The celebration marked another milestone for Paul Siguqa, Rodney Zimba, and the 100% Black-owned wine farm in Franschhoek – a place built on vision, skill, and unshakeable perseverance.
As Paul stood on that soil, Maya Angelou’s words echoed in my mind: "I come as one but stand as ten thousand." The moment quickly shifted when a local Black South African said to me, "Black Americans need to stop bringing their ideology to Africa and telling Africans how to be."
It wasn’t a new sentiment. There is often tension between the African-American approach to identity and South African lived experience. But the critique misses a crucial reality: the economic landscape we are operating within is not neutral.
“Culture as capital” explained
That tension reveals a deeper truth: when we talk about ideology, we’re actually talking about the rules of the economic game itself. That’s why we need to define what ‘culture as capital’ means.
In business terms, “culture as capital” refers to the measurable economic value created when an organization’s shared norms, behaviors, and identity operate as an asset rather than an accident. Culture becomes capital when it:
- Improves performance by increasing alignment, clarity of purpose, and operational discipline.
- Accelerates decision-making because teams share assumptions, standards, and expectations.
- Reduces friction and waste, cutting back on rework, internal conflict, and misaligned initiatives.
- Enhances retention and talent development, lowering hiring and onboarding costs.
- Strengthens stakeholder trust, which fuels partnerships, fundraising, and long-term growth.
When treated as a strategic asset, culture produces compounding returns. It shapes how people behave when no one is watching, and those behaviors determine whether an organization scales efficiently - or stalls.For this purpose consider Black Economic Empowerment as the organization.
The economics behind the tension
Before we can debate ideology, we must acknowledge the data. According to recent analysis by GroundUp:
- Income: In 2022-23, white-headed households earned four times more than Black-headed households on average.
- Employment: The Black South African unemployment rate is 36%, compared to just 8% for white South Africans.
- Wealth: The top 20% of white households hold a median wealth of R1.9 million; for Black households in the same tier, it is R551,000.
These disparities are not abstractions. They shape access, opportunity, and outcomes. This is the environment Paul and Rodney are building in, and exactly why Sips with Soul was created as an intentional economic intervention. What some label “ideology” is simply strategy aligned to the toughest parts of South African’s economic reality.
Pro-Black is not anti-white
Let’s be clear: Black economic empowerment is not anti-white. It is not a zero-sum game where someone must lose for someone else to win.
The mission behind Sips with Soul - the Black-owned wine routes we curate - is to widen the circle of opportunity so the economy becomes more robust, diverse, and representative. Many white allies understand this. They support the work because an inclusive, more vibrant, and more equal South Africa benefits everyone.
Operational excellence: The talent engine
You can’t market mediocrity. Cultural capital may create the spark, but operational excellence determines whether that spark becomes scale. The growth we celebrated this weekend wasn't only about a brand; it was about the soil, people and the cellar.
Paul provided the vision. But it is Rodney Zimba - the talented winemaker and farm manager - who has been the operational engine behind the farm’s evolution. Our role at Sips with Soul is not simply to tell a story; it is to amplify their excellence.
The backstory: Curating the narrative
To understand how this trajectory of how Culture to Capital took shape, we rewind to March 2022, when New York Times reporter John Eligon reached out to understand the state of Black winemaking in South Africa. He didn’t just want a list of wines; he wanted context, history, and truth. We told him: "Fly to Cape Town and let us show you Black People in Wine."
What followed was an immersive experience centered unapologetically on the Black South African wine industry - fine dining to braai vibes, winemakers, chefs, sommeliers, and a full ecosystem of Black talent.
From thanksgiving to Hollywood: When culture meets capital
Months later, that curated experience led to Thanksgiving 2022, when we hosted an American-South African fusion dinner at Klein Goederust. The resulting New York Times Feature elevated the farm - and Rodney’s wines - to a global audience.
Then came Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade, whom Sips with Soul hosted at the farm. The positioning was so strong that Klein Goederust became part of their internationally televised BET special.
And the economic impact? Since we began this work, over 2,000 Americans - Black, white, and brown - have visited Klein Goederust through Sips with Soul. That is money directly into a Black-owned business. That is the capital that helped build the very cellar we celebrated this weekend.
Scaling the vision: Afro Wine Week
This winning model now needs scale. Afro Wine Week, happening November 7-13 in Cape Town, is designed as an economic engine - where culture, commerce, and diaspora connection meet. It is the evolution of everything Sips with Soul has already proven.
The bottom line
When we urge Black South Africans to lean into their culture, we’re not importing ideology. We’re offering a growth blueprint.
Blackness - joy, resilience, ownership - is not only an ideology. It is a cultural asset with measurable returns.
And to the gentleman at the opening: The "ideology" is an investment strategy. Looking at the diverse crowds and the 2,000+ visitors who’ve walked through Klein Goederust’s doors because of it are proof that “Culture is Capital” and the returns are shared by everyone.