In addition to rearing livestock, they cultivated wheat and barley, made wine and brandy, and grew tobacco as well as a variety of soft fruit.

As market opportunities in neighbouring districts such as George and Mossel Bay developed, the economic benefit of mixed farming came to be understood and utilized.

[9] Initially, the pioneer farmers in the area fell under the administrative and legal sphere of Swellendam, but in fact George was the closest that inhabitants had to government headquarters.

[9] In the 1810s, due to the obstacles south and west of the area, trade contacts with developing towns to the east and north of Oudtshoorn unfolded instead.

[9] Farmer Cornelis P. Rademeyer was persuaded by residents in 1838 to make some of his farmland along the Hartebees River available for the construction of the first church in the area.

[8][10] On 12 August 1847, it was announced in the Government Gazette that a number of wet and dry plots from the Hartebees River would be auctioned on 15 November of that year.

[9] The founding of Oudtshoorn provided a central service area situated between the Swart and Outeniqua mountains, and by the time that the first resident magistrate, Colonel A.B.

Prior to that, even the most prosperous inhabitants employed private tutors, the use of which was forced upon them by the poor state of the roads in the region at the time, the costs of accommodation, as well as the continuing lack of farm workers.

[11] Feather exports saw a sharp increase from the Cape Colony during the mid-1860s, which is generally accepted as the launch of the industry in South Africa.

[citation needed] The boom had attracted a large Jewish immigrant population of about 100 families, most of them Lithuanians from the towns of Kelme and Shavel, who were fleeing from the Tsarist pogroms.

Boer forces under Commandant Gideon Scheepers were sighted near Oudtshoorn on 25 August 1901, but moved on because the town was well defended.

The market collapsed in 1914, according to The Chicago Tribune, as a result of "the start of World War I, overproduction and the popularity of open-topped cars, which made ostrich-feather hats impractical."

[5] The successful agriculture pursuits in the area necessitated an extensive and economically significant train system, which was developed in the 1930s.

Despite the periodic irreparability of the Cradock Pass and Attakwaskloof in the Outeniqua Mountains, a reputable trade developed between the inhabitants north and south of the range.

[18] The end of World War II opened new markets for ostrich leather and meat, and as a result the industry eventually recovered.

[9] The production of specialised agricultural seed is the biggest contributor to the region's wealth today, but ostrich farming remains an important business.

[7][19] The business arm of the ostrich industry, the Klein Karoo Group, stated that the recent ban on exports resulted in an increase of about 500% in local sales.

[22] The first positive case of a bird flu in South Africa since 2011 was confirmed in April, 2013 on a farm near Oudtshoorn, as the H7N1 virus.

[21][22] The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Senzeni Zokwana, said in October, 2014 that the outbreaks "in the past few years" had cost the country R4 billion.

On 30 April 2013, Marius Fransman and other African National Congress (ANC) party members were forced to leave Oudtshoorn as a result of a protest against them.

[6] On 1 October 2013, George Kersop on behalf of human rights organisation AfriForum laid charges of corruption, fraud, and financial mismanagement against Ronnie Lottering, the acting Municipal Manager of Oudtshoorn, various officials, and members of the public, with the Hawks, the counter-corruption unit of the South African Police Service (SAPS).

[32] A court order prevented the DA from bringing a motion of no confidence against the ANC, Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa and National Peoples Party executive.

[33] On 10 April 2014, AfriForum indicated that it had requested Helen Zille's intervention in the Oudtshoorn and Kannaland regions due to the "rampant municipal mismanagement".

[6] In October, 2014, Francois Human, Director of Corporate Services for the municipality of Oudtshoorn,[35] compiled allegations against his ANC colleagues, such as incidents of corruption, bribery and intimidation, and forwarded them to political leaders, the South African Revenue Service (SARS), the Special Investigations Unit and the SAPS.

[42] Apart from the many high schools in Oudtshoorn, there are also independent tertiary educational institutions, including the South Cape College.

[citation needed] The Oudtshoorn airport is the site of 45 Air School used for training in World War II from 11 November 1940 to 20 August 1945.

Known as RAF Oudtshoorn, it operated under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, flying Airspeed Oxford, Avro Anson and Fairey Battle41 aircraft.