Why Apiwe Mawela wants to be the first, but never the last.

On image: The woman behind Tolokazi Beer and Cider, Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela.

I recently spent one of my Friday afternoons in a different setting, sipping on a cold, locally brewed sorghum beer while having one of the conversations I had been anticipating the most, with Apiwe Mawela, the woman behind Tolokazi Beer.

Throughout our conversation, Apiwe barely spoke about brewing techniques or beer. Instead, she repeatedly returned to people - training them, mentoring them, connecting them, and creating opportunities for them. That says something profound about the kind of entrepreneur she is. While many founders measure success by sales, market share or awards, Apiwe seems to measure it by a different standard - how many people she can help rise alongside her.

It was in that moment that I realised Apiwe is focused on something much bigger, a legacy that will outlive both her and the brand she has built.

That vision has shaped every chapter of Tolokazi Beer. For those who don’t know, before the world knew the name Tolokazi, the brand was meant to launch in March 2020. The timing couldn't have been worse. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the brewing industry to a standstill, forcing businesses to close and placing countless entrepreneurial dreams on hold. For Apiwe, the setback became even more challenging as legal disputes surrounding her previous venture threatened to derail years of planning and work.

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 Many entrepreneurs would have accepted defeat. She didn't. Instead, she registered Tolokazi Beer as a separate company from her previous partnership and started again, this time rebuilding the business through self-funding and unwavering belief in the vision she had first presented years earlier. Looking back, she believes the experience proved something important - the dream was never dependent on funding or ownership disputes. It belonged to the entrepreneur who had imagined it. If anything, starting over strengthened her resolve to build something that nobody could take away from her.

That resilience was soon rewarded. Securing an international distribution agreement in the United Kingdom in 2022 became a defining moment, not simply because it opened a new market, but because it confirmed that others could see the potential she had never stopped believing in. It reinforced her conviction that sometimes entrepreneurs must keep building until the world eventually catches up with the vision.

That vision is no longer confined to South Africa. Since the beginning, Apiwe has deliberately positioned herself and the Tolokazi brand on the continental and global stage. A recent trip to Nairobi, Kenya, where she was invited to speak at the African Beer Expo, formed part of a broader strategy to elevate both her brand and Africa's beverage industry. Before travelling to Kenya, she had spent time in Brazil serving as an international beer judge, another milestone that reflects her growing influence beyond South Africa's borders.

What stood out was not simply where she travelled, but why. Apiwe explained that she wants to export the Tolokazi brand long before exporting the beer itself. Her goal is to ensure that when people think about South Africa, Tolokazi becomes part of the country's cultural experience. Tourists visit Table Mountain, Kruger National Park and Nelson Mandela's home, she says, yet when it's time to enjoy a drink, they are often handed the same global brands available in their own countries. She believes South Africa deserves a homegrown beer that visitors actively seek out and that locals proudly watch grow into an internationally recognized brand. It is a bold ambition, but one driven by purpose rather than ego.

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Yet, despite leading one of South Africa's most recognised craft beer brands, Apiwe insists her greatest passion has never been beer. It has always been transformation. Long before launching Tolokazi Beer, she had grown accustomed to walking into boardrooms where she was often the only Black person, and frequently the only Black woman. While history will remember her as South Africa's first Black female craft brewery owner, she has little interest in being remembered as "the first" if nobody follows.

Why Apiwe Mawela wants to be the first, but never the last.

"I can't be the first and the last," she says, explaining the philosophy that inspired the Tolokazi Brewing Academy. For Apiwe, entrepreneurship should never become an exclusive club where knowledge is guarded as a competitive advantage. Instead, she believes successful founders have a responsibility to equip others with the skills, confidence and networks to build businesses of their own. Real transformation, she argues, cannot rest solely on government policies or corporate commitments. Entrepreneurs themselves must become active participants in creating the industries they want to see.

That belief has evolved into one of the most meaningful parts of her work. Through the academy, aspiring brewers gain practical knowledge that would otherwise remain inaccessible. But education is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. Apiwe is intentionally building an ecosystem where entrepreneurs can connect with regulators, suppliers, experienced business owners and industry experts. Her goal is to make entering the beverage industry less intimidating for those who have the passion but not the roadmap.

The same thinking inspired the launch of the Beverage Entrepreneurship Conference. She noticed that while entrepreneurship is widely celebrated in South Africa, beverage entrepreneurs are often overlooked. The industry carries social stigma, yet remains one of the country's significant contributors to employment, manufacturing and tax revenue. Rather than asking why aspiring beverage entrepreneurs should be excluded, Apiwe asks a different question - if established beverage companies are recognised for their economic contribution, why shouldn't emerging businesses receive the same opportunity to grow?

On image: Tolokazi Beer new packaging design.

 The conference answers that challenge by bringing together entrepreneurs at every stage of the journey. Some attend with little more than an idea. Others arrive seeking practical guidance on licensing, compliance, distribution and scaling. More importantly, they leave with relationships that can shape the future of their businesses.

For Apiwe, knowledge becomes far more valuable when it is shared. Her ambition extends beyond helping entrepreneurs launch brands. She wants them to build businesses that strengthen South Africa's economy from the ground up. Through partnerships promoting localisation, she encourages founders to source ingredients, packaging and services locally wherever possible. The objective is not simply to produce another beverage but to create an entire value chain where farmers, designers, manufacturers, logistics companies and small suppliers all benefit from entrepreneurial success.

It is a reminder that the impact of one successful business can ripple through dozens of others. That broader vision is also reflected in Tolokazi's recent rebrand. While the refreshed packaging presents a cleaner, more premium identity suited to national and international markets, it still tells an unmistakably African story. Rather than relying on predictable stereotypes, the design reflects confidence in African creativity and craftsmanship. It signals a business that has matured without losing sight of where it comes from.

Listening to Apiwe Mawela speak, it becomes clear that Tolokazi Beer is not the destination. It is the vehicle. Her real mission is to ensure that decades from now, South Africa's beverage industry will no longer celebrate a single trailblazer but hundreds of entrepreneurs who dared to follow a path that someone else had the courage to open.

In the end, perhaps the greatest legacy any entrepreneur can leave is not a product sitting on a store shelf, but people equipped with the skills, knowledge and confidence to build businesses of their own. Brands may evolve, packaging may change and markets may shift, but knowledge passed from one generation to the next continues to multiply. That, more than any award or business milestone, is the legacy Apiwe Mawela is brewing.

For more, visit: Tolokazi Beer