South Africa is full of wonderful little pieces of history.

Sure, some of them can be quite dark, but every now and then there’s some light – and funny – snippets of events that shaped the future of the country in some way or another.

And one of them is the story of the Angora goat.

Originating from Turkey, the Angora goat produces the lustrous mohair, also called ‘diamond fibre’. Mohair not only dyes very well, but has tremendous insulating qualities that makes it ideal for winter clothes.

Back in 1838, the Sultan of Turkey, Mahmud II, kind of messed up.

He sent 12 neutered rams and one female to Port Elizabeth with Colonel John Henderson. The reason the rams were rendered infertile before they left was because the Sultan wanted to protect his country’s powerful mohair empire.

However, what he didn’t realise at the time was that the ewe on board was pregnant and, no lies, gave birth to a ram en route to South Africa.

Although several further importations of Turkish stock were made up to 1896, the above-mentioned ewe and her kid formed the foundation of the Angora goat and mohair industry in South Africa.

And that was the start of the industry, which, today, produces the most mohair in the world, explains the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries:

South Africa is recognised as the most reliable source of mohair in the world because Angora goats grow their fleeces all year-round which allows farmers to auction their produce two seasons a year – for summer and winter sales. South Africa currently produces 54% of total world’s mohair production. On average the annual average commercial production is about 4 million kgs.

Remember that H&M billboard on Bree Street? Yeah, we have Mohair South Africa to thank for most of that goodness.

Check the video below to see how far the industry has come:

[source:mohair&daff]