Читать книгу Sir David de Villiers Graaff - Ebbe Dommisse - Страница 7

A young boy off to the city

Deliverance for the young David Graaff from his fairly desperate circumstances on Wolfhuiskloof, where his father was eking out a meagre existence as a farmhand, came when he was 11 years old. A relative, Jacobus Arnoldus Combrinck, paid a visit to the family at Villiersdorp.

The visit supposedly occurred thanks to young Dawie’s mother, Anna Elizabeth Graaff. Although he loved the farm life in the picturesque region, Nort could not make a proper living. He tried his hand at viticulture and growing fruit, but the markets for both crashed, and his losses were compounded by drought. The children had to look on while their father struggled to pay a mortgage, until eventually, prematurely aged, he was forced to leave the management of his affairs in his wife’s hands.1

This farmer’s wife was up to the task and it resulted in the arrival of Combrinck, called an oudoom (old uncle) by the family, at Wolfhuiskloof with its tough conditions. Combrinck, a wealthy butcher from Cape Town, was a half-brother of Nort’s. Combrinck’s mother, Johanna Catharina Elizabeth, née Uys, was related to the Voortrekker leader Piet Uys. She was first married to Johannes Jacobus Graaff, and from that marriage five children were born, three sons and two daughters, of whom Norbertus (born on 15 July 1823) was the youngest. From her second marriage, to Petrus Arnoldus Combrinck, three children were born, of which Jacobus Arnoldus Combrinck (born on 31 May 1828) was the eldest.2

Combrinck was apparently held in high esteem by the Graaffs. The references to an oudoom presumably resulted from the family tie. One of Annie and Nort’s sons, Kobie, later Sir Jacobus, was named after him: Jacobus Arnoldus Combrinck Graaff, younger brother of Dawie. Combrinck was the godfather of the seven-year-old Kobie.

Combrinck arrived at Wolfhuiskloof one afternoon after school. The custom was that the boys would help with the farm work after school, and that afternoon it was young Dawie’s turn to look after the pigs and stop them from going into the garden. However, during this hot afternoon he had fallen asleep under a fig tree. Next thing he knew he was being shaken awake violently while his father was shouting, “Dawie, Dawie, here you are sleeping and the pigs are in the garden!”

Combrinck, who had seen the whole commotion, took pity on the young farm lad, whose ears may well have been boxed, and immediately asked whether he could take him to Cape Town to have him educated properly.3 An additional motivation may have been that he was looking for a relative who could help him in his business and who could perhaps manage it eventually so that he could have more time available to enter public life.4

The Graaff sons, who had to help their father, had to work hard, and although “the brothers did not benefit from more than the normal primary education of the time, that did not prevent all three of them reaching the top of the social ladder. They were naturally gifted, David not least of the three,” Die Burger reported later.5

Little Dawie also greatly impressed other people. After his death, a political opponent, Prof. H.E.S. Fremantle, wrote:

“When he was a boy, Graaff impressed everyone with eyes to see. I remember the Rev. D.S. Botha, afterwards Moderator of the Dutch Church of the Cape Province, who was at Villiersdorp 60 years ago, telling me how young Graaff impressed him. He had been sent with a message. There was something about him that arrested Mr Botha’s attention, something in the precise way he delivered the message, and something altogether intangible, but Mr Botha marked the boy from that day on.”6

Combrinck certainly made the right choice, and Dawie left for Cape Town with him. The circumstances of his move to the city were described by the author Janie Malherbe, who was well acquainted with the conditions in Villiersdorp, where her father-in-law, Reverend E.G. Malherbe, was the Dutch Reformed minister: “With excitement in his heart, but tears in his eyes, little Dawie turned his back on the drab little houses in Villiersdorp and with his hand in that of his oudoom went to meet a brilliant future.”7

As a well-to-do proprietor of the butchery Combrinck & Ross (which would become Combrinck & Co. in time), Combrinck was rooted in a long tradition of butchers who had developed a prosperous business since the early days in the Cape.

The demand for fresh meat and vegetables was what initially gave rise to the gradual modernisation of the country. Previously communal ownership characterised the country’s farming and livestock trade. This trade pattern changed after Jan van Riebeeck established the refreshment station at what was termed the Cape of Storms, later the Cape of Good Hope, for the DEIC. During the long voyage between Europe and the East around the Cape this offered the ships fresh supplies of salted and smoked meat – often the cause of scurvy and the death of many seafaring people.

