Khayelitsha-born Lindile Nzaba is stocking his local taverns, restaurants, markets and households with wine. Nzaba, who has been running Khayelitsha’s Finest Wines, says he’s creating a bridge between small-scale vineyards, wine makers and cellar masters and the township.
“It’s actually a wine concept that was built to connect people,” he said.
Nzaba doesn’t make the wine himself but approaches different small-scale wine makers and buys it in bulk. They then bottle it for him and he supplies his township clients.
“Whatever wine I buy is exclusive to me, they can’t sell it on their side, and it’s only available to me. I buy all the dry goods like the empties, the corks and the label stickers out of my own pocket and I send it to them to bottle it for me.”
Nzaba then sells his products to the various establishments.
“I do the actual distribution and promotion myself,” he said.
The wines range from R80 to R100 a bottle and the business is three years old. Nzaba said he’s received a positive response from his customers and this has been really encouraging.
“Obviously everyone is different when it comes to drinking. Some people prefer old vintages and some prefer young vintages. My wines have been more on the younger side because I wanted to be more easily approached. The feedback has been really positive from the people supporting me and the industry as a whole.”
Nzaba said his brand is sending a positive message to the outside world about Khayelitsha.
“People when they talk about Khayelitsha they always talk about the negative ... we’re trying to develop, we want to be better, so the brand itself is uplifting the township.”
Nzaba is now running KFW as a side hustle, with one other person. His passion for entrepreneurship is so great that he also started a gourmet burger business, Dallas Burger, which he had to stop running when it began to clash with his full-time work commitments.
“The burger project was to introduce gourmet, good quality burgers in the townships. I tried it and it didn’t work out well, but the plan is to bring it back soon.”
Nzaba was offering ethically sourced, free range, hormone-free patties.
“It was something that you didn’t find in the township. In the township you find all these processed meats. The project was going well, I just couldn’t focus on it properly.”
When asked if he saw a future as a full-time entrepreneur, Nzaba said he hoped he would be soon but the pandemic had shaken him a little. He said job security was not something he took lightly.
“With the current state of the world, it’s really quite difficult to plan things, it’s much better to stay on the safer side, especially with alcohol. It’s one of the biggest problems [responsible] for the spread [of the pandemic]. I’m in the alcohol business, I never know what Mr Cyril [President Cyril Ramaphosa] will say or what the government will decide. It’s really difficult to plan.”
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