Lethu Tshabangu: Crafting African beer – a journey through tastes and tradition

Ataya: HUMA Interdisciplinary Seminar Series

Speaker: Lethu Tshabangu (Ukhamba Beerworx, South Africal)

 Project/Paper: Read 'Lethu Tshabangu of Ukhamba Beerworx brews African craft beer’ by Emma Nkunzana in Crush (2017), and 'Craft brewer fights for sex workers’ rights’ by Richard Holmes in Business Day's Wanted Online (2021), recounting their sex worker advocacy campaign with the Sex Workers Education & Advocacy Task Force (SWEAT). 

Bio: Lethu Tshabangu's love for craft beer began many years ago while he was working as a bartender in a craft beer-centric bar in Cape Town, South Africa. During this time, he began brewing from home – trying various recipes from lagers to stouts to IPAs – and soon after, he realised he had a passion for brewing and wanted to make a beer that resonated closely with his culture and heritage. He started with no funding, business skills or family wealth and no special education. But through following his dream, with the support of his wife Noluyanda, the inspiration of their baby daughter, and a loyal brewing and beer-drinking community, Ukhamba Beerworx became a demonstration to all the dreamers of what it is possible to achieve.

Topic: In this seminar, Lethu Tshabangu, founder and owner of Ukhamba Beerworx, explores his personal and professional journey through the tastes and techniques for producing new beers that draw on African and European traditions: from the Pursuit of Hoppyness Black IPA to Sorghum Saison, and Section 25 Lager to State Capture IPA. This journey from home brewer and barman to co-owning his own brewery and bar with his wife and fellow brewer Noluyanda Roxwana has meant synthesising new knowledges through research and collaboration and building a community around causes they care about: from the decriminalisation of sex work to land redistribution.