THE SWEETEST THING

July 9 is world rum day and to mark the occasion, lucy corne goes in search of locally produced rum deep in the heart of south africa’s sugar cane growing regions.

Sugar cane is everywhere in KZN, something I discover less than an hour after landing in Durban. Driving north towards Zululand, stray pieces of plant matter fl y through the air, an occasional leaf fl uttering across my windscreen. A couple of cars ahead I spot the culprit – a large truck whose open trailer carries something that looks a lot like dead branches. Suddenly these trucks are everywhere, carrying what turns out to be freshly harvested sugar cane up and down the N2.