From left to right: Danie Keet - judge, Johannes Richter - Winelands Magazine, Jaco Snyman - Runner-up, Cas du Plessis and Maryke Roberts - judges
Mr Kgatlhane was also recently selected by Veritas Awards media partner WineLand Media as a “30 Under 30” 2025 award winner, an annual awards competition that recognises promising young movers and shakers in the wine scene.
He submitted the overall winning article, while the runner-up is Jaco Snyman from Worcester, a skilled chef and culinary expert. He was formerly a Junior Sous Chef at Creation Wine in Hermanus and a Sous Chef at Opstal Estate, Breedekloof, and he also excelled by winning the Blog Division of the Competition.
It is the 13th year of this competition, and the results were announced during a function at the organisers' office, the SA National Wine Show Association (SANWSA) at the Simonsvlei Wines Business Hub outside Paarl.
Kgatlhane received R15 000 for his winning article, Snyman R7 500 as runner-up, and R3 000 for the best blog entered. These gentlemen are poised to join the established, more senior, 84-strong wine and wine industry writing and blog-influencing corps in South Africa. The idea is to add their young new voices to this dynamic and diversified field, as listed in the latest edition of Wineland Media’s SA Wine Industry Directory.
The New SA Wine Writer of the Year competition is open to writers 35 years old or younger and presented by SANWSA, a fully representative industry organisation, which runs the Veritas Awards, SA Young Wine Show and SA Terroir Competition, aiming to identify new word-wise talent in the wine industry.
The competition was judged in two categories, one for wine-related magazine print articles and one for web blogs, dealing with one of five prescribed subjects.
The overall winning entry by Rethabile Kgatlhane dealt with the topic “Are There Too Many Wine Competitions in the Country and Does This Water Down the Value?” From Tzaneen Village in Kuruman in the Northern Cape, although totally ignorant of the world of wine, he was bitten by the vinous bug at 18 and started a winery with two friends.
Today his winning entry stated,“If we can commit to building competitions that honour quality, uplift the underdogs, and speak with a voice the whole country can trust, then the future of our wine, and those who dare to make it, will be in the right hands … Honestly, not every bottle needs a sticker to be worthy, and not every award needs to exist to prove excellence. Because when everything is special, nothing truly is.”
From the Pitso Jantjie High School, Kgatlhaneis a former Manganese Sampler at Kudumane Manganese Resources. Today, he describes himself as an opinion-former focused on culturally based community development in the English and Setswana languages. “Passionate about viticulture, cellar work, and the science behind winemaking. Seeking mentorship and real-world experience that will allow me to grow into a future winemaker and advocate for inclusive wine education in underrepresented communities.”
This is as a member of the Kgatlhane Legacy Group, a diversified company committed to excellence in publishing, business consulting, agriculture, cosmetics, and the beverage industry.
Meanwhile, as runner-up, Jaco Snyman dealt with the subject of the country’s indigenous grape, Pinotage – celebrating 100 years of success and its contribution to thelocal wine industry. Under his heading “A Century of Pinotage: The Rebel Grape That Became a South African Icon," he concluded, “The next chapter isn’t about defending Pinotage. It’s about exploring it. And maybe just maybe the best is still coming”.
His winning blog dealt with the contentious practice of chilling red wine, under the heading “Ice in Wine? Chilled Reds? Making Sense of It in a Hot Country Like Ours” His bottom line was, “Wine is about pleasure, after all. And sometimes, that means breaking a rule or two to suit the moment. South African style.”
The 2025 judging panel comprised seasoned wine journalists Wanda Augustyn, Cassie du Plessis, Joanne Gibson, Danie Keet, Neil Pendock and Maryke Roberts, who agreed that the 2025 entries showed the love and interest of younger people in articles and blogs on wine and wine events. It was good to see that, after 13 years of the competition, new voicesenter every year from diverse backgrounds, for whom it should be gratifying to see the winning entries published in WineLand Media, which has been the media partner from the onset.
Wanda Augustyn, editor of Wineland Media, said, “Congratulations to this year's winner, also a 2025 30 Under 30 honouree of ours. Your work showcases fresh perspectives that are rewriting our industry's narrative. As an emerging voice, you inspire the next generation of wine enthusiasts and challenge how we communicate about wine. Your love and innovation represent the future of our industry, and we’re excited to see how you'll continue to enrich the world of wine.
“The runner-up and blog winner also deserve congratulations for their worthy entries, showing their skill in both the longer and shorter formats."
SANWSA chairperson Christo Pienaar added, “We are excited to see the enthusiasm in this competition from numerous new writers to relate the many interesting stories and join the debate about our industry. They are the new voices to speak to the next generation of consumers and wine lovers.”
As the competition’s media partner, WineLand Media, will publish the winning articles and blogs. At the same time, Veritas will continue collaborating with the Departments of Journalism at the University of Stellenbosch, University of Cape Town and Cape Peninsula University of Technology to encourage their students to write about wine.
For more information, contact the SANWSA/Veritas office at tel 021 8631599, e-mail info@veritas.co.za or visit www.veritas.co.za.
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Photo captions:
1. Winner of the 2025 NEW SA WINE WRITER, Rethabile Kgatlhane who joined on teams as he could not attend the prize giving ceremony.
2. Christo Pienaar - Chairman SA National Wine Show Association, Johannes Richter - Winelands magazine, Jaco Snyman - Runner-up, Rico Basson – CEO SA Wine.
3. Christo Pienaar, Chairman SA National Wine Show Association, Jaco Snyman, Runner up and Bennie Howard, Vice Chairman SA National Wine Show Association.