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CONTENTS

GEORGE CROOKES1913-1948

IVAN GILLATT1985-1993

DENNIS CROOKES1993-1998

FRED PALMER1998-2008

GUY WAYNE2008-current

JOHN CROOKES1948-1962

VERNON CROOKES1962-1970

CHARLES CROOKES1970-1985

Introduction by MD 03The pioneers 04Crookes Brothers establ ished 06A burgeoning industry 08The special ist farming company 12Into Africa 1625 year club 18Crookes and the community 20A bright future 21

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INTRODUCTION BY MD

Crookes Brothers L imited was registered as a jo int stock company 100 years ago in June 19 13 by brothers George, Fred and John Crookes. To mark the company’s centenary we have compi led a short e-book which chronic les the history of the Crookes family in South Africa and the company itself , from the arrival of Samuel Crookes in Durban in 1860 to the present day.

We, the management, employees and shareholders, are extremely proud of the history, tradit ions and reputat ion establ ished by Crookes Brothers as a p ioneering company in the South African sugar industry. Whi le the demands and chal lenges of the 21st century business environment are very d ifferent from those faced by the pioneer farmers of the early Natal colony, we remain committed to the values of integrity, excel lence and fa irness championed by our founders 100 years ago.

Guy Clarke

One of the many Top Hundred Companies awards

Johannesburg Stock ExchangeOne of the original plaques from the prices board of the trading floor which closed on 7 June 1996

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The story of Crookes Brothers is intricately woven into the story of the growth of the South African sugar industry and the development of the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast which became the home of the Crookes family.

Crookes Brothers Limited offic ial ly came into being in 19 13 when the company was formally registered as a joint stock company. But the story of Crookes Brothers dates back to the mid 1800s and the Byrne Settlers, in particular Brit ish immigrant Joseph Landers, a farmer and brick maker; and to the arrival of another Engl ish immigrant, Samuel Crookes, in 1860. Both Joseph Landers and Samuel Crookes were from Finningley in Yorkshire.

THE PIONEERS

Joseph Landers and his family left the Byrne Valley in 1858. He and his son Thomas establ ished themselves on two portions of wild virgin land of 600 acres (243 hectares) each obtained on favourable terms from the Brit ish Crown under a scheme to encourage new immigrants. They chose their land on the Mpambanyoni River, at what is now Scottburgh on the South Coast of Natal .

Samuel Crookes, the patriarch of the Crookes family, arrived in Durban at the age of 21 , where he was apprenticed as a wainwright or wagon builder. In the same year the first 600 indentured Indian labourers arrived in Natal to work in the cane fields. At the age of 26, after completing his apprenticeship, he moved south to Scottburgh to work for the Landers’ and soon started his own cane farming venture. Within a year he married Joseph Landers’ daughter

Fanny and they duly produced three sons, George, Fred and John, and three daughters, Clara, Helena and Emily.

In 1878 Samuel Crookes registered a company, S Crookes & Sons, to house his farming and mil l ing interests. At the age of 16 John, who was the youngest, left the Berea Academy in Durban to become an overseer in the cane fields. The company prospered and expanded its farming and mil l ing activit ies.

Samuel Crookes’

properties in the 1890s

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Samuel Crookes and his chi ldren at Cypress Hi l l , 1905 (front, from left) Emily, Samuel and Lena; (back) John, George and Fed

The early Crookes’ company set the pace for innovation in the sugar industry. As early as 1894 Samuel Crookes developed a hi l l plough to deal with the steep gradients on the Renishaw farm. Ploughing, which had earl ier been scorned, was now becoming accepted as farmers looked for greater effic iency.

Samuel Crookes died at the age of 67 in 1906 and left the business in equal shares to his three sons along with £6 000 each. George was Managing Director, Fred ran the factory and John managed the farms. Fred had excellent mechanical and financial ski l ls. Fol lowing his persuasion the brothers decided that they needed a market agent in Durban, namely Charles George Smith, the founder of CG Smith & Co.

