September 3, 2026 – This summer, a new cohort of young leaders from South Africa’s Cape Winelands completed an intensive Conflict Resolution Education training with WPDI in August, marking the first major milestone in our new partnership with the Cape Wine Auction Trust.
Launched in July, the 12-month partnership is expanding WPDI’s Conflict Resolution Education program into the Cape Winelands. Renowned globally as one of Africa’s premier wine-producing regions, the Cape Winelands boasts a thriving viticulture and tourism economy. Yet, right alongside this economic dynamism lies a stark reality: deep-seated poverty, structural inequality, and social fragmentation in surrounding townships and informal settlements.
Building on WPDI’s extensive experience in the Cape Flats, our initiative steps directly into this gap, by strengthening youth leadership, supporting educators, and creating safer, more resilient school environments. In communities across the Cape Winelands, the structural pressures faced by the vulnerable communities of the region often manifest as bullying, gang recruitment, school violence, and educational disruption. Without targeted interventions, many young people are at risk of remaining vulnerable to self-perpetuating cycles of conflict.
WPDI’s approach is precisely rooted in the conviction that young people are not passive subjects of these challenges, but active agents of change. By equipping motivated youth with practical skills in peacebuilding, active listening, and mediation, we empower them to step onto the frontlines as coaches of peace so they can be the ones building resilience and transforming their own peers from within.
The first phase of the program began with selecting five emerging leaders from Kayamandi and Cloetesville: Wendy Ncapa, Wayleetha Keyster, Siphokazi Bedi, Lyle Johannes, and Lorenzo Zimry. Each participant brings experience in areas such as education, sport, volunteering, community engagement, and youth mentorship.
Over four weeks, the Youth Peacemakers completed 128 hours of intensive training in effective communication, human rights, emotional intelligence, conflict analysis, leadership, mediation and negotiation. Through WPDI’s Training of Trainers approach, they learned how to manage conflict constructively and share these skills with students and other members of their communities.
All five participants completed the training and passed their final assessments.
“What an honour it is for me to be part of this journey. I want to thank you for creating this opportunity for our community. I am assured that we, as a community of Cloetesville, really appreciate this initiative because we experience so much chaotic violence, and I believe that this program will be very successful,” said Youth Peacemaker Lyle Johannes.
Wendy Ncapa, a Youth Peacemaker from Kayamandi, also reflected on the cohort’s hopes for the program, “We are grateful for the opportunity to be certified as Peacemakers. We hope to restore peace into our communities, and we look forward to growing within the foundation.”
Local community leaders welcomed the completion of the training and emphasized the importance of reaching children before they become vulnerable to gang influence and other forms of violence.
“Having them serve as peacemakers in schools is crucial given the societal pressures and harmful influences our communities face daily,” said Ayanda Tomos, Ward Councillor in the Kayamandi community.
The Youth Peacemakers will now prepare to deliver Conflict Resolution Education in five local schools. During the first year, the initiative aims to reach 300 students and train 25 educators to incorporate conflict resolution principles into their classrooms and wider school communities. Our ambition is that, with the right training and guidance, five young women and men will generate a multiplier effect that will positively impact the communities of the Cape Winelands for many years to come.
By placing young people at the center of the initiative, WPDI and the Cape Wine Auction Trust are building a community-led foundation for dialogue, active citizenship, and lasting peace across the Cape Winelands.
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