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Lance James
Born	Lance James Liebenberg (1938-07-18) July 18, 1938 Springs, Johannesburg, South Africa
Died	March 2, 2020(2020-03-02) (aged 81) Plettenberg Bay, Gauteng
Cause of death	Covid-19
Nationality	South African
Other names	Big Daddy
Occupation	Singer
Years active	1950s-2020
Employer	SABC
Spouse	Val
Partner	Eunice Wait
Children	Dionne, Chanelle

Lance James (18 July 1938 - 2 March 2020) was a South African country & western singer and radio music presenter. His career spanned almost six decades.

Early life

Lance James Liebenberg was born 1938 in Springs on the East Rand of Johannesburg.

Career

Other single hits include Dankie, Hoe Groot is U, and Dont Let the Old Man In.

XXXXXXThey recorded many songs together and Barbara’s first single with Lance, After The Fire Is Gone, was released in 1977. Several albums followed, and in 1979 Barbara and Lance won a vocal group SARIE award. XXXXXXXXXXXXX

He worked at the SABC on Springbok Radio from 1954 until 1985. At the radio station, he was a presenter on two shows, Keep it Country on Sundays and Munt uit Musiek.

An autobiography, Dankie by Francois van Oudtshoorn was published in 2015.

His final album came out in 2019, called Swan Song.

Death

Suffering from heart problems and other aged health issues, he was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital in 2020. There he broke a hip and would later pass away from an infection after hip surgery, several weeks in hospital. He is survived by his partner Eunice, two daughters and three grandchildren.

Honours

In 2019, he was honoured for his life work by Federasie van Afrikaanse Kulturvereniginge. Other awards include a Beeld Award for contribution to Afrikaans music, a Solidarity Award, six Sarie Awards and several awards for "Best Album of the Year", and a Life Time Achievement Award.

Discography

Albums

Album	Year	Label	Notes

Singles

Singles	Year	Label	Notes

Filmography

Actor

• Lindie (1971)
• Danie Bosman: Die verhaal van die grootste S.A. komponis (1969)

Soundtrack

• Lindie (1971)
• Vicki! (1970)

References

Category:1939 births Category:2020 deaths Category:South African country western musicians Category:South African singers Category:South African male singers Category:South African musicians Category:20th-century South African singers

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Federale Mynbou (FedMyn) was a South African mining holding company created in 1953 as a means for Afrikaner business capital to obtain some control of the country's mining industry, dominated at the time by English South African mining companies. Initially a mining company, it became a holding company of the General Mining and Finance Corporation and the United Corporation that eventually became Gencor. Federale Mynbou itself was partially own at that time by Samlam and the Rembrandt Group.

Background

Federale Volksbeleggings (FVB) and Bonus Investment Corporation (Bonuskor) formed Federale Mynbou (FedMyn) on the 6 June 1953 with R120,000 in capital with the two financers owning equal shares in the new company. Federale Mynbou purchased two small coal mines called Klippoortjie and Koornfontein that were previously owned by FVB.

It break into gold mining happened in November 1958 when it join Anglo American, General Mining Corporation and the Anglo-Transvaal Consolidated Investment Company in investing in the Zandpan Gold Mining Company outside Klerksdorp.

Trans-Natal Coal Company Corporation was a share holding company formed in 1963 from the Natal Navigation Collieries, Transvaal Navigation Collieries, Klipoortje and Koornfonetin Collieries and Federale Mynbou's coal interests with the existing shares of the latter exchanged for those in the new company. It would become the second biggest coal mining company in South Africa.

A new jointly own company was formed by Federale Mynbou and Anglo America in 1964 called Main Street Investments. It saw Federale Mybou contribute its shareholding of Trans-Natal Coal Company Corporation that had formed a year earlier. Anglo American in turn would contribute it shareholding of the General Mining and Finance Corporation to the new company.

