Inspired by an ancient resilience
Our Why
Homebrewers of Traditional Afrikan Beer are under-resourced and underpaid as they produce and sell our wholesome indigenous beer.
Traditional Afrikan Beer is intricately intertwined with Afrikan culture and primarily brewed by women who have passed down this knowledge for generations. Brewed with indigenous sorghum and millet, along with maize, it is high in B vitamins, amino acids, and probiotics.
For centuries, homebrewing our nutritious and sacred Traditional Afrikan Beer has nurtured communities constituted a major source of self-employment for women across Sub-saharan Afrika. As they resisted displacements and discriminatory policies by the colonial and apartheid governments in the 1900’s, they were met with relentless police violence and our indigenous beer, just like its custodians, was rendered inferior.
Today, the policy frameworks remain limited in recognizing the role of homebrewing Traditional Afrikan Beer for women living in poverty across the country. As a legacy of the stigmatizing past, homebrewers remain under resourced, our indigenous beer endangered, and this history erased.
To remember and reclaim our authentic Afrikanness,
we must re-member (centre, celebrate and protect)
the Afrikan women who have preserved it for centuries.
Who We Are
We are a South African early-stage social venture which aims to enable homebrewers of Traditional Afrikan Beer to produce the customarily nutritious beverage safely, efficiently, and profitably by:
- Improving their access to manufacturing, quality assurance and distribution resources;
- Expanding the consciousness of individuals and communities on the exclusionary legacies of colonialism and apartheid on Afrikan women; and
- Influencing policies on Traditional Afrikan Beer to centre, celebrate and protect Afrikan women as the rightful owners and practitioners of this indigenous knowledge
Message from founder
My journey as a social entrepreneur is deeply rooted in my personal history. My maternal grandmother and paternal great-grandmother were both skilled homebrewers of our Indigenous Traditional Afrikan Beer. I vividly recall the moment I first grasped an engineering concept while my late paternal grandmother, who had limited formal education, taught me how to brew Traditional Afrikan Beer for a family celebration. It was a humbling realization of the wealth of knowledge that has been passed down through generations of women. Women have served as the guardians of indigenous knowledge systems in areas such as agriculture, food processing, and traditional medicine.
I am committed to preserving and promoting the rich heritage of Indigenous biosciences. By adopting a human centered and systems-oriented approach, I aim to use my expertise in bioprocess engineering and social innovation to collaboratively create scalable solutions that uplift marginalized stakeholders in the bioeconomy. My passion particularly highlights Afrikan women, who are the stewards that are often left out of critical solutions.
At Kwela Brews, we support homebrewers of Traditional Afrikan Beer with the resources they need to operate safely, efficiently and profitably. While we provide manufacturing and quality assurance support, we also act as an intermediary between homebrewers and new customers which are outside their predominantly low-income contexts. We currently operate in Cape Town, South Africa.
Our Homebrewers
Mamqhinebe
Based in Kayamandi, Stellenbosch
Mazulu
Based in Kayamandi, Stellenbosch
Core Team
Reitumetse Kholumo
Reitumetse Kholumo
Reitumetse Kholumo
Founder and Director
Tumi holds a BScEng in Chemical Engineering with a specialization in bioprocess engineering. She is dedicated to preserving and promoting the rich heritage of Indigenous biosciences. Through a human-centered and systems-focused approach, she seeks to collaboratively develop scalable solutions that benefit marginalized stakeholders in the bioeconomy.
Basani Mbhalati
Reitumetse Kholumo
Reitumetse Kholumo
Head of Strategy and Sustainability
Basani is a versatile professional with expertise in business strategy and organizational transformation, boasting a background in Business Administration and Chemical Engineering. Her passion lies in creating sustainable economic opportunities for homebrewers at Kwela Brews.
Luyanda Ntshingila
Reitumetse Kholumo
Luyanda Ntshingila
Head of Communications
Luyanda, a LLB and LLM graduate, is currently a Candidate Attorney at a boutique law firm specializing in corporate commercial law. Passionate about feminist ideals, she actively advocates for gender equality and empowerment in both her personal and professional life.
Phumza Qwaqwa
Reitumetse Kholumo
Luyanda Ntshingila
Head of Homebrewer Experience
Phumza holds a Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences and an Honours degree in Gender Studies. Passionate about community engagement and volunteer work, Phumza challenges traditional knowledge norms and promotes incorporating diverse experiences into societal discussions.
Advisory Circle
Mamodise Matjele
Rirhandzu Marivate
Rirhandzu Marivate
Indigenous Brewer
Mamodise is a homebrewer of Traditional Afrikan Beer with experience of over 30 years of experience. She has a deep understanding of indigenous brewing and malting practices, as well as process control strategies guided by indigenous knowledge systems. Her current activities include serving good quality Traditional Afrika
Indigenous Brewer
Mamodise is a homebrewer of Traditional Afrikan Beer with experience of over 30 years of experience. She has a deep understanding of indigenous brewing and malting practices, as well as process control strategies guided by indigenous knowledge systems. Her current activities include serving good quality Traditional Afrikan Beer to her local customers, and advising on brewing practices in her local community.
Rirhandzu Marivate
Rirhandzu Marivate
Rirhandzu Marivate
Food Systems Practitioner
Rirhandzu is a regenerative food systems practitioner with a background in natural sciences and sustainable development. With over 10 years of experience in this field, she facilitates multi-stakeholder engagements for community building through the lens of food systems and natural resources management to build co
Food Systems Practitioner
Rirhandzu is a regenerative food systems practitioner with a background in natural sciences and sustainable development. With over 10 years of experience in this field, she facilitates multi-stakeholder engagements for community building through the lens of food systems and natural resources management to build community resilience. In this time, she has worked as a project manager, farmer, and facilitator, environmental researcher and consultant, in the academic, government and non-profit sector.
Rowan Spazzoli
Rowan Spazzoli
Rowan Spazzoli
Social Innovator
Rowan is a lecturer and economic development consultant with extensive experience in startup and small business support. Rowan has cofounded multiple startups including SMEgo, a funding platform for startups, Loadalot, a logistics startup and Ayabu, a job platform. He lectures business strategy at the University of Cape To
Social Innovator
Rowan is a lecturer and economic development consultant with extensive experience in startup and small business support. Rowan has cofounded multiple startups including SMEgo, a funding platform for startups, Loadalot, a logistics startup and Ayabu, a job platform. He lectures business strategy at the University of Cape Town and runs the regional University of Oxford Map The System competition with the Bertha Centre.
%20(1).jpg/:/cr=t:0%25,l:0%25,w:100%25,h:92%25/rs=w:365,h:365,cg:true)
Janusz Luterek
Rowan Spazzoli
Rowan Spazzoli
Food Lawyer
Janusz is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa, a patent attorney and a registered professional engineer. Before joining the profession, Janusz worked in the chemical, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical industries for a number of years. His current activities include both intellectual property focussing on
Food Lawyer
Janusz is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa, a patent attorney and a registered professional engineer. Before joining the profession, Janusz worked in the chemical, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical industries for a number of years. His current activities include both intellectual property focussing on the drafting, prosecution and litigation of patents, and regulatory compliance focusing on food and consumer products.
Our Supporters
