Black-Owned Businesses South Africa: Cape Town, Johannesburg and Beyond

WINE-MAKERS, VINEYARD OWNERS, COCKTAIL SPOTS & BARS

Khayelitsha's Finest Wines | @khayelitshasfinestwines | khayelitshasfinestwines.co.za | Khayelitsha, Cape Town
Lindile Ndzaba entered the hospitality industry in 2009 as a dishwasher at one of Cape Town's best wine bars, where he spent years absorbing everything about wine that was so conspicuously absent from the community he grew up in. In 2018, working as a restaurant manager, he launched Khayelitsha's Finest Wines — a négociant label sourcing small-batch wines from respected Western Cape producers and bringing them into townships that had historically had no access to quality wine. The inaugural release was a Mourvèdre sourced from Calitzdorp that sold 500 litres in four weeks. The range changes constantly, reflecting Ndzaba's preference for an evolving carousel of Rhône varietals, whites and skin-contact wines. Stocked at Clarke's Bar in the CBD, available online and now exported to New York. Ndzaba also runs wine pairing events at neighbourhood eateries in Khayelitsha, typically pairing his labels with traditional African food. The name says everything about what he is trying to do.

Tesselaarsdal Wines | @tesselaarsdal | tesselaarsdal.com | Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, Western Cape
Berene Sauls grew up in Gugulethu and started her career as an au pair at Hamilton Russell Vineyards in the Hemel-en-Aarde, one of South Africa's most respected cool-climate estates. Over years of immersion she became a winemaker. In 2019 she acquired sixteen hectares in the valley and named the estate after Johannes Tesselaars, a Dutch farmer who in 1810 left his land to freed slaves — among them, possibly, her ancestors. The wine is Pinot Noir. Distributed to the US, UK and Norway, and stocked at La Colombe and The Test Kitchen. One of the most quietly powerful origin stories in South African wine.

Three Quarters Wines | @threequarterswines | Stellenbosch, Western Cape
Mahalia Kotjane graduated from Elsenburg Agricultural College in 2014 and completed the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme before launching Three Quarters in 2022 with a single-variety Syrah. The name refers to three-quarter time: her winemaking philosophy centres on character, quality and personality over formula. The range has since grown to around 3,000 bottles annually across Syrah, a Rhône-inspired rosé called Lereol (named from the first letters of her three children's names), and a red blend. Focused on Rhône varietals from Stellenbosch. One of the more compelling newer voices in the Black-owned wine space.

EVEN ME | Mzukisi Ntantiso (talented musician & vocalist) teams up with Raphael Paterniti & Rory Jossel to birth a beautiful, mouth-feel Chenin & a de(light)fur red that they created to celebrate inclusivity, community & “lekker local juice”. On select shelves (definitely found at Nkula Wine Bar & Open Wine). Find it & reap the beauty of exquisite wine making.

Klein Goederust | @kleingoederust | kleingoederust.com | Franschhoek, Western Cape
Paul Siguqa grew up in Franschhoek watching his mother work the same vineyards that now belong to him, sometimes paid only in wine under the dop system. After fifteen years running a communications and events business, he saved enough to purchase Klein Goederust in 2019 for R12 million — becoming the first Black owner of a wine farm in Franschhoek and, according to Wine Enthusiast, the first and only 100% Black-owned and operated vineyard and winery in South Africa. He appointed Rodney Zimba as head winemaker, whose parents worked alongside Siguqa's mother at the same estate. The flagship is Nomaroma, a Méthode Cap Classique named after his mother. The original 1902 farmhouse is now a restaurant and events space; the stable is a tasting room. "If it's possible for a child of a farm laborer to become a farm owner, then it's possible for a child of a domestic worker to become a doctor, a scientist — you name it."

