After her mother's car was repossessed, their home sold and they moved to Motherwell NU9, Sfiso Macozoma opted to go against the grain by establishing a wine range to support herself and motivate those around her to pursue their dreams.
The name of the range, Makhumalo, was inspired by Macozoma's mother's clan name.
The wine is made at an undisclosed vineyard and wine farm in Stellenbosch.
The 30-year-old's range includes a sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon and merlot, as well as rosé and chenin blanc.
Macozoma grew up in Midrand and relocated to Motherwell in 2013, before going on to study film and TV production in Johannesburg before returning to Gqeberha in 2016.
After being unable to find a job in the film industry, she went into retail for a while before the idea to start a wine range was sparked during the initial hard lockdown in 2020.
She also decided to pursue her idea to inspire youth in the township to believe in and chase their dreams.
"My birthday was in May and I wanted to drink, but people were selling drinks [alcohol] at ridiculous prices.
"The queues were ridiculous and so I did research on how I could sell my own wine.
"I discovered the wine industry was dominated by whites in SA; through my research I discovered that most of the wine in SA comes from Cape Town and Johannesburg, and none from Gqeberha."
She encourages the youth to start pursuing their goals as she has done, "even if it means starting by selling eggs".
Having grown up with her mother's family for the most part, Macozoma said she decided to honour her by giving the wine range their clan name.