Working the

fields at Renishaw

in the early 1900s

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The early South African sugar industry consisted of an exclusive circle of family businesses al l pioneered before the turn of the 19th century. The major powers in the agricultural industry were Natal Estates (the Campbells) , Tongaat Sugar (the Saunders’) , Il lovo Estates (the Pearces), Reynolds Brothers, Sir JL Hulett and Sons and the Crookes’ . These were al l planters-cum-mil lers and their output was sold through agencies such as CG Smith.

In 1909 shares in Il lovo Sugar Estates became avai lable as James Renault Saunders wanted out. Fred and George bought in and were appointed to the Il lovo board (along with CG Smith, Wil l iam Pearce and Frank Reynolds).

In 19 13 the brothers consol idated the family farms and mil l ing operation into Crookes Brothers Limited. The first board of directors included the three brothers as well as Frank Reynolds and CG Smith. By then the mil l production had increased from 100 tons produced by Samuel in the 1870s to around 3 000 tons of sugar per annum.

CROOKES BROTHERS ESTABLISHEDThe inaugural board meeting took place on July 8, 19 13 . At the time the board was acting for only 17 shareholders. George, Fred and John between them held 79% of the 95 000 shares in issue, CG Smith 7% and Frank Reynolds 5%. Lena and Emily Crookes held 2% each, while other family members held token quantit ies of shares.

Crookes board meetings were held monthly and are said to have been short and sharp with the three brothers in ful l control . CG Smith had high praise of the new company and congratulated the brothers on the “extraordinari ly satisfactory condit ion of everything in connection with the company”. In his capacity as a shareholder Smith wrote that he was perfectly sure that it was impossible for anyone to have a straighter deal than the shareholders had had from the inception of the company.

Renishaw as it looked in 191 1 . The mill is to the left, Renishaw House is on

the hil l to the right and the building in the foreground is a rum distil lery

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Crookes Brothers’ f irst foray into foreign land was in 19 14 when they invested in a sugar venture in the north of Mozambique, Beira-Il lovo Sugar Estates. The motivation was that this sugar could be imported into the Transvaal free of duty. But things did not turn out as expected and in 19 16 the Crookes sold their share to CG Smith at a loss and then helped bai l him out in 19 17 when floods destroyed the estate.

An interesting note in the history is the 19 15 establ ishment of Natal Cane By-products Limited which extracted wax from the caked waste on sugar mil l f i lters. The company was a co-operative venture by Smith, Reynolds, Pearce and George and Fred Crookes who were al l appointed to the board. The manufacture of vehicle fuel , cal led Natal ite, from molasses as a substitute for petrol was also planned and the company erected a disti l lery at Isipingo. Fuel was suppl ied to the rai lways and mil itary authorit ies in support of the war effort in the Middle East.

In 19 17 CG Smith & Co was reconstructed with the constituent mil ler-planters subscribing for shares according to their size. Reynolds had 15 000, Il lovo 8 000 and Crookes Brothers 5 000. The shares gave the three companies a direct interest in CG Smith’s assets. Among the assets were two cane farms, Umzimkulu Estates near Port Shepstone and Chaka’s Kraal near Stanger.

In 19 19 al l the companies in the industry came together to form a new organisation, the SA Sugar Association (SASA), to be fol lowed several years later by the SA Cane Growers Association. This was also the year in which the next generation came into Crookes Brothers, cousins Fred Gi l latt and Victor and Vernon Crookes.

John Crookes’ Restilridge,

completed in 1913

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The early history of the company is inextricably tied to that of CG Smith and Co and Reynolds Brothers, which were l inked not only by complex cross-shareholdings, but also by shared management, with the Crookes family playing a dominant role in the management of the farming and mil l ing operations. The group was a signif icant force in the sugar industry. It owned mil ls at Chaka’s Kraal and Gledhow on the North Coast and Il lovo, Renishaw, Sezela, Esperanza and Umzimkulu on the South Coast, as well as Natal Cane By-products and the Smith marketing and distribution business.