In August 1963, a diamond exploration concession was obtained in South West Africa. It was granted to the consortium of Federale Mynbou, Bonuskor, Federale Volksbellegings, Santam, Sanlam, Spes Bona Mynboumaatskappy and Duinveld Bellegings.

An announcement was made in June 1965 with Anglo American and Federale Mynbou creating a new joint venture of equal share in Main Street Investments (1965). The new £5 million company would invest in steel and heavy industry. At the same time, Main Street Investments would be renamed Hollardstraatese Bellegings. Anglo American sold a 1% share in the Main Street to Federale Mynbou giving it a 51% shareholding in the company and making General Mining and Finance Corporation a subsidiary of Mynbou.

References

First newspaper announcement's of its formation were seen in August 1871. The Weld Club opened on 1 December 1871 in temporary premises of Mr. Summers in St George's Terrace with further rooms were still to built with an official opening planed for April 1872. The club was formally opened on 17 April 1872 by the Frederick Weld, Governor of Western Australia. Its accommodation facilities were completed by August 1873. In August 1891, eleven architectural designs were received for a new club building on a plot land they purchased on the corner of Barrack Street and Esplanade with Mr J Talbot Hobbs declared the winner. In October 1891, architect J. Talbot Hobbs awarded the tender worth £5,427 to build the new club to Bunnings Brothers.

List of junctions

Department	Location	km	mi	Junction	Destinations	Notes
Calvados	Mondeville	0.0	0.0	A 13 - 1 Porte de Paris	Paris, Rouen, Le Havre, Deauville, Mondeville and Giberville
		1.4	0.0	D 513 - 2 Presqu'île-Rives de l'Orne	Mondeville, Colombelles, Caen (SNCF train station) ; Route de la Côte Fleurie
	Hérouville-Saint-Clair	2.9	0.0	D 515 - 3 Porte d'Angleterre	Port de Ouistreham, Caen (Saint-Jean-Eudes)
		3.8	0.0	4 Pierre Heuzé	Hérouville-Saint-Clair, Caen (Pierre Heuzé)
	Caen	5.2	0.0	D 7 - 5 Côte de Nacre	Douvres-la-Délivrande, Épron, Caen (campus 1, Calvaire Saint-Pierre)
		6.2	0.0	6 Vallée des Jardins	Saint-Contest, Caen (Vallée des Jardins, La Folie Couvrechef - Mémorial)
		8.0	0.0	D 401 - 7 Chemin Vert	Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe, Caen (Chemin vert, La Maladrerie)
	Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe	9.9	0.0	N 13 - 8 Porte de Bessin	Cherbourg, Bayeux
	Bretteville-sur-Odon	13.2	0.0	A 84 - 9 Porte de Bretagne	Vire-Normandie, Rennes, Nantes
	Éterville	14.6	0.0	D 8 - 10 Éterville	Louvigny, Caen (la Prairie)
	Ifs	18.1	0.0	11 Suisse Normande	Flers, Fleury-sur-Orne, Caen (Grâce de Dieu)
		21.0	0.0	12 Ifs	Ifs, Caen (campus 3)
		22.1	0.0	N 158 - 13 Porte d'Espagne	Alençon, Le Mans, Tours
	Cormelles-le-Royal	23.3	0.0	D 229 - 14 Cormelles	Cormelles-le-Royal, Caen (Guérinière)
		24.5	0.0	15 Vallée Sèche	Grentheville, Caen (Sainte-Thérèse)
	Mondeville	26.6	0.0	D 613 - 16 Pays d'Auge	Lisieux, Caen (Demi-Lune)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Anton Rupert
Born	(1916-10-04)4 October 1916 Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Died	18 January 2006(2006-01-18) (aged 89) Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa
Nationality	South African
Alma mater	University of Pretoria
Occupation(s)	Businessman, conservationist, philanthropist
Spouse	Huberte Goote
Children	3 (including Johann)

Anthony Edward Rupert (4 October 1916 – 18 January 2006) was a South African businessman, philanthropist, and conservationist. He is best known for the tobacco and industrial conglomerate Rembrandt Group and oversaw its transition to the industrial and luxury branded goods sectors, with Rembrandt, eventually splitting into Remgro (an investment company with financial, mining, and industrial interests) and Richemont (a Swiss-based luxury goods group).

