As quaint shops in country towns go, this one will knock your socks off. Die Blik Plek takes centre stage in South Africa’s cherry capital, Ficksburg, and the women who own it have some powerful stories to tell. Ansie Fourie and Sandra are living testaments to the fact that great adversity can lead to unbelievable success.

Ansie’s enthusiasm is infectious and she tells her story with humour and reverence for the second chance she was given after losing everything. She laughs and says “I went from welfare to welder” . She and her partner in the business, Sandra, began using the scrap metal that the farmers in the area threw away and turned it into fabulous artifacts that visitors just have to take home with them. Old rusty baths have become sofas; beaten, broken tin hand basins are made into top hats with handcrafted metal roses and scrap metal is transformed into angels as icons of the grace with which they transformed themselves.

The little town is on the Maloti route and Lesotho is its closest neighbour. Ficksburg produces most of South Africa’s cherry crop and has huge swaths of land planted with asparagus so it is a speciality dish served in many of the restaurants.

Die Blik Plek
81 McCabe Street,
Ficksburg 051 933 2245
Email: dieblikplek@iafrica.com
www.ficksburg.org.za
www.cherryfestival.co.za