1929 was marked by the Wall Street crash. It also signal led a sugar price slump - by 1932 the price had dropped by 40% and several companies were forced out of business. Crookes Brothers’ profits were down, yet it was in better shape than most industry players with cash in the bank and it declared a dividend.

A BURGEONING INDUSTRY

At the same time the Uba variety of cane, which had served the sugar industry since the 1880s, was fighting a losing battle with Mosaic disease. Crookes Brothers were the first to experiment with the new varieties being developed at the Mt Edgecombe experiment station. A 1934 board meeting noted that the best of the new cane produced a third higher tonnage per acre and stood up to drought and locusts better than the tradit ional Uba.

Weather, natural disasters, pests and disease are unavoidable in agriculture and the early history of agriculture tested the ingenuity, spirit and perseverance of the farming community. There were neither roads nor bridges to speak of and cane was transported on ox wagons

across trying terrain. Crookes Brothers experienced its fair share of these mishaps.

In 1934/35 farmers were dealt one blow after another. Locusts appeared in great swarms in 1934, moving from area to area, leaving behind eggs that hatched into hoppers blackening the ground. Trenches were dug and fi l led with treacle, but these trapped only the front ranks. A poisoned bait of arsenic and meal ie meal was thrown on the ground and arsenic was sprayed with stirrup pumps. It destroyed grazing and ki l led dairy cows. In 1935 the locusts were back and farmers used home-made flame throwers in a futi le attempt to hold them back.

Locust swarm in 1935

W0men planting

the fields on

Renishaw

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At the same time the region was plagued by Malaria and “death was everywhere”. Stagnant water was sprayed with oi l and gum trees were planted in swampy areas. Quinine was the only antidote. Farmers were also hit by a drought so severe that the Mpambanyoni River was bone dry and water for the mil l had to be brought in from a dam on the Isonti River. F inal ly, when the drought was broken the rains were of such magnitude that the Mpambanyoni River reached heights never seen before at Renishaw, cutting off rai lway and road.

The outbreak of World War II in 1939 saw many of the young sugar men, including Crookes family members, go off to war in Africa, leaving many farms depleted of staff. It was during the war that Crookes Brothers took another major step. This time it was driven by a new Income Tax Act in terms of which shareholders became l iable for super tax. The 1942 plan was to go publ ic and the family members would contribute 50 000 shares to a pool for disposal . The scheme was approved and al l were well compensated. The publ ic offering was well received and shares snapped up as the company continued to report strong results.

The Renishaw mil l was again upgraded in 1943. It now had a 19-rol ler crusher plant, including a primary double crusher to improve sucrose extraction, and there were 27 centrifugals, of which eight produced mil l white sugar. The mil l was crushing 150 000 tons of cane a season and produced more than 17 000 tons of sugar, of which 60% was mil l white. The mil l was preparing to expand as soon as wartime sugar restrictions were l ifted. New machinery was on order and new fields were being planted.

In 1948, on the day before the June 29 Crookes Brothers AGM, George Crookes died. The fol lowing month at the board meeting John Crookes was elected chairman, Vernon as joint MD and Charles as a director. As a publ ic company it was time for a stock market quotation with a change in the company’s Articles of Association, in l ine with the JSE rules. At this point Crookes Brothers had been incorporated for 35 years and was one of the older companies l isted on the JSE.

Renishaw1929

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The Mpambanyoni River flooded in 1956 and again in May 1959 when heavy rain caused it to rise six metres and change its course destroying roads and rai l bridges. While damage to the Renishaw mil l was l imited by reinforcing the river bank with sandbags and brick work, several pump houses were swept away and the mil l had to close for a couple of weeks. Fol lowing this flood many more anti-f looding measures were put in place to protect the Renishaw Mil l .

