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Chapter 1

Atom bombs and parks for peace

Only once in his career did Anton Rupert deliberately stay away from his office for a whole day.

This was when he heard of the world’s first war-time nuclear explosion: the morning the devastating news reached South Africa that an atom bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, destroying the Japanese seaport. The brief prelude to Japan’s surrender and the end of the Second World War had begun.

The nuclear horror, a direct result of the splitting of the atom through which humankind developed the ability to annihilate itself, irrevocably changed the course of history. It also changed Anton Rupert’s view of life irrevocably.

The young Afrikaner industrialist, trained in the natural sciences and destined to become his country’s most innovative entrepreneur and the head of one of Africa’s two wealthiest families, immediately sensed that this was a defining moment in history: one of those rare events that would forever be remembered as a turning point in human existence.

Rupert was at that stage still in Johannesburg, an inexperienced young entrepreneur with a factory processing pipe tobacco that struggled to keep afloat in the tough wartime conditions. That morning in early August when he heard of the devastation of Hiroshima, he telephoned his office to announce that he would be unavailable for the whole day. Instead, he stayed home to ponder on the destructive force of the atom bomb: ‘I realised that the human race had become like scorpions in a bottle, with the power to destroy one another totally.’1

Expressing a similar sense of awe after witnessing the giant mushroom cloud forming over the stricken city, Robert Lewis, who had been the co-pilot of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber of the American Air Force that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, wrote in his journal: ‘My God, what have we done?’

One hundred thousand of the 245 000 inhabitants of Hiroshima perished that day, obliterated by the force of nuclear power, with a further 100 000 dying in the aftermath. Three days later the second and last atom bomb destroyed the picturesque port city of Nagasaki, killing another 80 000 people.2

The devastating atom bombs heralded the final episode of Japan’s participation in the war. Five days later Emperor Hirohito acknowledged that Japan had been vanquished for the first time in its history. The images of total annihilation by the two atom bombs, Little Boy and Fat Boy, not only broke Japan’s spirit but stunned the whole world.

Anton Rupert, with a master’s degree in chemistry, understood that something cataclysmic had occurred. At his Johannesburg home, which he was to leave a few months afterwards for Stellenbosch to build a business empire that would eventually stretch across the globe, he reflected on the implications of the atomic era. He sensed that the military use of the nuclear bomb was probably the most portentous event he would experience in his lifetime, and came to the conclusion that the world would see no more great wars for fear of mutual annihilation. The inevitable consequence would be constant smaller wars, making lasting peace in the future highly unlikely.

‘Since the unlocking of the power of the atom – since Hiroshima – everything has changed, except our way of thinking. In this atomic era there is no longer any country remote enough to become a place of shelter. The biblical notion that “I am my brother’s keeper” has become a cold reality; depressions are now global, as is welfare. In this century where at least two nations possess enough bombs to destroy everything, we live like scorpions in a bottle – and he who wants to retain all, will lose all.’3

In future, humanity could only save itself through coexistence. ‘People simply have to learn to live together.’

Coexistence, a conviction that had been taking root in Rupert since his student days, now became the core concept that would inspire him all his life, and a vision that he would proclaim persuasively. The well-known Rodin bronze The Ca­thedral, acquired in the 1960s, stands in his office as an enduring reminder. The sculpture of two right hands symbolises for him the coexistence between people, the foundation on which he developed his business philosophy. On this philosophy of coexistence, or partnerships forged from country to country, he built a worldwide international business chain long before globalisation became a fashionable concept.

This vision of partnership is coupled with social responsibility, which he considers one of the three major responsibilities of a successful business enterprise. Not only should there be coexistence between human beings, but also coexistence between human beings and nature. It is with this philosophy that Rupert as conservation-oriented philanthropist was to carry the concept of peace parks, or transfrontier conservation areas, across international borders.

