The Eastern Cape town of Jansenville – located in the geographic heart of Mohair country – has the country’s first mohair museum, thanks to funding from the Mohair Trust, with Mohair SA as project coordinator.

The museum theme is ‘From the veld to the fibre and the future’. The displays follow a logical sequence of the actual processes from shearing to yarn to end product. Added to which there is a display of historic articles, coupled with an educational experience of the Mohair story.

The team responsible for getting the museum up and running, includes: Andries Oelofse, director of Mohair SA, is the project co ordinator, working with Sidney Lee, representing the Mohair trust, Elna van den Bergh, from the South African Mohair Growers, Pauline van Zyl from the Sid Fourie trust and Frans Fourie, who is the building architect and Sid Fourie trust representative.

The museum is located on the property of the Sid Fourie Trust on Bridge street, in Jansenville. Fourie was a businessman, writer and ex mayor of Jansenville and left his house as a museum, in his will, and a trust fund to aid the management of this splendid example of countryside art deco. On a commercial level, finished products of mohair will be available for purchase at the shop connected to the museum.