M'hudi Boutique Family Wines | @mhudiwines | mhudi.com | Stellenbosch, Western Cape
South Africa's first wholly Black-owned wine tourism farm, founded by Malmsey and Diale Rangaka in 2003. The name comes from the Setswana word "Mohudi" meaning harvester, and from Sol Plaatje's novel of the same name — the first book published in English by a Black South African. Malmsey cashed in their pensions, took out bank loans and bought a neglected property in the Bottelary Hills. Every member of the Rangaka family eventually heeded the call: Diale as viticulturalist, son Tseliso as winemaker, daughter Lebogang in marketing, son Senyane in branding. The range includes Sauvignon Blanc, Pinotage and Merlot, and the estate offers wine tastings, accommodation and a boutique event space. Winner of the 2009/10 Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Their Chenin Blanc was named Best in Class at the UK Drinks Business Masters. M'hudi's Chenin Blanc is now stocked by The Wine Society in the UK — a meaningful marker of quality, not just story.

Nice Bev Co | @nicebevco | Cape Town, Western Cape
Founded by former chef Hardy McQueen in July 2020, during the hard lockdown-imposed freeze on wine sales in South Africa, Nice Bev Co operates as a modern négociant: McQueen partners exclusively with emerging winemakers from marginalised communities — particularly Black and women vintners — to produce small-batch, low-intervention wines under his label. Every winemaker in the portfolio comes from outside the traditional wine establishment. No house style is imposed beyond a preference for natural yeasts and wines that feel alive rather than engineered. The range shifts constantly: skin-fermented Sauvignon Blanc, pét-nat Cinsault, old bush-vine Chenin from Paarl, Syrah-Grenache blends. The politics are built into the model without being on the label. Available through select importers internationally.

HER Wine Collection | @herwinecollection | herwinecollection.co.za | Wellington, Western Cape
Founded by Praisy Dlamini, the first woman to complete the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme, HER Wine is the only wine label in South Africa with an all-Black, all-female team at every level of production. Dlamini studied agriculture, rose through the ranks at Distell and Anchor Yeast, and built HER as a platform for women in wine rather than simply a brand. The labels carry an X symbol representing infinite possibilities. Current range includes a Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Rosé. The brand runs the Students for Change bursary fund supporting young women entering the industry. A serious project behind a deliberately accessible product.

Seven Sisters Vineyards | @sevensistersvineyards | sevensistersvineyards.co.za | Wellington, Western Cape
Seven sisters from the coloured fishing community of Paternoster on South Africa's West Coast shared a childhood dream of owning a farm. Vivian Kleynhans and her six sisters approached the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, and together they acquired a property in Wellington. Each wine in the range is named after one of the sisters. One of the few Black-owned wine labels in South Africa that also owns land, making it a more complete claim on the industry than most. The range covers red, white and rosé varietals.

Aslina Wines | @aslina_wines | aslinawines.co.za | Stellenbosch, Western Cape
Ntsiki Biyela grew up in the rural village of Mahlabathini in KwaZulu-Natal, where she had never seen a vineyard. A South African Airways scholarship took her to Stellenbosch University in 1999, where she graduated with a BSc in Viticulture and Oenology in 2003 — and went on to become South Africa's first Black female winemaker at Stellekaya in 2004. Her first red wine won gold at the Michelangelo International Awards. She was named South Africa's Woman Winemaker of the Year in 2009. After thirteen years at Stellekaya, she launched Aslina Wines in 2016, named after her late grandmother. The range includes a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and the Umsasane — a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot that has become her most awarded wine. Exported to the US, Japan, the Netherlands and beyond. Named among the world's top ten most innovative women in food and drink by Fortune. Board member of the Pinotage Youth Development Academy.

Kumusha Wines | @kumushawines | kumushawines.com | Western Cape (Slanghoek Valley)
Tinashe Nyamudoka left Zimbabwe in 2008 during the economic collapse with one change of clothes and a bag of certificates. In South Africa he found work polishing cutlery at The Roundhouse in Camps Bay. He spent the next decade becoming one of the most decorated sommeliers on the continent — head sommelier at The Test Kitchen in Cape Town, wine juror at Mundus Vini in Germany, member of Team Zim at the World Blind Wine Tasting Championships. In 2017, still at The Test Kitchen, he launched Kumusha Wines. Kumusha means "your home, your roots, your origin" in Shona. The label carries his grandfather's rural home in Zimbabwe. He works with Attie Louw at Opstal Estate in the Slanghoek Valley, blending the wines himself to flavour references from his own culture rather than the European lexicon of the wine trade. Minimal intervention, natural fermentation, wines that feel like they belong to Africa rather than being translated into it. Exported to Zimbabwe, the US, the Netherlands and beyond. One of the clearest examples in the portfolio of what genuinely African wine ownership and expression looks like.

