Priscilla Chigwedere and Charles Gondo

A discussion of `Our People’ would be incomplete without talking about Priscilla and Charlie. A husband and wife team, they have worked for us for over ten years, and their contribution is of such value, that we would not manage the farm without them. Charlie runs the men’s staff contingent and manages vineyard work, winemaking, animal husbandry and grounds. Priscilla runs the women staff and is in charge of housekeeping and laundry. She also does front of house and service at all farm meals and events. But more than their individual tasks, both Priscilla and Charlie are a pleasure to work with and are friendly to guests and visitors. They look out for the farm and for us and are always willing to go the extra mile. We are in their debt.

As to their backgrounds, Charlie was born in 1973 in Hwedza Zimbabwe, and Priscilla in Harare in 1974. Charlie has five sisters and four brothers, and Priscilla five sisters and one brother. Both grew up in Harare and worked there once they finished their O levels. Charlie and Priscilla got married in 1990 and had their first child a year later. They went on to have in total four children, three boys and a girl, all of whom are now over eighteen. Some of these children have had children of their own, and the couple have six grandchildren, four in Malmesbury and two in Zimbabwe

Charlie and Priscilla have had work permits spanning the last ten years, and along with a hundred and seventy eight thousand permit holders resident in South Africa, we await the outcome of the case in the Pretoria High Court brought by the Helen Suzman Foundation to allow them to stay in the country.