HISTORY OF COTTON IN SOUTH AFRICA |
| In 1516, according to historical documents a certain Barbosa met natives in South Africa who grew cotton and wore cotton clothing. This was a type of wild cotton, species of which still exist today. The first cotton seed was planted in 1690 in the Western Cape, more or less 40 years after the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck. Cotton, however, prefers a warm climate and requires a substantial amount of moisture for the seed to germinate. In 1846 a certain Dr Adams brought seed from America and started growing cotton in the Amanzimtoti district in Natal. Between 1860 and 1870 cotton was planted on a relatively large scale in both Natal and the Cape Colony due to the demand for this fibre which had arisen as a result of the American Civil War. After 1870 the large scale production of cotton in South Africa came to a virtual standstill and was only to be continued at the start of the twentieth century. In 1904 about 12 to 14 hectares were planted in the Tzaneen area and in 1905 a cotton gin was erected in the area where cotton could be ginned and baled mechanically. In 1913 an experimental station which was to provide farmers with advice was established at Rustenburg under the direction of a Mr. Taylor. Between 1913 and 1922 cotton was cultivated mainly in the Transvaal Lowveld and the Eastern Transvaal. The co-operative movement with regard to cotton had its origin in 1922 when a co-operative and a ginnery were established at Barberton. Already in the early stages of its cultivation, cotton played an important role in the manufacture of explosives. In 1924 African Explosives erected a ginnery at Umbogintwini in Natal. In the same year a ginnery was also erected at Magut (Natal) by a Mr. Rouxliard and another in 1935 at Louis Trichardt by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation Spinners of the United Kingdom. At this stage in South Africa there were as yet no facilities for either spinning or weaving and the fibre was exported to Liverpool. Cotton was grown under irrigation in the Lower Orange River area for the first time in 1927 and in the early thirties cotton production dropped with the result that the next ginnery was only erected in the late thirties by Amaro at Standerton. According to Section 102 of the Co-operative Societies Act (Act 29 of 1929) cotton was officially declared an agricultural crop in 1939. |