Peace parks – with peace between peoples and nations as a desirable prerequisite for the survival of threatened species in spite of a human population explosion threatening the biological cycle – became a compelling vision that brought the octogenarian Rupert to his head office at Millennia Park in Stellenbosch each day. With the energy of a much younger man, he campaigns for the development of transnational game and nature parks that require multilateral cooperation between governments of various countries.

The peace parks are perhaps the most imaginative project initiated by the philanthropist Rupert in a long business career that he has applied to the benefit of society on many fronts.

The Ruperts appear on the Forbes business magazine’s list of the world’s wealthiest people, the billionaires with estimated assets of more than 1 000 million American dollars. Besides the Ruperts, Forbes only lists one other family from Africa: the Oppenheimers, the heirs of the South African mining magnate Sir Ernest Oppenheimer and his son Harry.4

The main difference between these two South African families, both of whom have contributed enormously to the development of their country as well as to community welfare, is that Rupert started with next to nothing when he built his international business empire, nor did he depend on the country’s abundant mineral riches as a base.

Labelled in the media as the ‘king of luxury’, the ‘secretive marketing giant’, the ‘shy king of snob smokers’ and the ‘true gentleman of the business world’, he built an international reputation.

The chemistry student – who with a personal investment of a mere £10 started a worldwide group of companies that would make him a world-famous entrepreneur – is linked to some of the best-known international trademarks, the foundation on which his business empire is built. From Cartier, the ‘king of jewellers and the jeweller of kings’, to the luxury goods of Alfred Dunhill, from Mont Blanc’s stylish writing instruments to the oldest Swiss watchmakers, all fall under Richemont, the international arm of the Rupert umbrella. It was preceded by the establishment of a global chain of tobacco interests under the banner of Rembrandt and Rothmans, as well as the production of the most famous South African wines and spirits.

During his long career Anton Rupert developed into a man for all seasons, with active interests outside the business sphere: conserver of his country’s historical heritage; patron of the arts; navigator over political minefields; benefactor helping others to help themselves.

Still, in spite of the media attention that accompanies his public appearances, Rupert remains an intensely private person, someone who does not readily grant media interviews and whose private life is as mysterious as some of his weighty business transactions.

The eminent Afrikaans poet Dirk Opperman celebrated Rupert’s restless spirit and many-sidedness by describing him as the ‘prince of commerce’ who could reconcile commerce, science and the arts.5 His versatility is also the source of his interest in nature and animal life, the foundation on which the idea of peace parks developed.

Rupert was the first chairman of the Peace Parks Foundation (PPF), which has former President Nelson Mandela as emeritus patron. This icon of the 20th century likes to refer to Rupert as his ‘older brother’.

Eight heads of state of southern African countries serve as honorary patrons of the PPF, which facilitates the establishment and development of transfrontier parks. Rupert regards the Foundation as a catalyst, a concept from his background as chemist that he has used frequently in his long career – a substance that, without itself undergoing any change, precipitates a change in another substance.

The PPF’s funds, mainly derived from private individuals as well as institutions and big multinational companies, are used to develop the transfrontier conservation areas and also to train people in the tourism and service industries as well as game wardens.

To a world with shrinking natural resources, Africa with its vast, still unpopulated spaces can be a last refuge for irreplaceable wildlife and unspoilt natural beauty. This is why Rupert started linking the idea of peace parks to national parks. Besides, wildlife and conservation can provide a foundation for counter-acting the poverty and unemployment of many African countries. These activities prepare the way for tourism, the world’s biggest industry, the enormous potential of which has scarcely been exploited on the conflict-ridden continent.

He was able to experience the achievement of six peace parks being connected directly to his fatherland only a few years after the inception of the project. These transnational parks and conservation areas that are joined to South Africa and for which agreements have been signed with the respective governments, have already considerably extended the ‘African safari’ as a sought-after tourist destination.

