Midlands – Brahman Hills has been named the winner of the celebrated Renewable Efficiency – Green Initiatives class on the 2025 KwaZulu-Natal Top Business Awards.
This accolade recognises companies which can be main the best way in renewable vitality, sustainability, and environmental impression.
Nestled within the coronary heart of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Brahman Hills has quietly turn out to be one in all South Africa’s most compelling case research in sustainable luxurious.
From working 85% off-grid to upcycling waste into artwork and producing honey from on-site beehives, the property has redefined what it means to be each inexperienced and guest-centric.
“This award is a tribute to our crew and our long-term imaginative and prescient and function,” stated Onwaba Gonyora, Executive Director of Brahman Hills, on the awards evening held final on 17 July 2025.
“We didn’t pursue sustainability as a result of it’s fashionable. We selected it as a result of it’s needed.
“Because the environment issues.
“Because our folks matter. And as a result of we imagine that enterprise needs to be a drive for good.”
The transformation of Brahman Hills started in 2014 when entrepreneur Iain Buchan acquired the Windmills property and later rebranded it.
Since then, what was as soon as a modest hospitality venue has developed right into a vacation spot outlined by award-winning gardens, regenerative design and community-powered impression.
Today, Brahman Hills boasts:
- 30 lodge rooms and 12 five-star villas, many with personal jacuzzis overlooking indigenous landscapes;
- A multi-award-winning spa that includes therapies rooted in nature and luxurious;
- An internationally-acclaimed Royal Horticulture Society Partner Garden, one in all solely two in South Africa, constructed throughout COVID-19 by Brahman Hills workers (from cooks to front-of-house);
- Locally crafted beehives that produce over 140 litres of uncooked honey yearly;
- Rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling techniques that provide fountains, irrigation, and lake rehabilitation;
- A waste technique that features zero single-use plastics, on-site composting, and glass bottle refills;
- Over 1 000 bushes planted within the final yr, contributing to carbon seize and biodiversity.
But the numbers solely inform a part of the story.
“We imagine sustainability is lived by means of folks, not an idea or coverage,” Gonyora defined.
“Our gardens had been constructed by our folks.
“Our artwork installations are made by native crafters utilizing recycled supplies.
“Our photo voltaic panels aren’t simply infrastructure; they’re a dedication to a cleaner, smarter future. Every initiative displays a tradition of care.”
That tradition is embedded throughout the entire enterprise. Many of Brahman Hills’ leaders are shareholders, and the organisation prioritises rising expertise from inside.
The present Head of Gardens started as an informal employee.
Staff are skilled in regenerative planting, sustainable cooking, and moral hospitality practices.
“It’s this method that makes sustainability really feel genuine slightly than imposed,” she notes.
“Every element displays our folks’s creativity and dedication.”
Brahman Hills has additionally confirmed that sustainability isn’t simply moral, it’s economically viable.
All inexperienced infrastructure investments have been self-funded by means of reinvested income.
“We’ve proven that profitability and function don’t should compete,” stated Gonyora.
“In reality, they’ll energy one another.”
And this financial viability permits the enterprise to increase its impression past the property’s borders, partnering with The Unlimited Child to offer again, supporting 33 native crèches and inspiring workers to volunteer.
The KZN Top Business Awards rejoice companies that show management, innovation, and impression throughout the province.
Brahman Hills’ recognition within the Renewable Efficiency class locations it firmly on the map as a nationwide benchmark for eco-conscious hospitality.
And the journey is simply getting began.
“This isn’t the end line,” stated Gonyora.
“It’s motivation to maintain going, to maintain reimagining how tourism, nature, folks, and enterprise can thrive collectively.
“We’re honoured. And we’re prepared for what’s subsequent.”