A BURGEONING INDUSTRY

The pioneering spirit of Crookes Brothers came to the fore once again in 1957 when the company considered options in Swaziland. It needed more cane land in order to expand but its Renishaw farms were hemmed in by Il lovo and Sezela belonging to Reynolds Brothers. The opportunity arrose to move the Renishaw mil l to Big Bend, an irrigation scheme in Swaziland which at that stage produced rice with sugar as a back-up, If the mil l was moved it could expect a quota of 40 000 tons, double its existing output, and it could be increased later. The board voted in favour of the move.

With the proposed relocation of the mil l , there was the option to buy 740 hectares of land at Big Bend, of which 400 hectares was under cane and 100 hectares under citrus. The price was £250 000. Two companies were formed, Crookes Plantations Limited to manage the farming and Big Bend Sugar Mil l ing Company for the mil l . As well laid as the plan might have been, it was not to be. The appl ication for a sugar quota was rejected. Nevertheless Crookes Brothers now owned an irrigated plantation on the Usutu River and intended to make it profitable.

In 1962 the industry was shaken up by a hosti le takeover bid by Sir JL Hulett and Sons of Natal Sugar Estates and the successful counter-strike by the CG Smith consortium,

The Crookes family celebrate 100 years in South Africa in 1960

Mi l l in 1955

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including Crookes Brothers. Huletts had a marketing agreement with Natal Estates which was preparing to rational ise its business and there was a possibi l ity that it may “defect” to CG Smith. Natal Estates also owned valuable cane fields close to Durban. It was suspected that Tongaat Estates would be on the Hulett shopping l ist. Natal Estates turned to CG Smith and its f ive mil l ing affi l iates, which included Crookes Brothers, for help. In the first round of the frantic buying battle Huletts won control of Natal Estates. The CG Smith consortium immediately launched a counter-takeover bid and 22 days later emerged the successful owners of Huletts.

Throughout its history innovation and adaptabi l ity have been a proud tradit ion of the company. Among the company’s notable advances that have been adopted by the industry was the 1972 production of a three- wheeled cane loader bui lt specif ical ly for Crookes by Bel l in Empangeni . This machine, which is now well-known as the Bel l Loader,

was later widely adopted by the sugar industry.

In 1974 the Renishaw mil l was small by industry standards and needed a substantial injection of capital to make it competit ive. It also needed a larger throughput, which was impossible as its plantations were hemmed in by Reynolds and Il lovo. The answer lay in sel l ing Crookes Brothers’ mil l ing rights for R1 487 299, paid for by the issue to Crookes of 338 000 ful ly paid shares or five percent in Reynolds Brothers. Transfer took place at the start of Apri l 1975.

At that stage the Renishaw Mil l was producing 35 000 tons of sugar per annum and had been in operation for 1 15 years. It was one of the oldest surviving mil ls in Natal . The main remaining assets of the company were some 2 000 hectares of cane around Scottburgh and 550 ha at Big Bend, capable of producing around 150 000 tons of cane per annum, as well as large shareholdings in CG Smith, Reynolds Brothers and Tongaat.

Harvesting oranges on Crookes Plantations, Big Bend

Stitching fil led sugar packets carrying the Crookes Brothers label

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THE SPECIALIST FARMING COMPANY

The period since the closure of the Renishaw Mil l in 1975 has been dedicated to the refocus of the group as a special ist farming company, the only such company l isted on the main board of the JSE.

Dudley Crookes, the grandson of John, was appointed as General Manager (and subsequently Managing Director) in 1980, with Charles Crookes as Chairman. They rapidly set about establishing an impressive portfol io of farming assets, producing a variety of crops throughout South Africa.