Early life

He was born and raised in the small town of Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape, the son of a lawyer. He was descended from German settler stock, his great-grandfather was a member of the German Legion that settled in the Eastern Cape after the Crimea War. He enrolled to study a medical degree but dropped out due to a lack of funds. A dry-cleaning business he started to fund the degree failed. He went on to study chemistry at the University of Pretoria and graduated with a master's degree. He would also lecture chemistry at the same university.

Business career

During the depression, he recognised that two products were bought no matter how difficult the economic conditions were. These were tobacco and alcohol. In 1941, investing GBP10 with two fellow investors, he started manufacturing snuff and loose tabacco cigarettes in his garage. Their brand was called Voorbrand. By 1943 he purchased Forrer Brothers a wine company in Cape Town and in 1945 opened the Distillers Corporation. With the Voorbrand business struggling he left for the United Kingdom in late 1945 to find new machinery. After meeting with Rothmans he entered into an agreement to manufacture and sell their Rothmans Pall Mall brand in South Africa.

He then rebranded Voorbrand cigarettes in 1948 as Rembrandt Tobacco Company which would make the brand more sellable internationally. A holding company called Rembrandt Limited was formed to manage the tabaco and distillery businesses. His company developed the Peter Stuyvesant brand in the early 1950s and promoted his brands overseas.

In 1954, he gained majority control of Rothmans and its brands. In 1956, Rembrandt Limited was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Then in 1958 Rothmans merge with House of Carreras and controlled the Dunhill brands.

Wine

The Rupert family is also deeply involved in the South African wine and liquor industry, owning the L'Ormarins and La Motte wine estates and having a stake in Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons, the wine-making partnership between the Rupert and Rothschild families (at the time of his death due to a car crash in 2001, Rupert's youngest son, Anthonij, was head of Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons.)

The Ruperts also partially control two of South Africa's largest wine merchant houses, Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery (SFW) and Distillers Corporation, who together produce one of every six bottles of wine in South Africa and nearly eighty percent of the country's brandy. These two companies have merged to form Distell Group Limited.

Among other interests, the Rupert Group also owns South Africa's second-largest chain of private hospitals, the Medi-Clinic Corporation, with 5,500 beds.

According to his biography, Rupert's business career spanned over sixty years. He started his global empire with a personal investment of just £10 in 1941 becoming named on the Forbes list of 500 wealthiest families worldwide. At the time of his death his assets were estimated at $1.7 billion.

???????????????????????? Some time later, with an initial investment of GBP 10 and together with two fellow investors, he started manufacturing cigarettes in his garage, which he eventually built into the tobacco and industrial conglomerate Rembrandt Group, overseeing its transition to the industrial and luxury branded goods sectors, with Rembrandt, eventually splitting into Remgro (an investment company with financial, mining and industrial interests) and Richemont (a Swiss-based luxury goods group). Currently, this business empire encompasses hundreds of companies located in 35 countries on six continents, with combined yearly net sales in the region of US$10 billion.

Rupert had also been deeply involved in environmental conservation and his companies have been prominent in funding the fine arts; since 1964 foundations established by Rembrandt have used a part of the group's profits for the promotion of education, art, music and the preservation of historical buildings.

He also played an important role in the South African Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC), a non-profit company whose loans to small and medium-sized businesses have created nearly half a million jobs since 1981.

Business career

Rupert established the tobacco company "Voorbrand Tobacco Company" in 1939 manufacturing snuff. He soon renamed it Rembrandt Ltd., whose overseas tobacco interests were consolidated into Rothmans in 1972.