Ses'fikile Wines | @sesfikilesa | Stellenbosch, Western Cape
Nondumiso Pikashe grew up in Gugulethu, steps from vineyards she never felt entitled to enter. After eleven years teaching, she launched Ses'fikile in 2010 through the Massmart Supplier Development Programme. The name means "we have arrived" in isiXhosa. Handcrafted wines including Shiraz, Merlot and Chenin Blanc, available at Makro stores nationally and online. Pikashe distributes largely independently, having been told by buyers that her brand was "too ethnic" for mainstream retail — a comment she has made public and which says more about those buyers than her wine. A regular on the Coffee Beans Routes Colour of Wine Safari.

Magna Carta Wines | @magnacartawines | magnacartawines.com | Swartland / Woodstock, Cape Town
Mphumeleli Ndlangisa — Mphumi — left a career in investment banking in 2014 to make wine from a leased cellar in Woodstock without any formal oenology training, without vineyards and without the usual infrastructure. He started from savings alone. The name is deliberate: the Magna Carta gave freedom to the oppressed; his wines give freedom to the grapes. All fruit is sourced from organic growers across Elgin, Franschhoek and Paarl. No machinery, no chemicals, no sulphur: grapes are foot-trodden, whole-bunch fermented, racked by gravity and matured in old French oak or concrete eggs. The range is small-batch, naturally made and genuinely site-specific. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay anchor the range annually; everything else shifts with what the vintage offers. Around 10,000 bottles per year, 70% exported to Europe, Asia and Africa. Now based near Piketberg in the Swartland, where Mphumi is converting a vineyard to organic production with the ambition of farming his children's inheritance.

Lathitha Wines | @lathithawines | lathithawines.co.za | Stellenbosch (Western Cape) & East London (Eastern Cape)
To answer your question: Lathitha started in Stellenbosch and is grounded in the Western Cape wine industry, but founder Sheila Hlanjwa purchased a 250-hectare farm near East London in the Eastern Cape in 2021, where she is now developing wine production alongside agro-tourism, livestock and hemp farming. So both, effectively — Western Cape in origin, Eastern Cape in the future. Lathitha means "sunrise" in isiXhosa. Sheila transitioned from a career in waste management, studied viticulture at Stellenbosch University, sold her house to fund the venture and built a brand focused on uplifting underprivileged communities through demonstrating the opportunities within winemaking. The current range of four wines — Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinotage and a Merlot/Cabernet blend — is produced at Hoopenburg Wine Estate in Stellenbosch while the Eastern Cape operation develops. She trains and employs young Black women throughout.

The Wine Shaq | @thewineshaq | Langa, Cape Town
Founded in 2017 by Nomhle Zondani, who spent a decade in insurance before joining the Township Winery in Philippi in 2010, where she eventually became Sales and Marketing Director. She took the Township Winery to new heights locally and internationally before striking out on her own to build a platform dedicated entirely to Black-owned wine brands. The Wine Shaq operates as a pop-up wine bar in Langa, pairing five-course isiXhosa menus with wines from Black-owned labels — some nights with the winemakers present to share their stories. Also available for private events. A cultural experience as much as a wine experience, and one of the more immersive ways to discover the breadth of the Black-owned wine movement in one evening.

Nkula Cocktail and Wine Bar | Bar & Wine, City Centre Founded by Simbi Nkula as a deliberate platform for South African wine labels, with a particular focus on Black-owned producers. A stylish, unpretentious space that draws an after-work crowd and tends to stretch into long evenings.

Ukhamba Beerworx | Craft Beer, Cape Town Cape Town's first Black-owned brewery. Worth tracking down on tap around the city.

The Bridge of Hope Wines | @thebridgeofhopewines | thebridgeofhopewines.co.za | Wellington, Western Cape
Rosemary Mosia grew up in Emndeni, Soweto, in a church family where women did not drink wine. Working for Transnet she relocated to Cape Town in 2001 and was captivated by the winelands — by the rituals, the landscape and the industry. Research for a Masters in Business Leadership confirmed what she already sensed: this was a space she needed to occupy. She took her pension, launched Bridge of Hope with her daughters Lebohang and Moleboheng, and built a three-tier range: Classic, Premium and Reserve. The wines are produced at Linton Park Wine Estate in Wellington. Exported globally: two million bottles to date. Served at President Ramaphosa's 2024 inauguration alongside a handful of other Black-owned labels.

