Sir David Graaff, 1st Baronet
Encyclopedia
Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff, 1st Baronet (30 March 1859 – 13 April 1931) was a South African cold storage magnate and politician. Graaff revolutionized the cold storage industry in Africa. He founded the Imperial Cold Storage and Supply Company
in 1899, and aggressively ran it until he left to serve in government. Graaff grew the company into one of the largest in Africa. Graaff's wealth soared, at the turn of the century. During World War I
he personally part financed the South African war effort and for this he was knighted as well as for services at the Paris Peace Conference 1919. He was known as "The Octopus" as he had a hand in so many businesses.
, while being privately educated. His great-uncle, Jacobus Arnoldus Combrinck, hoped that Graaff would take over his successful butchery so that he could enter colony politics.
Graaff arrived in Cape Town during a time of rapid economic and population growth. Three years earlier one of the largest deposits of diamonds in history had been discovered in the interior of the county. By the time the Cullinan Diamond
was discovered in 1869 the city was flooded with prospectors and investors hoping to capitalise on the discovery. At the time Cape Town was the largest and best developed settlement in southern Africa and served as a major logistics center for prospectors.
In 1881, eleven years after arriving in Cape Town, he and his younger brother Jacobus Arnoldus Graaff
took over the business. At the time the business was worth GB£
47,000 (£24,300,000 in 2010 pounds). One year later, in 1882, the first commercial successfully shipment of refrigerated meat had arrived in London from Australia on board the Dunedin
. Graaff, realizing the importance of this technological innovation for his butchery business, spent much of the 1880s extensively traveling around the world. Learning all he could about the meat markets and abattoirs of the United Kingdom
as well as the meat packing plants of Chicago
and the rest of United States
. He spent much of the rest of the 1880s and 1890s implementing the techniques and technologies he learned from these trips in his businesses in addition to serving in government.
for a few years. He was a Cape Town city councillor from 1882, and served as mayor
in 1891-1892. He presented the city with its mayoral chain
, which is still in use, and took the lead in introducing electricity into the city. Building the city's first power station which still stands today next to the Molteno Dam
. He also played a large role in the construction of many new reservoirs to supply the city with water. Graaff was also a member of parliament
from 1891 to 1897.n 1895, in Cape Town itself the Graaff Electric Light works had begun to operate when a power station was erected near the Molteno reservoir on Table Mountain. The Graaff part of the name refers to David Pieter de Villers-Graaff (created Sir in 1911) who was between 1891-1892 Mayor of Cape Town and convinced that the future of electricity was a very “bright” one. The demand for “light” continued and in 1907 the Municipality of Kalk Bay and Muizenberg in order to supply their customers, built a power station near the beach. A year or so later in 1908 the Woodstock Municipality received their electricity supply from the Dock Road Power Station. Then in 1912 the Cape Town City Council bought the assets of the Claremont Electric Light Works and became the suppliers of both the city and the suburbs.
. The company grew into one of the largest meat processing and distribution companies in the world and was responsible for generating much of Graaff's fortune. They concentrated on supplying ships, and in conjunction with the Union and Castle shipping lines
, they developed the first cold-storage
enterprise in South Africa. It was during this time that Sir David Graaff, together with Ernest Oppenheimer eventually succeeded in bringing all German mining interests together to form the Consolidated Diamond Mines of South-West Africa, under the general control of the Anglo American Corporation. C.D.M. is now the largest producer of gem diamonds in the world, and even though in those days the rich beach terraces stretching north from the Orange River had not been discovered, it was a large-scale producer and as a result of this transaction Anglo American's position as an important factor in the diamond industry had been firmly established.
During the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), Graaff obtained lucrative contracts to supply the British Army in the field, but he also made substantial donations towards alleviating the suffering of Boer prisoners of war, and providing medical supplies to Boer women and children held in British Army concentration camps.
When the meat market slumped after the war, Graaff invested in property in and around Cape Town. He bought the farm De Grendel outside Cape Town, where he built up a Friesland cattle stud as well as his beloved Arab horses.
