Cape Classics, through its Indaba Wines brand and the Indaba Scholarship Trust, has partnered with the Pinotage Youth Development Academy (PYDA) to expand its commitment to learning and career development in South Africa.
Cape Classics, a premier importer of South African wines into the US for over 20 years, is funding students at the PYDA, which provides vocational training to previously disadvantaged South Africans to prepare them for employment in the wine industry and related sectors.
“There is a dire need for a vocational training programme combining experiential and theoretical learning,” said Nico Redelinghuys, general manager of Cape Classics’ South African office based in Somerset West.
“Education provides the skills to enter into the wine industry; we drive to take it a step further and offer our students life experience that will assist in building out the marketing skills currently amiss in the training of our upcoming wine professionals.”
A commitment to social responsibility and education has always been a key part of the Indaba Wines’ philosophy. Established In 1996, a portion of the proceeds from the brands’ global sales funds the Indaba Scholarship, currently awarded to financially needy and academically deserving students to pursue wine-related studies at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels through Stellenbosch University.
The Indaba Scholarship Trust will continue to fund the studies of existing scholarship students at the university, however it has been expanded to fund two PYDA students. In addition to monetary support, the scholarship provides the students with mentorship, career coaching and life skills development.
The PYDA is a not-for-profit organization that aims to directly impact the high levels of youth unemployment by focusing on previously disadvantaged 18 to 25 year olds in South Africa. The academy is supported and steered by the UK based Hillary Cropper Foundation, and assisted by an advisory board of representative South Africans active in the wine industry. Notable patrons to the organization include Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Chef Reuben Riffel and Boland Coetzee.
CAPTION: Pinotage Youth Development Academy students Emsly Smith, Bulelwa Dyani, Zuko Dingashe and Sanelisiwe Damawe with the wine labels they designed during a three day course at Stellenbosch University.