Unlike his predecessors, Dudley did not automatically join the Crookes Brothers company. His career started at Illovo Sugar; then he did a stint of farming with his father and running his own labour-contracting business. He had joined the multinational Lonhro group when it bought the Big Bend mill in Swaziland and had worked his way up to General Manager of the group’s Malawian company when he resigned to join Crookes Brothers at the request of Charles Crookes.

Lonrho were surprised by Dudley’s move and up unti l the last minute expected him to change his mind. They told him he was used to much bigger things and that he would be “bored as hell” .

During his tenure Dudley was supported by several progressive and proficient Chairmen; the astute Ivan Gi l lat who succeeded Charles Crookes in 199 1 , the visionary Dennis Crookes, previously an executive director of CG Smith and the affable Fred Palmer, well-known in Natal cricketing circles.

After hours at Renishaw hostel

Charles and Jean Crookes

with Dudley Crookes

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This period also marked signif icant changes in the structure and economics of the sugar industry. Takeovers and mergers reshaped the industry, with the disappearance of the old family empires. CG Smith was acquired by the Barlow Rand Group and Tongaat-Huletts by Anglo American. Both groups subsequently unbundled their assets, CG Smith to form the independent Il lovo Sugar in 1999 and Anglo American to form Tongaat Hulett Sugar in 2009. Crookes Brothers’ shareholdings in CG Smith and Reynolds Brothers were gradually disposed of, either for cash or by distribution to the shareholders.

As labour, fuel and other inputs became increasingly costly and the profitabi l ity of dryland cane farming on the hi l ly slopes around Scottburgh diminished, Crookes Brothers expanded its irrigated cane farming activit ies. In 198 1 a major expansion of the cane farm in Swaziland was undertaken with the acquisit ion of the 6 700 hectares neighbouring property. A 1 400 hectare irrigated cane and citrus

farm was also acquired in the Nkwal ini Val ley near Eshowe. In 1989, with the announcement that TSB was to bui ld a new mil l at Komatipoort, the company acquired prime property adjacent to the new mil l to establ ish cane. The latter farm was subsequently expanded to include a total of 2 000 hectares under cane and 450 hectares under bananas.

While diversifying, the company was also pushing for greater effic iency on its sugar plantations. Previously it had been said that profits were not made in the field but at the mil l . Now, without a mil l , profits had to come from the fields. Some years previously field men on horseback had been swopped for overseers on motorbikes and shallow cane planting had been introduced. Crookes introduction of controlled burning prior to harvesting rather than trashing was a giant change in thinking for the industry. Of the three F’s in the sugar growing world (frost, flood and fire), f ire was by far farmers’ greatest danger and fear.

Floodingon the Komati

properties

Percy Crookes (uncle Percy) was

a regular visitor at the Crookes

head office for many years

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THE SPECIALIST FARMING COMPANY

At an early stage it was determined that the company should produce a range of crops in a variety of locations, to mitigate cl imatic and market risks. In 1992 a run-down deciduous fruit farm at Vyeboom near Grabouw in the Western Cape was acquired and the company immediately set about replanting old orchards to new varieties and the latest technological standards. Quarrie farm near Napier in the Western Cape was purchased in 1989 and gradually expanded to include 3 200 hectares of arable land on which 2 000 hectares of grain and 1 200 hectares of lucerne are cultivated today, with grazing for a flock of 7 000 sheep.

Other diversif ication included the establ ishment of the well-known Crocworld crocodi le farm and conservation centre at Scottburgh. In the development process odd fai lures occurred too; avocados, coffee, cotton, proteas and even barbel were tried at one time or another, but discarded.

7 000 sheep

Charles Crookes at Crocworld

The same strategic approach was always fol lowed. Start on a small scale and, if successful , expand over time as the company’s expertise and experience grew, whether venturing into a new area or establ ishing new crops. In this manner formidable business units have been bui lt in cane and banana production at Komati and Swaziland, in deciduous fruit at Vyeboom and in grain and sheep at Napier.

