Motown, South Africa, where gold is spun from goat hair

Not having been to Graaff-Reinet for many years I was gob-smacked by the raw beauty and tranquility of the town.

As was the case in Port Elizabeth last week, again I found myself looking into people’s homes as I wondered past their cottages. A habit I could easily get used to. What also struck me was the can-do attitude of the region. Coincidentally the region is known as Camdeboo. I kid you not. Something I am embarrassed to say, I didn’t know, as a South African.

I was then quickly taught a couple of lessons about the region: It is the world’s leading producer of chicory; the second biggest citrus producer in the country and the country’s number two milk-producing region. And all in a place where the unemployment figure is an astounding 65%, according to the mayor of Ikwezi.

I was in Graaff-Reinet for the first international Mohair Summit, and got first hand experience and knowledge of the regions’ ‘white gold’, the Angora goat, which is responsible for providing mohair to fashion houses around the world. In fact this region of South Africa is considered the mohair capital of the world, with anything between 50% and 60% of the total mohair production coming from here.

And just in case you thought that was all there was to it, along came international trend forecaster Li Edelkoort and told the delegates that the time for Mohair was now. Edelkoort astounded the audience with her presentation and there were a couple of ruffled feathers when she suggested that perhaps too much attention was being paid to using only the very white mohair, that perhaps there was a place for some gray in the palette. She is one astounding woman. I also got to meet a wide range of people.

Can you imagine putting Angora goat farmers, the country’s leading ram breeders and South African fashion magazine editors in an enclosed space? Well I was there, it happened and everyone walked away a lot wiser about mohair and the entire production cycle. I walked away with a determination to sell up my 1000 square meters in ‘Jozi” and move to the area. Who knows, I may well do it.