Women in Wine | @womeninwine_sa | womeninwine.co.za | Western Cape
South Africa's first wine-producing company owned, controlled and managed entirely by women, founded in 2006 by a collective of twenty women with backgrounds in the wine industry who shared a single aim: to give women — particularly farmworkers and their families — an equity stake and meaningful role in an industry that had historically offered them neither. The company only sources from farms that comply fully with WIETA ethical trade standards covering employment conditions, skills development and environmental practices. The range spans Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage Rosé and blends, available at Makro nationally and exported to the US, China, Ireland, Spain, Sweden and Denmark.

j9Wine | @j9wineofficial | j9wine.com | Cape Town, Western Cape
Janine Petersen sold her car and invested her life savings to launch j9Wine in 2016 after years working with major names in the South African wine industry. A single mother of two, she is one of the youngest Black wine company owners on the continent. The range is deliberately accessible — Chenin Blanc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon — targeted at young professionals discovering wine for the first time, sourced from coastal Western Cape producers and blended to her own specification. She also founded the #wineofcolorSA platform to connect and amplify female-owned wine brands nationally and internationally. A portion of all online sales goes towards fighting gender-based violence in South Africa.

The Wine Arc | @thewinearc | thewinearc.co.za | ARC Nietvoorbij Campus, Stellenbosch
Not a wine label but an important destination to know: The Wine Arc is a purpose-built tasting room and tourism hub at the Agricultural Research Council's Nietvoorbij Campus in Stellenbosch, opened in December 2021 and dedicated entirely to Black-owned South African wine brands. Established by SA Wine and operated in partnership with Sigma International, it currently showcases 14 Black-owned labels — including Aslina, Tesselaarsdal, Carmen Stevens, Ses'fikile, Bridge of Hope and M'hudi — each of which went through a blind commercial and technical evaluation before being included. For clients who want a single afternoon in Stellenbosch that covers the breadth of this movement, The Wine Arc is the most efficient and considered way to do it.

New Dawn | newdawnwine.co.za | @drinknewdawn | Western Cape Founded by Rüdger van Wyk, winner of the 2018 Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year and former head winemaker at Stark-Condé. Van Wyk identifies as a "coloured kid from George" and his launch of New Dawn in 2024 as his first fully independent project was met with 96 points from Master of Wine Greg Sherwood on debut. Honest winemaking, minimal intervention, wines built to be drunk rather than stored.

Carmen Stevens Wines | Stellenbosch Carmen Stevens was the first Black woman admitted to Elsenburg Agricultural College to study winemaking, in 1993, only after being denied three times because of her race. She launched her own label in 2011 and in 2019 became the first Black woman to open a winery in Stellenbosch. Her wines include Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Petite Sirah and Carménère.

Novel Wine | novelwine.co.za|

Further labels worth knowing: Son of the Soil (Denzel Swarts), Sugarbird Gin (co-founded by Nzeka Biyela, a Cape fynbos spirit that has expanded into brandy and rum, contributing to women and BIPOC entrepreneur programmes with each bottle sold).

TRAVEL & TOUR OPERATORS

ABCD Concepts | @abcdconcepts | abcd-concepts.co.za | Khayelitsha, Cape Town

A lifestyle, tourism and community enterprise based in the heart of Khayelitsha offering physically immersive ways to experience one of Cape Town's most misrepresented neighbourhoods. Three core experiences: Runkasi, a 9km guided morning jog through Khayelitsha's oldest and youngest communities; a four-hour cycling tour through mapped routes designed to show the texture of daily life; and a nightlife experience introducing guests to the township's social scene with a local host. Groups of two to eight. ABCD also partners with Sporting Code, a youth sports NPO, running soccer, netball and basketball programmes for local schools and communities. In two years, 200 visitors, eight entrepreneurs supported and 12 people temporarily employed. A grounded, physical and genuinely community-rooted experience.

