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Impact Hub Cape Winelands has launched in one of South Africa’s most economically unequal regions, with a mission to dismantle structural barriers that prevent local businesses from fully participating in the Winelands economy.
Led by CEO Marli Goussard, the hub positions itself not as a traditional accelerator but as an institutional intermediary – linking local entrepreneurs with academic research, market access pathways and private-sector capacity.
“The problem isn’t a lack of ideas,” Goussard says. “It’s a lack of systems that let local people own the solutions to local problems.”
This vision enters a landscape where several well-intentioned support programmes have come and gone, often struggling to reach self-sustaining scale or shift deeper structural dynamics.
Demand is real, access elusive
Tourism in the Winelands continues to grow, and research by Visit Stellenbosch and Futureneer Advisors highlights the region’s significant contribution to international visitor arrivals and local employment.
Visit Stellenbosch’s visitor centre manager Jenna Moses and marketing manager Elmaríe Rabé say structural barriers continue to block community integration into this economy.
“Operators often don’t know how to access international markets, and the funding channels that used to exist have closed,” Moses noted. Many emerging operators also struggle with bookkeeping, product standardisation and compliance – causing tourism revenue to “leak out” of the communities where it originates.
Small businesses face steep hurdles: limited access to international trade partners; a drying up of municipal grant funding and a shift to more rigid tender-based processes; gaps in commercial readiness; and compliance costs – from insurance to food-safety certification – that early stage operators battle to meet.
“The gap isn’t enthusiasm,” Goussard argues. “It’s that ownership, capital and capability are misaligned. You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t operate them commercially, they stay small or fail.”
Structural fragility and why it matters
These challenges mirror national patterns. According to The State of Small Business in South Africa 2024 by Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies, a large share of South Africa’s small and informal firms operate from homes or informal premises, lack access to infrastructure, and face persistent barriers to scaling.
Inequality is also entrenched in the Winelands. Data from the 2024-2025 Municipal Economic Review & Outlook for the Cape Winelands District shows that income inequality remains high – a sign that opportunity continues to be unevenly distributed across communities.
Changing the equation
Impact Hub Cape Winelands proposes a three-pronged structural intervention.
- The integration of academic research with enterprise development. Through a pilot with Stellenbosch University, entrepreneurs are being trained to manufacture a waste-based cement replacement positioned as a more affordable, circular-economy product intended to reduce production costs for local firms. Should the cost reductions prove viable at scale, the product could help small manufacturers compete in markets traditionally dominated by larger players.
- The hub aims to expand access to patient capital. Although Impact Hub Cape Winelands is a for-profit entity, 25% of its shares are held by a nonprofit foundation that reinvests dividends into early stage businesses. “We need investment cycles that match the reality of impact-driven enterprises, not conventional three- to five-year returns,” Goussard says. South Africa’s impact-investing landscape, however, shows that attracting patient capital locally has historically been difficult, with many funds relying heavily on international development finance.
- The hub is pushing for policy alignment. It wants community-driven enterprises to be recognised within municipal Local Economic Development frameworks. Moses and Rabé emphasise that without such recognition, funding and support structures remain out of reach. Even where partnerships exist, coordinating across municipal, provincial and private-sector mandates has long been a policy sticking point.
Fragmentation and a chance at coherence
While support for Small and Medium Enterprises exists – through municipal Local Economic Development offices, the Small Enterprise Development Agency and university programmes – the regional ecosystem remains fragmented.
“Organisations operate in parallel rather than together,” Rabé said, leaving entrepreneurs to navigate disconnected programmes rather than a coherent progression from idea to market.
This fragmentation keeps community-based tourism ventures on the margins: instead of being integrated into mainstream itineraries, they remain “special-lane” experiences with inconsistent visibility and limited market access.
What success could look like — and the risks
If Impact Hub Cape Winelands can achieve scale, the benefits could be considerable. Local residents could build and own businesses that serve their own communities; social entrepreneurship could become part of mainstream economic development; and tourism revenue could circulate locally rather than flow to larger external players. As Goussard puts it: “If local entrepreneurs can operate commercially, the value generated stays local.”
But success will require coordination across policy, research and capital ecosystems. The hub must secure patient capital, foster institutional partnerships and build a unified support system. Without this, Impact Hub Cape Winelands risks joining previous regional initiatives that launched with strong intentions but struggled to maintain long-term impact. As Moses cautions: “The Winelands will continue generating demand without local ownership.”
A blueprint under test
Impact Hub Cape Winelands is attempting a structural response to entrenched economic barriers. By combining research, capital, policy alignment and community-driven enterprise, it aims to demonstrate that inequality can be addressed through institutional design rather than short-term projects.
If successful, the Winelands could become a test case for community-owned, inclusive development – where demand, capability and opportunity finally align. But achieving this shift will require discipline, coordination and long-term commitment. DM