Gesie van Deventer trades her court gown and designer shoes for gumboots and an overall

She is a successful farmer, award-winning winemaker, respected advocate, motivational speaker and community worker. But if you ask Gesie van Deventer which role she prizes most, her answer is: “To be a mother is such an enormous privilege that nothing can ever be more important than to carry that title with honour.”

Gesie, short for Gesina, had to wait until her 37th year before being able to add that title behind her name. In the interim, her life’s journey constantly added new roles and titles, taking her all the way from an impoverished childhood on the Northern Cape platteland to Brahms Estate – the wine estate she co-owns with husband, Johan, nestling below Paarl Mountain in South Africa’s historic Boland wine country.

It has not always been an easy journey.

Growing up in poverty as one of six siblings raised by their mother after her father passed away when she was only 12 years old, Van Deventer says she knew “like all children of today coming from disadvantaged communities, that the only way to escape poverty was to climb out of it through education.”

With a Matric certificate in hand from Van Rhynsdorp High School, she enrolled at Stellenbosch University in 1977 from where she graduated a few years later with a BA LLB.

At that time, says Van Deventer, she learnt the simple truth that one can obtain or attain anything you really want if you are willing to work for it. In this context, she dreamt of a professional career and because of her natural strong sense of order, justice and fairness, she chose law.

But when she came to Stellenbosch for the first time in 1977 to enrol at university, another passion was awakened. “As I drove into Stellenbosch, I fell in love with the white-washed Cape Dutch homesteads, the beautiful vineyards and farms, the lifestyle of making wine, and I promised myself that I shall one day live like that,” says Van Deventer.

But first came a career in law, and wine-making had to wait another decade or more.

In 1981 she went to work as a public prosecutor in Paarl and Stellenbosch. In 1982 she was admitted as an advocate of the Supreme Court and in 1984 started practising as an advocate at the Cape High Court. That was followed by a role as advocate in two high-level commissions of enquiry and her appointment as civil and criminal magistrate in Paarl.

As a magistrate, Van Deventer adjudicated in civil and criminal courts, as well as in the family court, family violence court, and children’s court, all of which stood her in good stead for her later role as motivational speaker and community worker.

Having served as an advocate for two landmark legal enquiries, the Ikapa Commission of Enquiry in 1993 and the Delft Commission of Enquiry in 1996, she does not miss the irony in those two appointments. “The Ikapa Commission was mandated by the state president under the old National Party government, and the Delft Commission was mandated by the post-1994 government [the ANC government that came to power after the first non-racial democratic elections].

“Both dealt with, among other things, mismanagement and corruption, which goes to show that irrespective of the government,
you could always have problems with your officials,” adds Van Deventer.

In the Ikapa enquiry, she had to gather and present evidence to the commissioners and argue in support of her findings about alleged mismanagement, irregularities, corruption and bribery among officials of the Ikapa Council that, at the time, had encompassed all the black townships of the time in the bigger Cape Town area. She recalls these as “turbulent times between the black inhabitants and the white male-dominated top structure” of the council.

And, as Van Deventer’s role largely determined the flow and direction of the enquiry, it meant a heavy workload that soon exposed her and her assistant, another female advocate, to threats from high-ranking white officials.

In addition to this, two months into the enquiry, she had to be rushed to hospital for an emergency Caesarean section to give birth to Jacques, the child she had wanted for so long.

“Most people do not understand the agony of wanting a child and the utter helplessness of being unable to conceive or carry a child to full term. It will always be a blessing, a miracle and a joyful experience,” says Van Deventer.

Nonetheless, she soon returned to her work at the Commission and the outcome was that “many top officials lost their jobs, exploitation of the people of colour was ended, and a better dispensation with better systems of control was instituted,” she says.

In the Delft enquiry, Van Deventer acted in a similar role. This time, the focus was on bribery and corruption in the allocation of scarce housing and the illegal occupation
of housing. She says Delft was then as much of a political hot spot as it is now, and here too she and her colleagues faced death threats and
violent protests.

The outcome was that corrupt officials were removed and aggrieved residents were given a platform. “Unfortunately,” says Van Deventer, “the same problems soon reoccurred in that area, and the lack of housing makes it a ticking time bomb.”

She has deep empathy for the worst affected victims – women and children – of the socio-political problems in areas such as Delft, and again relates to her dictum that education is the passport out of deprivation.

“I know the only solution to the problems of places like Delft will be adequate housing and job creation. When people lose hope, all is lost.

