Deon Saayman
Cape Wools S.A. | C.E.O.
About Speaker
Deon Saayman was born in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in 1969.
He started at Mohair SA in 1998 and became General Manager in 2008. In 2015 was promoted to Managing Director.
He was instrumental in establishing the Mohair Industry’s Sustainable Guidelines in 2009 and the audit process was fully digitised by the start of 2018.
In February 2019 Saayman was appointed as the new general manager for Cape Wools SA (CWSA) and later promoted to CEO.
In July 2020 Cape Wools launched a South African wool industry standard, namely the Sustainable Cape Wool standard (SCWS). At the start of 2023 the standard was expanded and adapted to be implemented within the communal farming sector, which is done at the shearing sheds.
CWSA is currently also in the process to build a blockchain platform whereby CWSA will be the trust anchor for the South African wool industry.
He has a passion for sustainability and believes that the South African wool industry is ideally positioned to become the trusted source for sustainable, traceable wool.