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  The Democracy Series videos chart a journey of progress

07 Mar 2014

Topics: Andisiwe Ketsiwe, André Morgenthal, Backsberg Estate Cellars, Black Economic Empowerment, Bosman Family Vineyards, Cynthia Pieterson, Doon Stevens, Fairhills, Lelienfontein, Nelson Mandela, Ntsiki Biyela, Pinotage Youth Development Academy, Rita Andreas, South Africa, South African wine, Stellekaya, wine, Wines of South Africa

To celebrate 20 years of democracy this April, Wines of South Africa (WOSA) is releasing a series of short videos that reflect in a personal but very powerful way, the life-changing experiences of people touched by transformation initiatives in the wine industry.

From fifth-generation labourer to co-owner of a major farming venture, from refugee to nurseryman, from scholarship student to renowned winemaker and role model, from drug-addled gangster to farrier, each of the stories in WOSA's The Democracy Series movingly charts a journey of progress.

The subjects talk to the camera about how far they have come. For some, they have been given a second chance. For others, they have seized opportunities with both hands.

In one instance, a woman, who represents the third generation of workers on a farm, becomes the principal of three day care centres. She recalls the days when women were forced to take their children into the vineyards with them, regardless of age or weather. Now they are given the early learning foundations at properly equipped schools for a head start in life.

In another video, a farm worker participates in a black economic empowerment winemaking venture and is able to buy his own home. A video third recounts how a young mother starting out with an uncertain future is learning about wine through a youth development academy and already has a job.

Each vignette ends with a quotation from the late Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first democratically elected president.

The videos are being screened at international wine shows during the course of the year and are also hosted on WOSA's website.

Says WOSA communications manager André Morgenthal: "The stories are a microcosm of what change means for people with a history of historical disadvantage. From potential victim to victor, each has turned the tables on disempowerment to become a person who can play their role in the wine industry with dignity and pride.”


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