Together with two other peace parks in southern Africa, these eight, with their abundance of animals and plant life, will cover about 60 million hectares. A further fourteen transfrontier conservation areas in southern Africa have been identified for development in the next decade. The 22 peace parks will ultimately extend over 100 million hectares, an area the size of France, Germany and Switzerland combined.

The idea of peace parks is gaining ground in other parts of the world as well, such as the demilitarised zone between South and North Korea, the Mont Blanc mountain park, South America and elsewhere.

The most extensive project in which South Africa is directly involved is Greater Limpopo, the game park that may become the biggest animal kingdom in the world. The renowned Kruger National Park of South Africa will be united with three national parks in Mozambique and Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou National Park. The envisaged peace park, four times the size of the already large Kruger National Park, will be home to an unrivalled collection of Africa’s animals, plants and trees. It is envisaged that this transnational park, extending across the borders of three countries, will initially cover 35 000 km2, which could eventually be extended to 100 000 km2 – bigger than Portugal, Hungary or Austria.6

Big game has already been translocated from the Kruger National Park to Mozambique. Among other wildlife, more than 1 000 elephants will eventually be moved to the Mozambican side: to a region where animals were destroyed ruthlessly during Mozambique’s civil war, but also the country from which the first elephants for the later Kruger National Park were donated decades ago.

The translocation of the first herd of elephants to the envisaged peace park took place on 4 October 2001, Rupert’s 85th birthday. For him this was a birthday present without equal: the realisation of a ten-year-long dream.

Still at Rupert’s side in this great experiment is his wife, Huberte. This strong and attractive woman has been a tower of strength and his sounding board throughout his career, his life partner with whom he celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary a week before on 27 September 2001.

Rupert often reiterates his belief that the idea is stronger than the man. His conviction that nothing can stop an idea whose time has arrived echoes an observation by the economist John Maynard Keynes: ‘The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. I am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared to the gradual encroachment of ideas.’7

Now, in his advanced years, Anton Rupert is experiencing the satisfaction of seeing the idea of peace parks becoming increasingly popular – an idea that may still become the biggest and most enduring trademark of the business leader who is regarded by an international trademark expert as the oracle of trademarks. Nothing would give Rupert greater pleasure than seeing such an inspirational, hope-giving idea expanding internationally from South Africa, the fatherland to which he has always returned after his world travels.

He draws inspiration from Albert Schweitzer’s thoughts on reverence for life. The German medical missionary, philosopher and philanthropist, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952, devoted his life to healing Africans in his hospital at Lambaréné in Gabon. Schweitzer regarded ethics as nothing other than reverence for life. ‘Reverence for life affords me my fundamental principle of morality, namely that good consists in maintaining, assisting, and enhancing life, and that to destroy, to harm or to hinder life is evil,’ he declared.

Reverence for life is also reflected in a poignant bronze statue placed in the entrance hall of Rupert’s office building in Stellenbosch. Here visitors walk past the German artist Käthe Kollwitz’s Mutter mit Zwillingen, depicting a mother cradling her twins in her arms.

Now the once energetic dark-haired entrepreneur walks with a stoop as a result of a curvature of the spine. He also reads with some difficulty, and all correspondence and reading material have to be enlarged by means of a video screen on his desk. A solar eclipse 60 years ago may have caused his eye problem. In October 1940 in Graaff-Reinet he and his youngest brother Koos, who has similar eye problems, watched a total eclipse of the sun through film that possibly did not offer adequate protection. Typically, Rupert regards his weakening sight as an asset – just as more than once in his career he tried to convert a disadvantage into an advantage. Because he is able to read less, he ‘has more opportunity to think’.

The remarkable life story of this entrepreneur-philanthropist, a business leader regarded as one of Africa’s legends, covered almost a quarter of modern South Africa’s history by the turn of the century. It started nearly nine decades earlier with his birth during the First World War in his beloved Karoo, the vast semi-desert in the interior of South Africa where the Rupert family became part of the land and the land became part of them.