Determined Kayamandi student Aphelele Mvamva scoops fast track wine career opportunity

21 year old Aphelele Mvamva lives with her sister in the Kayamandi township just outside Stellenbosch. It means “nice place” in iXhosa but the hostel that she lives in, is anything but. As a little girl, she was shuttled between the Eastern Cape and Stellenbosch where her mother Nokalothi was a vineyard worker. This lifestyle meant she was forced to adapt to many different places and schools. She landed in the Red Cross Children’s Hospital after she contracted TB and was suffering from malnutrition. In her teens she went through a terrible bout of depression but poetry in her mother tongue, isiXhosa helped her to reflect on her feelings and she eventually took part in provincial and national competitions in which she excelled. Aphelele is determined not to be defined by poverty and this hunger to succeed has landed her a fast-track career in wine when she was selected as the first Drostdy Hof Graduate for a year-long mentoring programme. It is an achievement she earned after graduating from the Pinotage Youth Development Academy (PYDA). She stood out among her peers for her combination of academic performance, strong interpersonal skills and a burning desire to succeed. During the year, she will be guided among others by Distell head wine-maker, Andrew Freeborough and has the chance to meet leaders in the wine trade and be exposed to wine-growing and cellar practices. - Linda van Tilburg