Larger-than-life Lowvelder, Dirk van Rooyen, remembered

Family members, friends and colleagues alike will fondly remember the remarkable and larger-than-life man that was Dirk van Rooyen.
]Van Rooyen’s wife of 57 years, Almarie, said he was the ultimate example of the best husband, father and grandfather. He passed away on June 6.

She will dearly miss him at home with his unconditional care and love, and his three children will miss his help and wisdom at the business. His grandchildren will miss the jokes, fishing, pocket money and chocolate-eating late at night.

Van Rooyen served the Lowveld community in more ways than one, and excelled in them all.

From 1988 he was with the City of Mbombela (CoM). His time as town clerk is talked about with admiration. Following his tenure there, he went on to be a partner for the first Pam Golding Properties franchise north of Bloemfontein. After Pam Golding, he worked at Bateleur Estate until recently.

The former mayor of the City of Mbombela for 12 years, Dr Jacques Labuschagne, made mention of the gigantic achievements within the municipality that would not have been possible without Van Rooyen. “Dirk van Rooyen as town clerk was a man whose competency and dedication cannot easily be matched. He was so firm yet understanding of the priorities and needs of his community. His vision and experience truly made him establish monuments in Mbombela and Mpumalanga, which cannot be erased or forgotten,” he said.

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Labuschagne said for several years, Nelspruit was acknowledged to be the fastest-growing city in the country. “This was achieved by the city council of nine members and guided by Dirk van Rooyen and his dedicated and willing officials!

“The fact that Mbombela is the capital of Mpumalanga was undoubtedly one of his most outstanding monuments. The provincial government had already decided to award Midbank (Middelburg and Witbank) as the capital. As mayor, assisted by Dirk van Rooyen and guided by a very competent councillor, Charles Venter (chairperson of the management committee), we prepared a presentation for the executives of Mpumalanga in which all the benefits were highlighted as to why Nelspruit should be the capital for national and international reasons. This decision was reversed.

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“Dirk van Rooyen was the official and driver behind this action. The capital of Mbombela must respect Dirk for his dedicated and monumental contribution. Under the management of Dirk van Rooyen, his initiative and drive, Nelspruit was awarded city status. It was also confirmed a clean audit for every year since his appointment as town clerk of Nelspruit until 1995.”

Van Rooyen’s secretary of five years, Loretta Thatcher, said he had served the city’s people with pride. “His word was his honour. I looked up to him with respect and I learnt so much from him.”

Van Rooyen’s son, Sakkie, had the privilege to have his father as a partner at Pam Golding. “We started the franchise in 1997 and won the franchisee of the year a total of three times nationally and 10 times regionally in our 25 years of business.”

Sakkie said in the early years, they were involved in a lot of new property developments and sold more than 2 000 houses or stands in new developments around the city. Van Rooyen’s background in the local government helped a lot in the planning of these projects with a high success rate.

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“Developments like Riverside, Matumi Golf Estate, Shandon Estate and Elawini Lifestyle Estate are just a few of the bigger developments that we were involved in, planned and sold successfully. Shandon got us nominated for the prestigious Bentley Award in London.”

A lot was possible because of Van Rooyen’s strong administrative skills that were transferred to the family and are currently spearheaded by his daughters, Louisa Lubbe and Marlise Fuhri.

Innibos also expressed its heartfelt condolences, as Van Rooyen was one of the festival’s original directors. He played an integral role in the growth of the festival since its start in 2004 to the success it is today.

“He was a man of integrity and vision. The Lowveld community and we here at Innibos will miss him dearly.”