The sackcloth lady is a gem

MEELBROEKE: BORNE OUT OF A PASSION CHASED THAT LED TO REALISATION OF ADREAM

- Hein Kaiser

Vorster creates clothing items from discarded corn sacks.

There is something undeniably admirable about an individual who chases passion, pursues a dream and realises it.

Bronkhorstspruit resident Mari Vorster did exactly that, and for the past six years she's been growing her Meelbroeke business at the pace of knots.

Today, her company employs nearly 30 people and indirectly supports almost 10 times as many people, if value chain estimates are accurate.

It all stemmed from creating clothing items from the same fabric as old flour and corn sacks.

"We made pants from old flour sacks that I collected over the years. They were all original flour sacks, which were resewn and made beautiful."

Decades ago, products like Snowflake flour, rice, samp and other grains were not packaged in plastic, but in sacks made of fabric.

"Every time it's washed, every time its worn, it becomes softer," she said.

"It's almost as if it takes on the shape of your body. It's super comfy." It took Vorster a good amount of time to source the fabric that was originally used to produce these bags, but an exhaustive search yielded rewards.

She now manufactures to the facsimiles of the classics.

That is how Vorster's Snowflake-branded pants had their genesis.

She said she went into the business very green "because I knew nothing about materials, patterns, or marketing." Idea in hand, she called a friend.