Since around 1681 various butchers managed their businesses under the DEIC control, including D.G. van Reenen, H.A. Truter, J.C. (Jacob) van Reenen, Jan Smook, Johan Jakob Meyer and J.G. Steytler.8

In fact, South Africa’s first capitalist was a butcher: Henning Hüsing (sometimes spelled Huising or Huisen), who became the wealthiest man in the Cape. Hüsing, born in Hamburg on 3 August 1649, came to the Cape as an ordinary soldier shortly after Van Riebeeck’s arrival. His subsequent career had striking resemblances to that of the young Graaff – he also started working as a farmhand and cattle herdboy after getting his discharge as a soldier. As a free burgher and one of the first settlers, Hüsing started breeding stock in the Hottentots-Holland Mountains in 1678. As a member of the heemraad of Stellenbosch, he entered into an agreement with the DEIC to supply meat to the local hospital and visiting ships, and eventually, together with his partner, Willem van Dieden, secured the meat contract for the garrison. An account of 1705 shows he had 100 000 rix-dollars in cash, 1 000 head of cattle, 20 000 sheep and 545 morgen of land. In the civilian revolt against Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel in 1706 he sided with Adam Tas and was arrested as one of the conspirators. After the authorities in Amsterdam judged in favour of the settlers in the matter, Hüsing went to live on his farm Meerlust, later to become the show farm of eight generations of Myburghs, where he had 100 000 grapevines.9

Combrinck, like Dawie, entered the meat industry at a young age. He was all of ten years old when he was employed by a friend of his family, Johannes Mechau, a supplier from Cape Town.10 (Obviously, neither Combrinck nor Dawie would of have been allowed to start working at such a young age under later labour legislation and child laws.)

Combrinck, who never married, was in his early 40s when he took little Dawie to Cape Town, then considered the “colonial metropolis”. The businessman under whose wing the young boy would grow up was born in Worcester on 21 May 1828. His ancestor emigrated from Germany to the Cape in 1717. His grandfather was Herman Combrinck, a Stellenbosch architect, and his father, Petrus Arnoldus Combrinck, a missionary and schoolmaster in Paarl, who married his second wife after the death of her Graaff husband in 1813.

Since his youth, Combrinck, under Mechau’s mentorship, became familiar with all facets of his butchery. After serving his apprenticeship he was appointed foreman of the business of Othmard Bernard Schietlin, then the leading butcher in the Cape, who eventually returned to Switzerland.11 In 1857 Combrinck entered into a partnership with Henry John William (sometimes called Hendrikus Johannes Wilhelmus) Ross, and Combrinck & Ross rapidly developed into a prominent, highly successful butchery. Besides domestic households, the British Navy, British Army and state departments were among their clients.12

Combrinck not only prospered in the meat industry, he also had other extensive business interests. In his opinion, the maxim “stick to your last” was only meant for people who were not capable of looking at more than one thing at a time without spoiling everything. He also speculated in, among other things, mules, shares and real estate, and owned claims in the Kimberley diamond mines. He acquired homes in the city centre, Sea Point, Three Anchor Bay and Wynberg, and in the countryside he purchased four farms to supply his and other butcheries with livestock. “Mr. Combrinck, in fact, was one of those lucky men, or gifted men – it matters very little which – in whose hands everything seemed to turn insensibly into gold,” wrote the Cape Argus after his death.13

At the time of Dawie’s departure to Cape Town in 1870 the once struggling economy of the Cape Colony was experiencing a boom, spurred on by the discovery of diamonds in South Africa at Hopetown in 1867. Large numbers of fortune hunters from all over the world were arriving in Table Bay. On the Grand Parade local traders sold imported and local goods, and the nearby Commercial Exchange, which had opened in 1821 and had become the city’s business hub, was a hive of activity.

This economic upsurge also boosted butcheries, where people could buy meat which they had to do without during the locust years. The Combrinck & Ross butchery at Shambles No. 4 promised in advertisements in 1870 – “Shipping supplied with the best Fresh and Salted Meat on the Shortest Notice and most Reasonable Terms. Always on hand: a good supply of live-stock.”14

At the young Dawie’s new place of work trading was brisk – but in conditions that would appal people from contemporary times used to a more hygienic procedure. The abattoir of Cape Town, aptly named “Shambles”15 in English, was located at the lower end of Strand Street between the then seafront and the Grand Parade. Behind the butcheries, a row of thatched buildings, a corral had been made where livestock were brought from up country to be slaughtered. The abattoir was on the beach, so the blood could be washed away in the sea and the remains buried in the sand. There was no refuse removal, and the decaying meat, along with the putrid fish from the nearby fish market in Roggebaai, which washed up on the beach caused an unbearable stench. At night, street dogs rummaged in the waste, snarling and yapping. Conditions would only improve a few years later.16

In these circumstances Combrinck brought the young Dawie into contact with all the operations of the butchery right from the start, and “with his alert mind the little boy observed almost everything and learnt an infinite amount about the business world. From an early age he accompanied his uncle at the end of every week when the employees had to be paid. He immediately learnt how to handle money, because his oudoom let him stand between his legs and showed him how to count out the money and hand it over”.17

Like his oudoom, Dawie became adept at all aspects of the meat trade, from skinning the animals to keeping the books and accounts. Until the end of his life he would be proud of the practical experience he had gained during that time: a formidable in-service training. He learnt everything about cuts of meat; he knew how to skin and process carcasses, make sausage, put meat packages together and get rid of scraps.18

Dawie lived in Combrinck’s house in Papendorp, the neighbourhood close to the city centre that is now called Woodstock. Woodstock House had previously belonged to the well-known judge Henry Cloete. In the big yard Combrinck planted various trees and installed a watermill that he designed himself. The garden was stocked with many species, like marigolds, ranunculus and carnations.19 The elegant house was in stark contrast to the foul-smelling, messy workplace where little Dawie had to return every day. And the wealthy Combrinck, by that time a prominent resident of the Mother City, presented his young relative with a civilised and cultivated environment that would greatly contribute to the shaping of the lives, preferences and ambitions of the young Graaff and his siblings.20

