Thokozani wines are made by the Diemersfontein team which reduces overheads and risk for the empowerment company. The latter does most of the marketing and the wines are doing well internationally, especially in Holland. The plan is to grow output to about 10 000 cases a year across the three Thokozani wines, from 6000 cases presently, which would take Thokozani wines to about 10% of Diemersfontein’s annual production. The Thokozani Wine is doing well and represented in the US, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Czech Republic , South Africa and Botswana. But why create a new brand from scratch? Why not let workers share in Diemersfontein’s existing success? “It about separating ownership of a brand,” explains David. “If people feel that they have a major proportion of a small brand it has more meaning than having a smaller part of someone else’s brand.” Thokozani is owned by two groups of investors: the staff (which own 80%), and Diemersfontein Investments represented on the board by David (20%).
David defends his 20% slice, saying he needed to tie himself to the commercial success or failure of the fledgling enterprise, at least in the development phase. Over time it may become more autonomous. “I did it because I saw BBBEE companies often become quite isolated,” he says. “The whole purpose is to create a mentorship, not just hive off a bit of your farm. It should also be in my commercial interests that Thokozani thrives, hence my retaining a healthy chunk of it.”