Camissa Travel & Marketing | Tours & Experiences, Cape Town Founded in 2006 by Khonaye and Samantha Tuswa, Camissa is 100% Black-owned and managed, and it shows in how the tours feel. They specialise in township tours centred on the people, culture and daily life of Langa and surrounding areas, and are emphatic that these are not poverty tours. Khonaye guides personally. The reviews from BIPOC travellers in particular are consistently exceptional.

African Xplora | Tours & Experiences, Cape Town Founded and managed by Tawanda Quinton Chikowore, African Xplora is a full-service premium tour operator covering activities, transfers and bespoke itineraries across Cape Town and beyond. Quinton built the business from direct experience rather than inherited infrastructure, and the approach reflects that.

Explore Sideways | Tours & Winelands Experiences, Cape Town An Indian-Durbanite-owned tour operator specialising in curated, private Cape Town and Winelands experiences. Known for thoughtful wine-focused itineraries, strong relationships with individual winemakers and an approach that is anything but generic. Consistently excellent reviews.

RESTAURANTS & EATERIES

Seven Colours Eatery | Restaurant, V&A Waterfront Founded by Nolukhanyo Dube-Cele and built around the Sunday plate, that South African tradition of pap, chakalaka, roasted meats and a rainbow of vegetables found on any township table at the weekend. The V&A location makes it accessible; the food makes it worth going.

Meeting Point | Restaurant, City Centre A Tanzanian-owned restaurant co-founded by Rita Foy and George Owira, with a menu running to nyama choma and fresh seafood with East African spicing. It has become a gathering place for both locals and visitors who want to experience Cape Town's connections to the rest of the continent.

Marco's African Place | @marcosafricanplace | Bo-Kaap A long-standing Cape Town institution known for high-energy atmosphere, live music and a menu celebrating flavours from across the continent. Game meats, traditional dishes and Cape-inspired plates in a space that feels as alive as the food itself.

KwaMai Mutsa / Afro Deli Eatery | @afrodeliafricanrestaurant | 108 Long Street, City Centre Authentic pan-African cooking drawing on recipes from across the continent: West African stews, East African spicing, Southern African comfort food. Hearty, unfussy and genuinely cross-continental. Their tagline: "Local Taste, Global Love."

Jordan Ways of Cooking | @jordanwaysofcooking | Langa A soul food kitchen in the heart of Langa serving comfort-driven South African classics with warmth and flavour. Known especially for their Soulfood Sundays, where hearty home-style cooking meets a community atmosphere that is hard to replicate anywhere else. Breakfast, lunch and dinner through the week.

Mango Ginger | @mango.ginger | mangoginger.co.za | Observatory An Observatory fixture since 2006, Mango Ginger is a coffee shop, bakery and café built on whole, nutritious ingredients: stone-ground flour, full-fat dairy, free-range meats and a menu that accommodates gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian without making a performance of it. The gluten-free, sugar-free coconut and lemon cheesecake has its own following. A warm, unhurried space.

Mpintshi Yum | @mpintshi.yum | mpintshiyum.co.za | Cape Town Founded by sisters Lerato and Leigh Walters-Maine, Mpintshi Yum is a health-forward culinary brand offering ready-made meals, personal chef services, catering and immersive African food experiences that combine traditional cuisine with storytelling and music. Mpintshi means "friend" in Zulu. Available on Uber Eats and bookable for private dining and corporate wellness programmes.

Sunshine Food Co | @sunshinefoodct Founded by Elisha Madzivadondo, the Sunshine Food Co is a vegan food concept built around 100% organic, microgreens-based ingredients. The approach frames food as medicine: uplifting, life-giving and nutritionally dense. Elisha makes what reviewers have called world-class vegan burgers. Worth seeking out at markets and events.

Max Bagels Trailer | @maxbagelstrailer | Table View Parked near the Atlantic coastline in Table View, Max Bagels does one thing and does it well: fresh bagels made with consistency and care. People arrive after beach walks or mid-errand. No excess, no concept, just very good bagels.

Black Duke | @black_duke202 | 202 Lower Main Road, Observatory Chef-led café and soul food spot in Observatory serving bagels, wraps, sarmies and comfort food. A young, growing business with a clear personality and a book in-store to go with the coffee.