In 1988, the Rembrandt group founded the Swiss luxury goods company, Richemont, which in turn acquired Rembrandt's shares in Rothmans. Richemont also owns such luxury brands as Cartier (jewellery); Alfred Dunhill and Sulka (designer clothing); Seeger (leather bags); Piaget, Baume & Mercier and Vacheron Constantin (Swiss watches) and Montblanc (writing instruments).

In 1995, Rembrandt and Richemont consolidated their respective tobacco interests into Rothmans International, which was at the time the world's fourth largest cigarette manufacturer.

In 1999, Rothmans International merged with British American Tobacco (BAT), the world's second largest cigarette producer. Remgro held 10% and Richemont held 18.6% of BAT before unbundling.

Rupert's eldest son, Johann Rupert, is now the CEO of Richemont and chairman of Remgro.

Politics

In 1966, he was mentioned as a possible candidate for Prime Minister as a part of a "Verwoerd must go" campaign. The Cape Province section of the ruling National Party endorsed Rupert over Verwoerd, citing the need to improve South Africa's international standing and Rupert's image as a "moderate" who could unify the country, whilst still maintaining and developing the Apartheid system. Verwoerd was assassinated within one month, and hardliner John Vorster was endorsed by the NP caucus to replace him; Vorster was to become South Africa's longest consecutive-serving head of government.

He was a member of the secret Afrikaner society, the Afrikaner Broederbond in the 1940s, but eventually he dismissed it as an "absurdity", and allowed his membership to lapse.

Involvement in conservation

Rupert was a founding member of the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and it was in his role as the president of the organisation's South African branch that he took a lead in the creation of trans-frontier parks (also known as trans-frontier conservation areas (TFCAs) or "peace parks"), such as the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area. He also established The 1001: A Nature Trust in 1970, a financial endowment to fund the organisation.

With an initial grant of 1.2 million Rand (US$260,000) from the Rupert Nature Foundation, the Peace Parks Foundation was established on 1 February 1997 to facilitate the establishment of TFCAs in southern Africa. Nelson Mandela, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands and Anton Rupert were the founding patrons of the Peace Parks Foundation. In 2000, the Cape Tercentenary Foundation awarded him the Molteno Medal for lifetime services to cultural and nature conservation.

Honours

In 2004, he was voted 28th in the television series, Top 100 Great South Africans with Nelson Mandela in first place.

Married

Rupert married his wife Huberte Goote in 1941. She passed away in 2005. He had two sons Johann Rupert, Antonij Rupert (d. 2001) and a daughter Hanneli.

Death

He died in his sleep at his home in Thibault Street, Stellenbosch at the age of 89.

Further reading

• Dommisse, Eben. Anton Rupert: A Biography. Tafelberg Publishers, 2009. ISBN 9780624048190

Category:1916 births Category:2006 deaths Category:Afrikaner people Category:South African businesspeople in fashion Category:South African mining businesspeople Category:Businesspeople in retailing Category:Chancellors of the University of Pretoria Category:People from Graaff-Reinet Category:Richemont people Category:South African billionaires Category:South African chief executives Category:South African conservationists Category:South African financiers Category:South African people of Dutch descent Category:South African winemakers Category:University of Pretoria alumni Category:Academic staff of the University of Pretoria

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Origins

In 1896, the British South Africa Company (BSA), established by Cecil John Rhodes, created a subsidiary called the African Concessions Syndicate (ACS). This syndicate obtained a concession in Southern Rhodesia which gave it the right to generate 250,000kW at Victoria Falls for seventy-five years. But more importantly, it also obtained an exclusive right to supply the goldfields at the Witwatersrand. There were several issues with the idea. One, Victoria Falls was a poor choice as during the dry season, little water flowed, and secondly the transmission line technology at the time would result in too much electricity being lost over the distances required to the Witwatersrand. Lastly there was the abundance of cheap coal available the Transvaal for steam generation.