's last cabinet (1908–1910). A close friend and confidant of Gen Louis Botha
, the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa
, he was created a baronet in 1911 and served as Minister of Public Works and of Posts and Telegraphs (1911–1912), Minister without Portfolio (1912–1913), and Minister of Finance (1915–1916). He accompanied Botha to the Versailles
peace conference in 1919. He was also a close confidant of Gen Jan Smuts
and Winston Churchill.
in 1907, establishing a GB£
100 000 (equivalent to £41,100,000 or R
471,195,167 in 2010) endowment fund for the school.
Sir David died in 1931, his estate was consolidated into one company, Graaffs Trust, one of the largest land owners in South Africa. Graaff left his estate in a complex web of trusts. Apart from his political career his most notable achievements was the construction of the Table Mountain Cableway, which the family still part own today, as well as large mining and later property interests and investments. His trademark mansions are still scattered around Cape Town today. His beach house Zonnekus built on Woodbridge Island was built entirely by Italian artisans and all material shipped to South Africa during the great depression. He later built De Grendel a 8000 hecter stud farm where he bred prized Arab horses.
He was succeeded as baronet by his eldest son De Villiers
. He was also survived by his youngest son, Johannes, a noted Welfare Economist
.
Imperial Cold Storage and Supply Company
Imperial Cold Storage and Supply Company was one of the largest meat processing, storage, distribution and marketing companies in South Africa, dominating the South African packaged food sector for almost a hundred years. The company was formally registered and listed as ICS in 1899, originally...
in 1899, and aggressively ran it until he left to serve in government. Graaff grew the company into one of the largest in Africa. Graaff's wealth soared, at the turn of the century. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he personally part financed the South African war effort and for this he was knighted as well as for services at the Paris Peace Conference 1919. He was known as "The Octopus" as he had a hand in so many businesses.
Early life
David Graaff was the fourth child of Petrus Novbertus Graaff and Anna Elisabeth. He was born in the small town of Villiersdorp, named after his maternal grandfather, Pieter Hendrik de Villiers, who founded the town in 1841. Little is known of his early childhood other than that his family was very poor. In 1870, at the age of eleven, he went to work in his great-uncle's butchery, Combrinck & CO., in Cape TownCape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, while being privately educated. His great-uncle, Jacobus Arnoldus Combrinck, hoped that Graaff would take over his successful butchery so that he could enter colony politics.
Graaff arrived in Cape Town during a time of rapid economic and population growth. Three years earlier one of the largest deposits of diamonds in history had been discovered in the interior of the county. By the time the Cullinan Diamond
Cullinan Diamond
The Cullinan diamond is the largest rough gem-quality diamond ever found, at .The largest polished gem from the stone is named Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa, and at was the largest polished diamond in the world until the 1985 discovery of the Golden Jubilee Diamond, , also from the...
was discovered in 1869 the city was flooded with prospectors and investors hoping to capitalise on the discovery. At the time Cape Town was the largest and best developed settlement in southern Africa and served as a major logistics center for prospectors.
In 1881, eleven years after arriving in Cape Town, he and his younger brother Jacobus Arnoldus Graaff
Jacobus Arnoldus Graaff
Sir Jacobus Arnoldus Combrinck Graaff, also known as 'Sir James', was a South African cabinet minister, Senator, businessman, and South African Party whip....
took over the business. At the time the business was worth GB£
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
47,000 (£24,300,000 in 2010 pounds). One year later, in 1882, the first commercial successfully shipment of refrigerated meat had arrived in London from Australia on board the Dunedin
Dunedin (ship)
The Dunedin was the first ship to complete a truly successful transport of refrigerated meat. In its capacity, it helped set the stage for New Zealand's success as a major provider of agricultural exports, notwithstanding its extreme remoteness from most markets.-Ship origins:The 1,320-ton, ...