In 2000 the company sold its last shares in CG Smith Limited, generating a capital surplus of R41 ,2 mil l ion and a special dividend of R3,00 per issued share was paid to shareholders, amounting to R36 mil l ion.

Farming is anything but plain sai l ing. A severe three-year drought that started in 2003 in Mpumalanga, resulting in water and irrigation restrictions, severely affected cane and banana production.

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By 2004 the impact of the drought was showing in the company’s f inancials, with a note in the 2004 annual report that read: “In summary, as a result of the lower estimated returns from sugar cane, together with increased interest costs, it is anticipated that the company’s headl ine earnings for the interim period ended 30 September 2004 wil l be material ly lower than the headl ine earnings for the interim period ended September 2003.”

2005 brought l ittle rel ief. The diff icult farming condit ions continued to impact on production and the strong Rand meant lower prices were received for exports of cane, grapefruit and deciduous fruit and local ly for wheat. Headl ine earnings were 75% down on those of 2004 and at their lowest since 1994. Fortunately the drought broke in 2006 and, with a lot of hard work, 700 hectares of cane were replanted on the Komati estate and the company returned to its steady growth path.

The last decade of the 20th century del ivered a momentous change in the affairs of South Africa, with a change in government from the National ist Party to the African National Congress (ANC). This change brought with it numerous new opportunities and challenges. One piece of legislation that had an impact on agriculture was the Land Restitution Act. Intended to rectify the wrongs of the past and return land to those who had been dispossessed, it brought a series of land claims against farmers, including Crookes Brothers. From the outset Crookes Brothers made the decision to co-operate with and assist the authorit ies in their development efforts, and this strategy has shaped the company’s development in the modern era.

Crookes Board at Komati in 1994

Crookes head office fire, 1993

Lightning struck the brand new upper story of the Crookes head office two weeks after it was completed.

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In 2006 Dudley retired after 26 years at the helm of the company. For the first time in its history the Crookes board broke with tradit ion and appointed Guy Clarke as the first Managing Director who was not from the Crookes family.

INTO AFRICA

Two years later (2008) the Board went a step further and appointed Guy Wayne, previous Managing Director of Deloitte South Africa, as Chairman on the retirement of Fred Palmer.

These changes were the inevitable result of a need to adjust to the changing nature of the local and global agricultural economy and the ever-increasing governance demands placed on l isted companies.

Several farms were sold to the government in support of land restitution, including the 1 200 hectare Cedars farm inland of Scottburgh which had been in family hands for well over 100 years. The 1 600 hectare Langespruit dryland cane farm near Stanger fol lowed in 2008 and in 2009 a momentous decision was made by the Board to sel l the company’s flagship estate near Komatipoort, comprising 2 000 hectares of irrigated cane and 450 hectares of bananas.

It has been the company’s strategy where possible to establ ish joint venture farming operations with the communities. These ventures, which are jointly owned by Crookes Brothers and the community, lease back the land from the community under a management contract with Crookes.

Two highly successful ventures with the KwaCele community (800 households)on the Langespruit farm and the Libuyi le community (600 households) near Malelane have been establ ished on this basis. The latter venture is leased land previously owned by private farmers and comprises 750 hectares of irrigated cane with plans to expand as further claims are settled in favour of the community.

A key and vital feature of these joint ventures is the development of farming and general management ski l ls in the community. These companies are directed by a board of directors, with equal representation from Crookes and the community, and are alternately chaired by representatives from each shareholder. Such has been the success at KwaCele that the shareholders are now investigating a major di lution of the management agreement to al low the company to reduce its dependence on Crookes Brothers.

In the Western Cape a similar joint venture is being establ ished on a small apple farm near Vi l l iersdorp and, in time, it is expected that the Komati farms, which have been

Dudley’s retirement

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leased back from government for a 10-year period, wi l l be managed on the same basis. The Board and management are convinced that the joint ventures, structured, pioneered and perfected by Crookes, are the most effective way of achieving large-sale land transformation and developing a black commercial farming community.

