About Ouhuis

Built in 1885, the OUHUIS® (literally meaning “Old House”) is the oldest homestead of the greater Zeekoevlei farm. As the greater farm was later sub-divided into seven smaller farms, the OUHUIS® fell on the portion which became Zeekoevlei 109.

This portion, as well as the portions named Groenkol and Jaap-se-Kop, was bought by Willie Engelbrecht. In 1954, Willie was the first farmer in the area to commercially start cultivating rooibos, along with vineyards, peaches and apricots, as well as sheep and cattle. The first drying court for the region was built in 1961 on Zeekoevlei 109 and can still be seen to this day.

How OUHUIS started

However, in the early 1990’s, tragedy struck and Christie passed away. Bep remained on the farm and continued with the farming activities and the OUHUIS® brand. Eventually she made the decision to lease the land to Christie’s older brother, Oubaas, and his son, Willem, who were farming the neighbouring farm, Groenkol.

With this decision, the OUHUIS® brand fell into disuse.

In 2004, being in the process of selling their fruit farms in Levubu to the Land Claims Commission, in the Limpopo Province, South Africa, the Smit family started negotiations with Bep for the sale and purchase of Zeekoevlei 109, along with the OUHUIS® brand and trademark. On 7 July 2004, the Smit family incorporated a company, Protea Kop Rooibos Tee (Pty) Ltd., and started cultivating rooibos on Zeekoevlei 109 under this company, as the leased rooibos fields were released from the lease agreement by Oubaas and Willem. In 2006, the Smit family revived the OUHUIS® brand and has since put a lot of effort into building and marketing the brand to once again signal quality in rooibos.