Formation

On 17 October 1906, a company called Victoria Falls Power Company (VFPC) was formed and registered in Southern Rhodesia. Two months later, on 14 December 1906, the ACS sold its concessions to VFPC for ₤120,000 and one million shares worth ₤1 each. VFPC was the listed on the stock market but after a poor take-up of shares, 80% of shares been taken by the underwriters of the offer.

On the 1 January 1907, VFPC purchased the General Electric Power Company, based on the Witwatersrand from ACS for ₤50,000 in cash and ₤100,000 in shares. In 1897, the Simmer and Jack mining company was granted a concession to produce electricity by the South African Republic government. The concession was sold in March 1899 to the General Electric Power Company, part of Consolidated Goldfields, with the power plant situated near Germiston. The Transvaal Colony government had modified the terms of the concession in 1905.

The next power company on the Witwatersrand bought, was the Rand Central Electric Works Ltd which was also purchased in 1907 for ₤175,000 in debentures and the same amount in preference shares in VFPC. Rand Central Electric Works had been granted a concession to produce electricity in March 1895 by the South African Republic government. The latter placed conditions on concession which included one year notice period to expropriate the company that could be exercised after fifteen years, and the calculation required to work out the purchase price. After the end of the Second Boer War, in 1905-6, the Transvaal Colony government extended the beginning of the expropriation period by 42 years or 1948. This was agreement carried forward when the Union of South Africa was created in 1910. The power plant was based in Brakpan and was upgraded by VFPC. A new power plant would be constructed at Simmerpan, south of the Johannesburg CBD. In May 1907, VFPC supplied electricity to the Johannesburg municipality and its tram network after the latter’s contracted gas power plant was closed down due to a gassing and an explosion. This lasted until June 1908.

Walter Andrew Harper, in 1908, saw an opportunity for new power plant business, Rand Mines Power Supply, in the electrification of Rand Mines, part of the Wernher, Beit, Eckstein Company. VFPC saw the same opportunity and negotiations started with Rand Mines. Harper however won the contract but failed to find companies in the UK to supply the plant equipment. Harped sold his contract to VFPC. Rand Mines owner Wernher Beit wanted a separate company to manage it so a subsidiary of VFPC so Rand Mines Power Supply was formed registered in the Transvaal. The plant equipment would be supplied by AEG and the site would at Rosherville, south of Johannesburg. At the same time, VFPC changed its name to the Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Company (VFTPC) still registered in Southern Rhodesia.

Issac Lewis had bought up land for transmission lines to the Witwatersrand and land for a power plant in Vereeniging with the idea to supply electricity to mines supplied by his own coal mines. VFPC bought the concept and paid for it with 20,000 shares, a seat on the board for Issac Lewis and coal contract. VFPC now had a monopoly for all electricity sold to the electrified mines on the Witwatersrand. AEG and German investors of the preference shares would ensure that machinery required in the future would be supplied by the former.

Government takes control of electricity industry

The 1920s saw a potential threat to VFTPC monopoly it held in the electricity market of the Transvaal. F. Lydall sent to South Africa in 1917 to draw up a report into the feasibility of electrifying the South African Railways train network. He submitted his report in 1919 promoting it advantages and cost savings feasibility. A second report was commissioned by the South African government to investigate the condition of electricity supply in the country which would be needed to electrify the rail system. The investigation was carried out by Charles Hesterman Merz from August 1919 and a report delivered in April 1920. He recommended legislation to be enacted to regulate and unify the supply of electricity in the country, standardising the technical supply of electricity, setting prices, raising the money required for the plants and networks and laws to govern the expropriation of land and water rights. The Electricity Act was drafted and submitted for comment from many parties in the country. SAR interest was in the need for the government to control the electricity industry to secure its supply for a proposed electrification of its network and its business of delivering coal to the electricity industry. The Chamber of Mines ensured the bill allowed for public tender when build new plants in the country. The Electricity Act of 1922 was enacted on 1 September of that year creating an Electricity Control Board that controlled and licensed the supply of electricity in South Africa and an Electricity Supply Commission that established and manage power plants and networks to supply electricity to SAR, the government departments, local government, industry and the public and without making a profit or a loss.

