Boksburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s president passes away
The president of the Greater Boksburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GBCCI), Wilhem (Willi) Riedel, passed away at the age of 73 on March 3.
He had led the organisation since 2009 until his death.
Riedel joined the GBCCI in 1998, as an executive member, and was elected vice-president in 2002, before becoming president.
Riedel was born in Hamburg in 1942 and grew up in the post-World War One era.
He immigrated to South Africa in 1963, at the age of 21, working at Sandock Austral as a fitter and turner.
After completing the Advanced Executive Programme, Riedel graduated from the Unisa School of Business Leadership in 1979.
He started working at Cementation in 1981, and was appointed to the Board of Directors in 1990, serving on it for the next 14 years.
In 1991, he started working at La Forge, until his retirement in 2005. During this time, he implemented an apprenticeship training programme and also arranged for adult education for the staff.
On a community level, he was involved in the Boksburg Crisis Centre and had the privilege to hand over the first batch of anti-retroviral drugs to the centre.
Besides serving on the GBCCI board, Riedel also served on the following boards – Ekurhuleni Business Association (EBA) as chairman and vice-chairman, South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI), and Ekurhuleni Peermont Chamber of Commerce Trust (EPCoCT) as Trustee.
As success was very important to him, Riedel was good at business and negotiations.
He has been described by family and by friends as a man with a vision, who would walk that extra mile and who lived for making a difference in the lives of young people and entrepreneurs.
Riedel, whose brilliant mind, passionate commitment and leadership has been cited as qualities that will be missed, was married to Maureen for 45 years and together they had two children, Allan and Monique.
He was a Boksburg resident until 1975, when he moved to Benoni.