. Graaff, realizing the importance of this technological innovation for his butchery business, spent much of the 1880s extensively traveling around the world. Learning all he could about the meat markets and abattoirs of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as well as the meat packing plants of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and the rest of United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He spent much of the rest of the 1880s and 1890s implementing the techniques and technologies he learned from these trips in his businesses in addition to serving in government.
Public service and political career (1882-1897)
Graaff was also active in public affairs. He was a volunteer soldier, and commanded the Cape Garrison ArtilleryCape Garrison Artillery
The Cape Garrison Artillery is an artillery regiment of the South African Army. There have been two regiments of the name: one a coast artillery regiment, the other an anti-aircraft regiment. The latter is part of the South African Army Artillery Formation.-1859-1866:The forerunner of the...
for a few years. He was a Cape Town city councillor from 1882, and served as mayor
Mayor of Cape Town
The Mayor of Cape Town is the head of the local government of Cape Town, South Africa; currently that government takes the form of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. In the past, the position of Mayor has varied between that of an executive mayor actively governing the city and that...
in 1891-1892. He presented the city with its mayoral chain
Livery collar
A livery collar or chain of office is a collar or heavy chain, usually of gold, worn as insignia of office or a mark of fealty or other association in Europe from the Middle Ages onwards....
, which is still in use, and took the lead in introducing electricity into the city. Building the city's first power station which still stands today next to the Molteno Dam
Molteno Dam
Molteno Dam is a small but historic dam on the lower slopes of Table Mountain in Western Cape, South Africa. Still in service, it was established in 1877 and is now located in the suburb of Oranjezicht, Cape Town....
. He also played a large role in the construction of many new reservoirs to supply the city with water. Graaff was also a member of parliament
Parliament of South Africa
The Parliament of South Africa is South Africa's legislature and under the country's current Constitution is composed of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces....
from 1891 to 1897.n 1895, in Cape Town itself the Graaff Electric Light works had begun to operate when a power station was erected near the Molteno reservoir on Table Mountain. The Graaff part of the name refers to David Pieter de Villers-Graaff (created Sir in 1911) who was between 1891-1892 Mayor of Cape Town and convinced that the future of electricity was a very “bright” one. The demand for “light” continued and in 1907 the Municipality of Kalk Bay and Muizenberg in order to supply their customers, built a power station near the beach. A year or so later in 1908 the Woodstock Municipality received their electricity supply from the Dock Road Power Station. Then in 1912 the Cape Town City Council bought the assets of the Claremont Electric Light Works and became the suppliers of both the city and the suburbs.
Boer War years
Graaff left office to focus growing his business and in 1899 he and his brother founded the Imperial Cold Storage and Supply CompanyImperial Cold Storage and Supply Company
Imperial Cold Storage and Supply Company was one of the largest meat processing, storage, distribution and marketing companies in South Africa, dominating the South African packaged food sector for almost a hundred years. The company was formally registered and listed as ICS in 1899, originally...
. The company grew into one of the largest meat processing and distribution companies in the world and was responsible for generating much of Graaff's fortune. They concentrated on supplying ships, and in conjunction with the Union and Castle shipping lines
Union-Castle Line
The Union-Castle Line was a prominent British shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and cargo ships between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. It was formed from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line...
, they developed the first cold-storage
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
enterprise in South Africa. It was during this time that Sir David Graaff, together with Ernest Oppenheimer eventually succeeded in bringing all German mining interests together to form the Consolidated Diamond Mines of South-West Africa, under the general control of the Anglo American Corporation. C.D.M. is now the largest producer of gem diamonds in the world, and even though in those days the rich beach terraces stretching north from the Orange River had not been discovered, it was a large-scale producer and as a result of this transaction Anglo American's position as an important factor in the diamond industry had been firmly established.
During the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), Graaff obtained lucrative contracts to supply the British Army in the field, but he also made substantial donations towards alleviating the suffering of Boer prisoners of war, and providing medical supplies to Boer women and children held in British Army concentration camps.