As the economics of dryland cane farming at Renishaw became increasingly marginal , the group establ ished Renishaw Property Developments (Pty) Ltd in 2008 to evaluate its 1 800 hectare Renishaw and Clansthal cane farms on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal for commercial , industrial or residential development. This is a long-term project with a 20-year horizon. In keeping with the group’s values the project team’s brief is to ensure that any proposed development enhances the Crookes family legacy in the area, complements and upgrades the natural environment and contributes to the upl iftment of local communities.

The 21st century also marked a change in the global balance between supply and demand in the food and agricultural sectors. A subtle increase in demand has resulted in rising food prices that had generally been subdued since the 1970s.

Food security has become a worldwide concern and along with cl imate change is a hotly debated topic. The world’s population continues to increase; Africa, India and China’s burgeoning middle classes are changing their eating patterns from grain to meat products; agricultural production is increasingly diverted to produce renewable

energy; the supply of undeveloped land and water resources is becoming l imited and unprecedented cl imatic episodes periodical ly wreak havoc in major production areas.

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the last areas in the world that offers untapped land and water resources for large-scale agricultural development to meet global food security concerns. Crookes Brothers’ expansion strategy addresses this opportunity while being ever-mindful of the community and environmental needs in the modern business environment.

Fol lowing this theme, in tandem with its support for transformation in South Africa, Crookes Brothers has also embarked on an ambitious southern African expansion programme with a view to becoming a major force in agriculture in the region. In 2009 the company acquired a 440 hectare cane farm at Mazabuka in Zambia and in 201 1 acquired a long-term lease over a 3 200 hectare property in Mozambique that is being planted to macadamias, oi lseeds and potatoes. Many other possibi l it ies have been investigated and rejected and several promising opportunities are currently in the process of evaluation and negotiation.

Apple sortingon Ouwerf Farm

Directors at Komati, April 2013

Fred Palmer and Peter Campbell at a Crookes AGM

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Crookes Brothers Limited began a hundred years ago and, as a family-based company, loyalty was one of its founding values. Over the decades each succeeding generation of employees has embraced this value, so that the Crookes family, the company’s shareholders, its directors, its management and its employees have always benefitted from and contributed towards a thriving and steadfast enterprise and environment.

It is this culture of constancy that led to the establ ishment of the 25-Year Club, a club that annually celebrates the loyalty and commitment of the company’s longest-serving employees. One might legit imately imagine that this would be a small exclusive club, but that is far from the case! Crookes has been blessed over the decades with many faithful employees, and its 25-Year Club currently consists of 40 excellent men and women.

Once an employee has reached a minimum of 25 years of service, he or she becomes a l ifetime member of the club. While working for a single employer for a quarter of a century is a daunting prospect, amazingly there are a handful of employees who have given more than 40 years of service to the company. In fact, the total service of al l the l iv ing members of the 25-Year Club exceeds an astonishing 1 300 years! Now that’s loyalty.

THE 25-YEAR CLUB

Retired members with long service, Will ie Bell (30 years), Dudley Coventry (33 years), Tony Diplock (35 years),

chatting with Percy Crookes, at the time Chairman of the 25-Year Club, at its annual luncheon

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Michael (40 years) and Jessie Pil lay

Dudley Coventry, President of the 25-Year Club, presenting Dudley Crookes

with his 25-year Award in 2005

Dudley Coventry (33 years), past Chair of the 25-Year Club,

with Glen Hayes (45 years), Crookes’ own Crocodile Dundee

Johnny Govender (39 years) with his gold watch

The 25-Year Club is not only a symbol of the loyalty between company and staff, but it also highl ights the long-standing loyalty between company and community. For the first 70 years of its existence, Crookes Brothers was largely based in the Scottburg area, and it has always been dedicated to support, upl ift and work together with the communities in the area. Of the 25-Year Club’s l iv ing members, more than half were born or raised in the l ittle vi l lage of Chinatown. Sti l l others come from The Cedars, another tight-knit community. Remarkably, two

thirds of the club’s members are descendants of indentured labourers who came to South Africa’s east coast from India over 100 years ago.