“Unfortunately, as we know, there are inadequate resources to build houses for everybody. And as the illegal immigrants stream in from all over Africa, this problem will be compounded,” says Van Deventer.

“I have deep empathy for the women and children in these areas, as I have seen the extent of poverty and violence. I wish I could do more to help ease their plight. To women in these areas, I can only say: cherish your children and give them the best possible education you can.”

I ask her if women have been able to penetrate the legal profession in South Africa and overturn its historic image as a rather exclusive male domain as, on the surface, it would seem there are many female lawyers, prosecutors and magistrates but very few female judges, for instance. She answers that this is a sensitive topic that will land her in trouble no matter which way she answers it, but that she has strong views on it and has never been scared to air them.

“Much progress has been made since 1994 but, unfortunately, some perceptions persist that women only get promoted because they are women. And there are a few women who rely on this. This, as well as the appointment sometimes of very junior level women in senior posts, strengthens these negative perceptions.

This is grossly unfair, as most women work very hard, are very competent and dedicated,” says Van Deventer.

“I am concerned that very few senior posts are given to women, as I know that there are enough women with the required skills and experience. Unfortunately, the legal profession is very competitive and one can also not expect brilliant male lawyers to make room for females at their own expense.

“Unless government steps in and puts special programmes in place to identify, train and promote female lawyers, only time can play an equalising role,” she adds.

While studying and working as advocate, her other big passion – farming and wine-making – beckoned. What had at first been a weekend hobby, doing wine appreciation courses and wine tasting tours, became so all-consuming that in 1989 Van Deventer decided it was time to “swop [her] court gown and designer shoes for gumboots and an overall”.

Again, she knew education would be her ticket into this world of wine and the soil. In 1990 she enrolled at Stellenbosch University’s Elsenburg Agricultural College for a diploma in Viticulture and Botany and thereafter qualified as cellar master and winemaker at the Elsenburg
Wine Institute.

“I enjoyed my law career tremendously, especially the intellectual challenges and the court work. Unfortunately, the law is a very jealous mistress and does not allow any other interests if you want to be good at it. I take my hat off to all lawyers, as it is a very demanding job – demanding absolute dedication, and allowing very little time for a private life or hobbies,” says Van Deventer.

“I have always been passionately in love with nature. I am a woman of Africa and like all women in Africa who have farmed and produced food for their families over centuries, it is ingrained in me that the sun and soil is a God-given blessing, the ultimate gift being the ability to possess or be a small part thereof. Law did not allow me to work in nature and I missed it immensely.”

She points out another very important factor that informed her decision: “In law, you always work with the past – the broken marriage, the disputed contract, the result of a crime. You order and set it right, but still always in relation to the past.

“In wine and farming, you always work with the future. I have to believe that what I plant now, or the wine I make now, will at some point in the future be the best I have ever produced.

“There is an old adage that says as long as you look towards the sun, all your shadows will fall behind you,” adds Van Deventer.

By 1999, she was standing knee-deep in grapes on Brahms Estate getting down to the nitty-gritty of making excellent wine and looking toward
the sun.

Despite wine-making – as the legal profession before – being male dominated, Van Deventer says her fellow male winemakers always treated her with respect and the senior, established ones were always ready to help and mentor her.

She laughed off the odd prank they played on her, saying: “Boys will be boys, even when they grow older.”

But she did encounter disbelief among some of the older farmers that a “city girl” could attempt to farm. But she relied heavily on their advice and experience and by the time she had won several awards as winemaker and farmer a few years later, “they embraced me with pride as one of their own”, says Van Deventer.

“Agriculture has only given me joy and sunshine. I am so lucky that I have had the opportunity to be part of this amazing group of people – always optimistic, always innovative, and always brave in the face of adversity.”

These days, women are well established in wine-making, she says. There are many woman winemakers now, both from advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds, but she would like to see more in executive jobs or as estate owners.

Apart from awards and recognition for her farming and wine-making abilities, Van Deventer’s superb wines have won a host of medals, awards and ratings.

On the farm, her responsibilities are wide-ranging, from wine-making to managing the estate and the winery, research, planning, development of vineyards, managing labour relations, financial management, events and venue management and more.

Van Deventer has served both as member and chair on numerous boards of entities involved in farming, wine-making, rural development, and empowerment.

And in between, this amazing woman, with her feet firmly on the soil and wine in her veins, finds time to give something back as a motivational speaker for disadvantaged children and women, women on farms, business organisations, charities and more while also being a wife to Johan, a mother to Jacques and engaging in gardening, art, reading and wine and, of course, more wine. ▲

Stef Terblanche