By 1923, VFTPC failed in its attempt to control all the supply of electricity in the Transvaal as SAR wanted ESCOM to supply the power and not the VFTPC. After 15 months of negotiation between the ECB and VFTPC, which allowed ESCOM to be established, a compromise was reached in its attempt to build a new power plant. In June 1925, a licence was issued for 60 MW power plant would be built and operated in Witbank by VFTPC but owned by ESCOM. Most of the power produced would be sold via ESCOM to railways, collieries, industries, municipalities including Johannesburg at cost while the surplus power would be sold by VFTPC to the gold mines at a profit.

In 1934, coalfield land was bought by the African and European Investment Company in Vereeniging. The Klip power station was to be built on top of the land. The power plant would be owned and financed by ESCOM and VFTPC would operate it. Again, electricity was sold at cost by ESCOM, and the surplus sold at profit to the gold mines by VFTPC. It started supply electricity in March 1936 and was fully commissioned in 1940.

Unrest during the 1940s

On 27 January 1942, members of the military wing of the Ossewa Brandwag, the Stormjaers, under orders from Nazi’s agents in Mozambique, blew up an electricity pylon supplying Krugersdorp, but it was repaired four hours later. The next night saw twenty-six powerlines sabotaged and four days later all power was restored.

On 21 January 1944, the African Gas and Power Workers’ Union (AGPWU) called a strike of Black workers at the VFTPC power stations. The strike was based on lack of progress in improving the wages and living conditions of the Black workers that were housed in compounds on the VFTPC sites. White workers and members of the Native Military Corps were brought in fill the work of the striking workers. The strike broke a day later when the government refused to negotiate a wage increase until the strike was over.

After an August 1946 African Mine Workers’ Union (AMWU) miners’ strike, the gold producers saw the future need to automate their facilities to decrease labour and so reduce the wage bill and its effect on profits. The automation would require cheaper electricity prices. The other issue was the need for more power to cool the deep mines, and would require further power infrastructure, something that had not been possible due to the Second World War. The cost of a unit of electricity was higher than what the mines would pay if the electricity were purchased directly from ESCOM. The mines demanded that VFTPC be nationalised earlier than expected.

Expropriation

On 5 February 1947, the South African government announced in Parliament that VFTPC would be given notice that the company would be expropriated with the company expecting the date to be 1950. ESCOM however approached VFTPC to buy them out earlier than expected. VFTPC decided to negotiate then rather than apply the law and wait until the end of 1950. Negotiations on a price that would please all parties was conducted by R. Hagart, representing the Chamber of Mines, Hendrik van der Bijl, ESCOM and the director of VFTP in South Africa, Bernard Price.

In May 1948, VFTPC announced that the company had reached an agreement with ESCOM with its assets to be transferred on 30 June 1948. Assets were purchased for 14.5 million pounds. 1 July 1948, saw ESCOM take control of the company's assets with the gold mines looking forward to a reduction in their electricity costs. ESCOM acquired the power stations at Rosherville, Simmer Pan, Vereeniging and Brakpan consisting of 298MW of capacity, 2,106km of transmission lines, twelve major and six minor distribution sub-stations and 918 transformers. ESKOM funded the purchase by means of a £15 million bond at 3.125%.

VFTPC would head into voluntary liquidation. On Wednesday 16 March 1949, shareholders of VFTPC voted in favour of closing the company and liquidating its assets. When the liquidation process was completed five years later, £27 million was distributed to the shareholders of VFTPC.