Current Edition >> Archives Section >> Leading Stories >> 1 - 14 February 2004

Knitting project with huge potential for the Free State

At Smithfield in the Southern Free State an extensive hand-knitting project is underway, having potentially far-reaching consequences for rural development in the Free State. The project has been initiated by Don and Betty West, who earlier ran a garment making business in Zimbabwe called Golden Spiderweb (GSW) and which was for 12 years that country's largest rural employer, before it was in 2002 arbitrarily appropriated by the Zimbabwean government. At its peak GSW employed 7 000 women producing hand knitted jerseys of which some 15 000 per month were exported. These were `high-ticket' items in high demand from UK companies, like Inverallen, a leading name in the industry.
Having fled Zimbabwe virtually penniless, Don and Betty eventually settled at Smithfield in the Southern Free State, with the intention to replicate their hugely successful Zimbabwean model in South Africa. Although the GSW project did receive financial backing from the FDC and is currently negotiating with the FS Dept. of Agriculture for European Union funding, the project needs considerably more financial input in order to attain the lift-off stage.

The way the GSW concept works is that nodes consisting of between 50 and 200 trained knitters are established in rural towns. All raw materials are provided and the women work from home, or in groups in settings of their choice. On average a knitter will produce from 2 to 3 garments a month, for which she will earn in the region of R800 a month or R10 000 per annum. An agent from each locality is responsible for quality control, supply of materials, administration, collection and despatch of finished products. The GSW is essentially a trust being run for the benefit of the knitters.
Anyone interested in teaming up with the GSW project, can contact Don West at tel. (051) 773 0309 or donwest@lantic.net.