Girl power for second Drostdy-Hof Bursary Scheme allocation

The Drostdy-Hof Bursary Scheme, now in its second year, has once again given motivated students the opportunity to make their dreams come true. This year the proud recipients were both young ladies with a passion for the wine industry who received their bursaries at a ceremony at De Oude Drostdy in Tulbagh, the home of Drostdy-Hof wines. The bursaries give recipients the opportunity of gaining invaluable practical experience while working for Distell during their holidays, which can create an opportunity for employment after their studies. The Drostdy-Hof Bursary Scheme is an initiative aimed initially at helping young people from the surrounding Tulbagh, Wolseley and Gouda communities to further their studies in response to the skills shortages and lack of representation in certain areas of the wine industry.

Stephanie Salies, who is from Paarl and currently in her second year of Bsc. Agricultural Viticulture & Oenology at the University of Stellenbosch, is very honoured to have been chosen for the bursary. She said that she has always had a passion for science and the way the wine industry works, which is why she chose this line of study. Fellow recipient, Megan Bennett, who matriculated from Wynberg Girl’s high school last year is currently studying Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town and is excited to start building her experience at Distell during the holidays. Both these young ladies did phenomenally well in Maths and Science, which made them the perfect candidates.

“We encourage students from the historically disadvantaged communities to take higher grade Mathematics, Biology and Physical Science at high school as this ensures a basis for studies in the science and engineering fields. This will also widen their scope in terms of further studies and careers related to scarce and critical skills in our industry. Needless to say, the wine industry welcomes such enthusiastic young individuals with this kind of academic background,” said Thato Seloane, Employment Equity Manager for Distell.

Seloane pointed out that Distell has been working with educators and other role players in the greater Tulbagh area to help the Drostdy-Hof Bursary Scheme find eligible candidates from within their communities and thereby contribute towards shaping a young individual’s future.

The Drostdy-Hof Bursary Scheme makes a number of bursaries available annually to historically disadvantaged individuals to further their careers in the wine industry. The bursary covers full tuition for a year for approved courses as well as all curriculum approved books. Both the recipients are very excited about this opportunity provided to them and look forward to what the future holds for them at the Distell family.

For further information and bursary application forms, contact Thato Seloane at Tel: 021-809 7000 or Joelene Hitchcock at De Oude Drostdy at Tel: 023-2300 203.