Lola's on Long | @lolasonlong | Long Street, City Centre Cape Town's cultural brasserie on Long Street, open from early morning. Breakfast, brunch, coffee and conversation from 06:30 Monday to Saturday.

Umlilo | @umlilo.cpt | 355 Albert Road, Woodstock & Neighbourgoods Market A tshisa nyama in Woodstock and at the Neighbourgoods Market on weekends. Grilled meat, fire and community in a Woodstock setting that draws a mixed crowd without trying to.

Cafés & Coffee

Yebo Baba | @yebobaba_coffee | 61 Loop Street, City Centre Started by lone barista Mthethunzima Dlukwana beside the Kalashnikov Gallery on Loop Street. African-themed blends, the Yebo Baba and the Tokoloshe, plus a Karoo-grown Mystic Mesquite for when you want a break from caffeine. Small, friendly and entirely its own thing. Also operates a mobile coffee cart bookable for weddings, corporate events and markets.

Heaven Coffee | @heavencoffeect | Central Methodist Mission, Greenmarket Square, City Centre Founded by Mondli Mahamba, who arrived at the Central Methodist Mission as a homeless person and asked the minister if he could rent a space. He completed a professional barista course at Origin Coffee Roasting in 2017 and opened Heaven the same year. His mission is a space where lawyers, homeless people and tourists all sit together. He uses locally roasted beans, trains people who have been through difficulty, and is clear that this is not a charity. One of those Cape Town stories that holds up completely under scrutiny.

Siki's Koffee | @sikis_koffee | Khayelitsha & Cavendish Square, Claremont Sikelela Dibela worked his way from dishwasher at Vida e Caffè to barista, spent two years in London where he identified the gap, and in 2016 opened Cape Town's first township coffee shop from his mother's garage. Beans from Ethiopia, Kenya and Burundi, roasted on site. He now supplies other cafés including Clarke's in the CBD. Two locations: the original Khayelitsha garage, which is worth visiting in its own right, and a second branch at Cavendish Square in Claremont. Has served Siya Kolisi.

Kasteel Café | @kasteel.capetown | kasteel.capetown | City Centre Founded by Junior, who built the café around his belief in coffee as a catalyst for genuine connection. A focused, well-run weekday café open Monday to Friday.

Café Zoé | @cafezoe_ct | Newlands Founded and run by Joshua Chitongo. A neighbourhood café with a community focus and quality coffee.

Ollies | @olliesza | Sea Point A coffee shop and community space in Sea Point described as a dream in progress.

Pang Specialty Coffee | @pangspecialtycoffee | 92 Wale Street, Bo-Kaap Specialty coffee at the edge of the Bo-Kaap. Pang signs off every cup personally. Precise, quality-obsessed and worth seeking out.

Imbizo African Coffee | @imbizoafricancoffee | imbizoafricancoffee.co.za | Gardens Established in 2017, Imbizo is an African artisan coffee roastery sourcing Arabica green beans exclusively from African origins across the continent. The name means "the gathering." Roasts and supplies beans to the corporate and consumer market as well as serving from its Gardens location.

Gugulethu Coffee | @gugulethucoffee | Mobile, available for event bookings Founded by Bongani Rasmeni, a trained barista from the Eastern Cape, who built Gugulethu Coffee as a mobile pop-up operation in 2014 after working at Vida e Caffè. Operates at events, weddings, conferences and markets. His blend uses organic single-origin beans. A good supplier to recommend to clients planning Cape Town events who want everything about their gathering to reflect the city properly.

Retail, Fashion, & Art

A33 | @a33capetown | a33ishome.com | 7 Orphan Street, City Centre. Purposefully aloof, they stand for reflection, recalibration and a “small pause”. Hosting art, listening sessions, and framing “things” as art, this is a wonderful discovery.

Ogun Clothing | Menswear, City Centre & Woodstock Menswear using South African cotton, denim, woolens and linen where possible, with a clean functional aesthetic that earns its locally-made credentials rather than simply claiming them.

