Eastern Cape
South Africa
Sector
Clothing & Textiles
Cacadu District Municipality is the largest district in the Eastern Cape, stretching from the Indian Ocean on the eastern coast, all the way to Graaff-Reinet in the north of the province.
One of the District municipality’s biggest challenges is combating poverty and the lack of employment creation in the region, particularly within the more rural areas such as the Karoo in the north of Cacadu.
In 2006, the municipality appointed Craft Partners, a craft development company, to work on a sustainable craft programme in the small community of Vondeling to help provide both work and economic upliftment to a region that did not even have electricity.
The initial plan for the project was to begin manufacturing Christmas decorations, however it was subsequently decided to make products that could be sold at any time of the year.
A combination of the two ideas led Craft Partners and the Vondeling community to start manufacturing angels from locally sourced materials including tiny ostrich feathers, wire and beads.
The Angel factory had a positive start, with orders coming in from as far away as Cape Town and Pretoria. Subsequently, following the products being exhibited at a Trade Fair in Oslo, Norway, Vondeling also received its first international order, from a Norwegian firm.
As the orders piled in, Vondeling then had to subcontract another rural craft business in nearby NieuBethesda, to help them with the production of felted components for the angels, in order to complete the order on time.
When the craft development project started, the people of Vondeling had no skills to create a product or run a business. Two years later and they are fielding international orders worth more than R100,000.
Repeating the success of the Angel Factory
Following the success of the craft venture at Vondeling, Craft Partners was again appointed by the Cacadu District Municipality to
develop another craft enterprise in the region, this time in Rietbron, situated between Willowmore and Beaufort West.
Rietbron is the largest settlement in Cacadu’s District Management Area (DMA), with around 439 households, however the region is blighted by high unemployment, high levels of poverty and low levels of education.
Many of the residents survive on an income less than R800 per month, which is below the poverty line, with those that do have work generally being employed to work on the farms as domestic and/or farm workers.
It is hoped the new venture will repeat the success seen in Vondeling, as a means of creating sustainable employment for the people of Rietbron, providing them not only with employment but also skills development.
And, like the Angels of Vondeling, the Cacadu District Municipality also hopes that the products produced by this new project will generate interest in both national and international markets.
For more information about the Cacadu District Municipality and the opportunities currently on offer in the region:
Contact: Duma Magxwalisa, Local Economic Development Manager
Email: DMagxwalisa@cacadu.co.za
Tel: +27 41 508 7141
For more information about Craft Partners and the various craft development projects they have been involved in contact the company directly:
Contact: Gardi Oosthuizen
Email: gardi21@telkomsa.net
Tel: +27 41 583 2706
Fax: +27 86 617 8649
