of the past but also those who are significantly shaping South African viticulture today.
This day is far more than an ordinary holiday in South Africa. It commemorates one of the most striking moments in the fight against apartheid and simultaneously tells a story that extends into the vineyards of the Cape.
A March That Made History
On August 9, 1956, approximately 20,000 women of all races marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Their goal: a petition against the so-called pass laws, which prohibited Black South Africans from moving freely within their own country.
The march was led by four women, Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn, and organized by the Federation of South African Women.
The petition was ignored by the government at the time, but the protest went down in history as a symbol of resistance and female solidarity. A phrase became well-known and still resonates today: "Wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo", which roughly translates to "You strike a woman, you strike a rock".
Since 1995, National Women's Day annually commemorates this day and the strength that women have demonstrated in decisive moments of South African history.
From Resistance to Vineyards
This spirit of perseverance is now found in a place where one might not immediately expect it: in the vineyards of the Western Cape. For decades, South African viticulture was a world dominated by white men. This is increasingly changing, and some women have set benchmarks.
Ntsiki Biyela, for example, is considered South Africa's first Black female winemaker. She found her way into the cellar through a scholarship and later founded her own label, with which she gained international recognition. Carmen Stevens also followed a similar path: in 2011, she founded her own multi-award-winning winery, after establishing herself in a male-dominated industry as one of the country's first Black female winemakers. Praisy Dlamini, in turn, is behind the HER Wine Collection, South Africa's first wine brand fully run by Black women, which also provides scholarships for young women from agricultural communities, thereby fostering the next generation.
Initiatives such as Women in Wine, founded by around 20 female professionals from various areas of the wine industry, or the mentoring program of the Cape Winemakers Guild show how structures are slowly but visibly changing. Today, women stand at the forefront as chief winemakers, cellar masters, and entrepreneurs, positions that were hardly imaginable just a few decades ago. At the same time, much remains to be done: In the renowned Cape Winemakers Guild, only four of significantly more members are currently women, an indication that the path taken is far from over.
A Legacy That Lives On
What connects the march of 1956 and the women in today's wine industry is the same will to claim space that was long denied. Precisely these stories of resistance, new beginnings, and perseverance make South Africa so special as a wine-producing country. When you open a bottle of South African wine, you also open a small piece of this history.
At Kapweine, it is our pleasure to incorporate this diversity of people and stories into our selection. Because South African wine always tells more than just about grapes and terroir; it also tells about the people who make it possible.
If you would like to know more about the power women in the wine industry, we recommend this year's International Women's Day article. Learn more here ->
