Tinashe Nyamudoka had never tasted wine in his life when in 2009 he embarked on a 4000-kilometre journey south as an economic refugee from Zimbabwe to the city of Cape Town, the wine capital of neighbouring South Africa.
Today, Nyamudoka is a boisterous sommelier who owns a brand called Kumusha Wines. He’s a success story in a famously white-dominated industry – because nothing smells more of white privilege in South Africa than wine.
He has prospered despite belonging to a community of Zimbabwean immigrants who suffer discrimination in South Africa. Hardly accepted, they occasionally face deadly xenophobic assaults from resentful locals.
In 2020, grape producers numbered close to 2,700, according to Wines of South Africa. Of all these wine farmers, black producers made up 2 per cent – just over 60 people – in 2021, industry body Vinpro reports.
‘For winemakers like Tinashe to start flipping the script like this is something thrilling,’ says Denis Juru, president of South Africa International Cross Borders Trade Association. ‘Next stop should be black wine exporters.’
In recent years, black wine growers, distillers’ and drinkers have been staking their claim on the industry. Wine tasting festivals in black townships, like the Soweto Wine Festival (now in its 12th year edition), have attracted thousands. ‘The food-politics of apartheid meant wine in South Africa was considered an elitist, white cocktail. Seeing black drinkers shifting sales volumes means a significant change of norms,’ says activist Ntsiki Biyela, who is regarded as the first black female winemaker.
Tinashe fits with this change of scenery. ‘I´m flattered but I´m not the star of the transformation,’ he says. ‘Many black South Africa wine-makers, tasters and chefs have prospered, not just me. It´s a wave going up.’