Some sources have it that, Dawie also attended an evening school. It is not certain which school it was. In those years, there were five schools in Cape Town under the auspices of the Dutch Reformed Church, including the mission school in Papendorp, which served both as a day and evening school. In Hanover Street in Kanaladorp, later District Six, there was another school under the control of the Dutch Reformed Church. All these schools were attended by white and coloured children, also from other denominations, and were administered by the Dutch Reformed Church until 1907.21 Generally, Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula were well served as far as education was concerned. Other nearby schools included the Educational Institute in Roeland Street, which also offered day and evening classes.22

According to other sources, Dawie spent evenings at home with his books and expanded his knowledge this way, even though he could only speak Dutch at that age and his teacher only English.23 In any case, it was clear that the little Graaff, Afrikaans-speaking by origin, became fully proficient in English, which was essential in the business world. He not only spoke English fluently, but as an adult he also wrote it fluently and with correct syntax.24

For Graaff, education and training would remain a lifelong interest and over time he would donate large amounts to schools and universities.

Soon, although he was the same age as most boys who had just finished school, David Graaff already had several years’ experience as a manager of one of the branches of Combrinck & Ross.25 He was described as “a dignified, serious youth, with the characteristic droopy moustache of the period”. The firm noticed that he was bright and diligent, and he made rapid progress in the butchery.26

The young David Graaff was barely 17 years old when Combrinck made him an offer that must surely have taken his breath away: he could take over complete management of the business of Combrinck & Ross. That was in 1876, and by that time Graaff was an independent young man. His father had died the previous year. Probably to further lighten the burden of Nort’s widow, Annie, Combrinck also sent for her 12-year-old son, Jacobus, his namesake. Subsequently the two brothers would work together in the meat industry for years.

More or less at the same time, Graaff’s sister, Hannie (Johanna Catharina Elizabeth), came to the Combrinck house in Woodstock as housekeeper.27 She was eight years older than David, and her arrival brought a welcome female presence to the bustling home of Combrinck and the two Graaffs in his care. Apparently she performed her duties in Woodstock House well because she was one of Combrinck’s main heirs after his death in 1891.

As the butchery was flourishing, Combrinck left its management in the hands of the two young Graaffs to an increasing extent. In 1876 he turned the business over to the Graaffs and another loyal employee, J.A. Rynhoud, a cousin of Combrinck’s.28 “I have seen you growing up here,” Combrinck told the young David Graaff, “and I have full confidence in leaving the reins in your hands.”29

Ross’s stake was bought out the same year and the new entity, Combrinck & Co., was established. But first there were problems with Ross. Although Combrinck had made a very attractive offer to take over the aging Ross’s stake in the firm, the meat price suddenly dropped by a penny a pound. Combrinck, therefore, believed the conditions of a written agreement, which had not yet been signed, had to be altered. Ross was furious, their friendship of 20 years forgotten, and he sued Combrinck for breach of contract. The court case was heard in May 1877 and judgement was in favour of the plaintiff.30 Combrinck had to pay Ross compensation to the amount of £10 000 plus £1 500 annually for four years. Apparently he was able to afford that – the butchery was then worth about £47 000.31

Despite the problems with Ross, Combrinck & Co. rapidly expanded in the next few years, during which the two Graaffs proved themselves to be able managers of the largest and most successful butchery in Cape Town.

At this early stage a third Graaff, Johannes Jacobus Arnoldus, joined the business. Jan Graaff, later better known as Senator John Graaff, was almost five years older than his brother David. Eventually he also embarked on a political career and became a Member of Parliament like his brothers David and Jacobus, both members of cabinet after unification in 1910. All three brothers had black beards and moustaches. According to a contemporary, all three of them had a great entrepreneurial spirit and worked hard to rise from the lowest rank to proprietors of the business.32

In order to ensure a regular and sufficient source of meat, the Graaff brothers looked for farms further inland where stock could be kept and slaughtered to be sent to Cape Town. The stock had to be close to railway transport, therefore they chose an area close to a station in the district of Tulbagh that was known as Piketbergweg (later Portervilleweg, now Gouda) on the main line to the north. In May 1882 they bought their first land, a part of the farm Bonne Esperance.33 Jan Graaff, an animal expert, became the cattle dealer.34 He was also appointed to manage the farm, and became responsible for two adjacent farms acquired later, La Gratitude and Kleinbergrivier. Local workers were employed, among other things to work in the butchery built there.35

In Cape Town, Combrinck & Co. owned the abattoir at the upper end of Hanover Street and had various retail butcheries in the city and suburbs. Daily, in the early hours of the morning, the firm’s transport wagons delivered meat to the butcheries and households between Sea Point and Mowbray. Large contracts for the supply of meat were concluded – for ships, for the British Army division based in Cape Town and for the section of the British Navy in Simon’s Town.36