‘Respect people’ – a top farmer’s winning formula
In the mid-1990s, Jan le Roux, founder of the Le Roux Group, was in discussion with then minister of water affairs and forestry, Kader Asmal, about the future of South Africa. During what started as a casual conversation, Asmal asked Le Roux what he would do for South Africa. Le Roux answered: “I’ll create jobs for people.”
At the time, he was serving as global CEO for the Pepkor Group, with only a part-time interest in farming. Having grown up on a wine farm near Paarl in the Western Cape, Le Roux bought the properties from his father and brother and became what he called a “weekend farmer”.
“I got to a point where I realised that if the farms were going to be successful, I either needed to appoint a proper manager, or return to the farm full-time.”
Finding someone who met his perfectionist standards, however, proved difficult, so Le Roux took the leap into full-time farming. Around this time, he recalled his conversation with Asmal and realised he had the
