One of SA’s Oldest Wine Farms Tied to Tokyo Sexwale Goes on Auction for R180 Million

• Bloemendal Wine Estate in Durbanville was established in 1702 and has been producing award-winning wines for over three centuries in the Cape Winelands
• Prospective buyers must provide proof of funds of at least R200 million before they are even allowed to register and bid at the auction
• A previous attempt to sell the estate in 2025 fell apart after an accepted offer collapsed when the buyer failed to secure full funding

One of South Africa’s most storied wine farms is going under the hammer, and the price tag says it all.

Bloemendal Wine Estate is a 324-year-old property in the Cape Winelands near Durbanville, Cape Town. It is set for auction on 25 March 2026. Rawson Auctions is handling the sale and has set a minimum bid of R180 million.

The 238-hectare estate includes a winery, restaurants, a wine-tasting room, a manor house, stables and conference facilities. It will be sold as a fully operating business. The farm’s history runs deep, with political ties and liberation struggle icons.

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BusinessTech reported on 5 March 2026 that the estate has links to the anti-apartheid activist Tokyo Sexwale. Sexwale is a former ANC heavyweight. He become Gauteng’s first democratically elected premier in 1994. A subsidiary of Sexwale’s company, Mvelaphanda Holdings, acquired Bloemendal in 2008 for R105 million.

A farm older than the country itself

Bloemendal was established in 1702. That is more than a century before South Africa even existed as a political entity. Back then, it supplied the Dutch East India Company with fresh produce as its ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope.

The estate sits on the slopes of the Kanonberg, which was named after the cannons that were fired there to alert Cape Town when fresh supplies were ready for collection.

Its winemaking journey began in earnest in 1920. Jannie van der Westhuizen built the first cellar on the property. Van der Westhuizen’s grandson, Jackie Coetzee, later registered the farm as an Estate in 1987. The founding family held on to it until 2008.

The political heavyweight behind the wine

Sexwale was imprisoned on Robben Island alongside Nelson Mandela for his role in opposing white-minority apartheid rule.

He stepped away from politics in 1998 and built a business empire. At one point in the late 1990s, both Sexwale and current President Cyril Ramaphosa were considered possible successors to Mandela. Thabo Mbeki ultimately became South Africa’s second democratic president.

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Today, the farm produces award-winning wines from chenin blanc, chardonnay, pinotage and cabernet sauvignon grapes. Annual fruit production ranges between 850 and 950 tonnes per harvest.

See the BusinessTech report here:

The auction with strict entry rules

A 2025 auction attempt of the farm with a reserve price of R250 million failed when a buyer, reportedly a local investor, could not secure full funding after an offer was accepted. The March 2026 auction lowered the entry threshold but tightened the rules.

Prospective buyers must register by email and provide proof of funds of at least R200 million before bidding. Verified identity and tax registration documents are also required. Once an offer is accepted, a non-refundable deposit of 5% of the purchase price must be paid immediately. The remaining balance will be due within 14 days.

More articles involving auctions

• Briefly News previously rported that Cape Town was preparing for one of its biggest municipal land auctions in years, with residential, commercial and industrial sites spread across the metro.
• Cape Town is set to auction 50 city-owned properties next week, including the iconic Good Hope Centre.
• Residents and activists gathered outside the Good Hope Centre to protest Cape Town’s plans to auction public land.

Source: Briefly News