When the meat market slumped after the war, Graaff invested in property in and around Cape Town. He bought the farm De Grendel outside Cape Town, where he built up a Friesland cattle stud as well as his beloved Arab horses.
Political career (1908-1919)
Graaff was a member of parliament again from 1908 to 1920. From 1908 to 1920 Graaff was Minister without Portfolio in the Cape ColonyCape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
's last cabinet (1908–1910). A close friend and confidant of Gen Louis Botha
Louis Botha
Louis Botha was an Afrikaner and first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa—the forerunner of the modern South African state...
, the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa
Union of South Africa
The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State...
, he was created a baronet in 1911 and served as Minister of Public Works and of Posts and Telegraphs (1911–1912), Minister without Portfolio (1912–1913), and Minister of Finance (1915–1916). He accompanied Botha to the Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
peace conference in 1919. He was also a close confidant of Gen Jan Smuts
Jan Smuts
Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM, CH, ED, KC, FRS, PC was a prominent South African and British Commonwealth statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various cabinet posts, he served as Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 until 1924 and from 1939 until 1948...
and Winston Churchill.
Legacy
Graaff and his brother financed the building of the De Villiers Graaff High School in VilliersdorpVilliersdorp
Villiersdorp is a small town located in the Western Cape province of South Africa in the Overberg region; population 15,678.Unlike most of the geographical region which specialises in wheat and canola farming, the Villiersdorp Valley is now agriculturally and micro-climatatically more similar to...
in 1907, establishing a GB£
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
100 000 (equivalent to £41,100,000 or R
South African rand
The rand is the currency of South Africa. It takes its name from the Witwatersrand , the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and where most of South Africa's gold deposits were found. The rand has the symbol "R" and is subdivided into 100 cents, symbol "c"...
471,195,167 in 2010) endowment fund for the school.
Sir David died in 1931, his estate was consolidated into one company, Graaffs Trust, one of the largest land owners in South Africa. Graaff left his estate in a complex web of trusts. Apart from his political career his most notable achievements was the construction of the Table Mountain Cableway, which the family still part own today, as well as large mining and later property interests and investments. His trademark mansions are still scattered around Cape Town today. His beach house Zonnekus built on Woodbridge Island was built entirely by Italian artisans and all material shipped to South Africa during the great depression. He later built De Grendel a 8000 hecter stud farm where he bred prized Arab horses.
He was succeeded as baronet by his eldest son De Villiers
Sir de Villiers Graaff, 2nd Baronet
Sir De Villiers Graaff, 2nd Baronet known as Div Graaf, was a South African politician who succeeded his father, Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff, 1st Baronet, to his baronetcy in 1931...
. He was also survived by his youngest son, Johannes, a noted Welfare Economist
Welfare economics
Welfare economics is a branch of economics that uses microeconomic techniques to evaluate economic well-being, especially relative to competitive general equilibrium within an economy as to economic efficiency and the resulting income distribution associated with it...
.
See also
- Graaff BaronetsGraaff BaronetsThe Graaff Baronetcy, of Cape Town in the Cape of Good Hope Province of the Union of South Africa, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 6 February 1911 for the South African businessman and politician David Pieter de Villiers Graaff...
- Imperial Cold Storage and Supply CompanyImperial Cold Storage and Supply CompanyImperial Cold Storage and Supply Company was one of the largest meat processing, storage, distribution and marketing companies in South Africa, dominating the South African packaged food sector for almost a hundred years. The company was formally registered and listed as ICS in 1899, originally...
- Meat packing industryMeat packing industryThe meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock...
Other References
- Dictionary of South African Biography Volume II.
- Barnard, Prof L. and Kriek, Prof D. (Eds) (1990). Sir De Villiers Graaff. Digma, Pretoria.
- Graaff, De Villiers. (1993) "Div Looks Back: The memoirs of Sir De Villiers Graaff". Human & Rousseau, Cape Town.
- Simons, Phillida Brooke. (2000) "Ice cold in Africa: The history of the Imperial Cold Storage & Supply Company Limited". Fernwood Press, Cape Town.