MAMI WATA | Selena Masekela, Nick Dutton & Andy David bring you a premium African surf lifestyle brand, based in Cape Town. Privately held by a group of indigenous South Africans and International partners, this brand was started for LOVE and BELIEF. They aim to create a force for good in Africa by manufacturing locally, and running a n African youth therapy organisation. Check them out to learn about “afrosurfonomics”.

Kdeux Clothing | @kdeux_clothing

Ogun Clothing | City Centre & Woodstock Menswear using South African cotton, denim, woolens and linen where possible. Clean, functional aesthetic that earns its locally-made credentials.

Slow Sew Studio | @slowsewstudio Slow and sustainable fashion brand focused on conscious clothing and repairs.

Barley's Closet | @barleysbloset Curated preloved clothing platform. Both Slow Sew Studio and Barley's Closet share the same founder.

Products, Services & Wellness

Ring Lifestyle Boxing Club | @ringlifestyleboxingclub Boxing-led fitness and lifestyle club. A good active experience for clients who want something physically and culturally grounded.

Selective Live | @selective_live

Nomi Handmade | nomihandmade.co.za Founded by Thandie, a textile jewellery brand using traditional shweshwe fabric. Ready-to-wear necklaces, bracelets and earrings available online and at markets. Jewellery-making workshops run from her Bo-Kaap studio, bookable via Airbnb Experiences: a hands-on, take-home experience that works well as a first or last day activity.

Ridge & Soul | @ridgeandsoul

Black Rose Concepts | @blackroseconcepts

Suki Suki Naturals | Founded by Linda Gieskes-Mwamba, originally from the DRC. Natural hair and skincare products free from toxic beauty ingredients, formulated for the African sun and African hair. Available online and at select stockists.

Dweba Art & Café | @dweba_art_cafe | 167 Longmarket Street, City Centre

Founded by Thobile Ndarana and launched in February 2025, Dweba is a gallery and café in one, occupying a light-filled space on Longmarket Street in the CBD. Ndarana's stated vision is a platform for artists who work with social commentary and contemporary issues across a broad range of visual languages, including humour, satire, performance and live art. The gallery hosts rotating exhibitions and has already collaborated with TFAG/Africa on events timed to First Thursdays. Business Live called it "a breath of fresh air" when it opened. Open Monday to Friday 08:00 to 17:00, Saturday 08:00 to 13:00. Very new, worth watching closely.

Gallery MOMO Cape Town | @gallerymomo | gallerymomo.com The Cape Town branch of Monna Mokoena's Johannesburg-founded gallery, opened in 2015. Represents South African and international artists working in photography, sculpture and painting, with particular attention to contemporary work from the continent and the diaspora. One of the most respected gallery brands in the country, and notable as the first Black-owned gallery of its kind when it opened in Johannesburg in 2002.

Nana's Retail Shop | @nanasretailshop | nanasretail.com

ACCOMODATION

4 Roomed eKasi Culture | Restaurant & Experience, Khayelitsha Abigail Mbalo founded this on the concept of the four-roomed house of the South African township as a framework for living and eating together. The Khayelitsha restaurant was named among Travel & Leisure's top 30 restaurants in the world, and the bespoke dining experiences she offers go well beyond a meal. Cultural immersion done with complete authenticity.

Curiocity - Cape Town | @curiocity.africa| | Greenpoint, Atlantic Seaboard and Kloof Street, Gardens (2 Locations) Bheki Dube founded Curiocity at 21, having started a walking tour company called Main Street Walks at 16, taking people through inner-city Johannesburg before it was considered a tourist destination at all. The Maboneng flagship was the first Black-owned hybrid hotel of its kind on the continent when it opened in 2013, blending hostel, hotel, co-working and cultural programming under one roof. Worth noting for clients across price points: Curiocity operates across a range from hostel dormitories to luxury penthouses.

Our mandate is quite clear on what constitutes “black-owned” and on listing places we personally recommend. The Accommodation section for Cape Town will look thin as we honour both of these. The truth is there are many B&Bs and other such 3-4* establishments (and individually-owned villas) which are black-owned. ALSO true: there are numerous properties which are on paper “black-owned” for BEE and or other purposes, including hotel chains, however, we don’t constitute this to be in the spirit of this list. Please consult with us if you disagree. We want to list more, of course. We are also comfortable with the reality of what a thin list points out: more black ownership should be the norm.