When asked for the reason behind Crookes Brothers’ longevity and success, current Chairman Guy Wayne’s response is to point to the determination of its founders, the closeness of the family, the sometimes gritty resolve of the company’s leaders, but also, and perhaps above al l else, the exceptional commitment of the staff.

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George (third left) looks on as Herbet Gordon-Watson (second right) lays the foundation stone of

Renishaw (today the GJ Crookes) Hospital

CROOKES AND THE COMMUNITY

The Crookes family establ ished a tradit ion of supporting the communities in which they operate and this tradit ion has been continued by the company.

In these communities you wil l encounter many publ ic amenities, from school boarding houses to gymnasia, a nature reserve, church build ing and sports fields which can be attributed to the generous donations of various Crookes family members.

In particular, the Crookes family and company have left an indel ible stamp on the community of Scottburgh, in the area in which the family first settled and started their sugarcane business. The GJ Crookes government hospital is a permanent memorial to the generosity of the founders of Crookes Brothers.

During 1936, George Crookes approached the Natal Provincial Counci l offering to bui ld a hospital at Scottburgh. At that time there was no hospital between Durban and Port Shepstone. The only faci l it ies avai lable were small dressing stations on each sugar estate and a small hospital run by the Indian Immigration Department at Esperanza.

The offer was accepted by the Provincial Administration, which described it as “the most generous ever made by a single individual for hospital purposes in Natal” .

L ittle has changed over the years except perhaps for the approach by the company as to how best to support communities.

This year the company’s Board approved the establ ishment of a Crookes Centenary Trust, with an init ial donation of

R10 mil l ion in Crookes Brothers shares. The dividends or earnings from the trust wil l be invested in projects, primari ly in healthcare and education, so as to enhance the communities in which the company operates and from which it draws its labour. This fund wil l ensure that the legacy of Crookes Brothers continues.

Much of the effort of the company in upl ift ing and supporting local communities is focusses on its joint venture partnerships and on investing in other sustainable community-minded projects.

While many a farming enterprise has seen land restitution as an “ irritation”, the ingrained values of Crookes Brothers have seen the company embrace it as a means to support the community in which they farm, and help them to become effective farmers. In these joint ventures the community owns the land but partners with Crookes in farming the land. In this way the community gains the farming know-how and becomes involved at al l levels in ensuring that the ventures are successful.

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Today Crookes Brothers owns and manages some 8 500 hectares under cane, 5 000 irrigated and 2 500 dryland, 2 000 hectares under grain, 400 hectares of banana plantations and 470 hectares of deciduous fruit orchards. Commitment to the company’s core values of integrity, excel lence and fairness, that have shaped the success of the company and its predecessor, S Crookes and Sons, for well over 100 years, is as strong today as it was in 19 13 .

The pioneering spirit of old l ives on in the new, as the company, with sights firmly focused on the Southern African Development region, continues to explore excit ing agricultural opportunities in foreign lands. In spite of the challenges in the industry Crookes Brothers’ future prospects are promising. The group has a strong portfol io of core farms, a ful l pipel ine of promising projects, substantial cash resources and is well-posit ioned to exploit growth opportunities.

In the words of John Crookes, on the occasion of the 100 years’ commemoration of Samuel’s arrival on the shores of South Africa, “Let us al l be proud of our tradit ions, through our capacity for honest work and consideration for others. Above al l , let us always be prepared to take the lead so that we may continue to bui ld on the foundations we have inherited.”

A BRIGHT FUTURE

Mthayiza day function, 201 1