The rebirth of local manufacturing and handmade goods
South Africans increasingly want products that feel human again. They want farm-baked bread and furniture built by local hands and clothing designed and stitched by the town seamstress.
Naomi Roebert
The strange mixture of conservatism and creativity in the Karoo
The Karoo is still one of South Africa’s most fascinating contradictions. Deeply conservative in many ways, it has also become a powerful centre for creativity, attracting artists, writers and dreamers drawn to its isolation and immense landscapes.
How floodwater transforms a “dead” Karoo landscape overnight
This surprising weather impact is part of what gives the Karoo its strange emotional power as a place of ancient sleep.
Leaving the Karoo and coming back again
The leaving is necessary sometimes. One must remember that the world is large and strange and crowded with different lives, but then one must return to something that predates urgency, that predates human life itself.
Floodwaters leave the Klein Karoo bruised as recovery efforts continue
Disaster management officials described the flooding as among the worst the region has experienced in roughly 30 years.
How Karoo farmers are turning small plots into big returns
Honey, herbs and other specialised products offer smaller quantities with higher margins for a growing market that values quality and origin alongside sustainability.
The mountain that watches over Ladismith
Possibly the most interesting aspect of Towerkop is its ability to capture multiple truths at once.