DOUG Grewar is a well known Vryheid resident, who has featured many times in the Vryheid Herald recently since undertaking the monumental task of restoring the Paddadam Park to its former glory.
Paddy Harper of City Press has referred to Grewar as the “unofficial Mayor of Zululand,” while another publication referred to him as a “geriatric terrorist” once. He has been a human rights activist for most of his life, fighting for the rights of oppressed communities, improved service delivery and fair and equal treatment for all citizens.
Born to a Scots father and an English mother, Grewar went to school in Lusaka in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). After finishing school at the end of 1958 he did his compulsory national service in the Federal Army at Heany Barracks, Bulawayo, after which he worked as a trainee with the John Deere tractor agency in Salisbury SR, prior to doing a two year agricultural management course at Gwebi Agricultural College just north of Salisbury (now Harare).
After graduating, he joined Northern Rhodesia Government as an Agricultural Officer. His first position was Ranch Manager at the Mazabuka Central Research Station. Here he saw herds of thousands of Lechwe and had to deliver rations by boat to some of the outlying herder camps along the croc and hippo infested Kafue River.
It was a pleasant life but Grewar soon realized that he was never going to make enough to buy his own farm working for the government so he resigned and became a miner on the Copperbelt.
Grewar started off at Nchanga Copper Mine but soon moved to Mufulira Copper Mine and married his first wife, Elizabeth, and they were blessed with a daughter. The young couple bought a 10 acre plot in Murundu, seven miles north of Mufulira near the Congo border and started vegetable, pig and chicken farming while he was still working on the mine. He was elected to be a shop steward in the NR Mineworkers Union.
In 1966, Grewar refused an MCM demand to transfer onto local conditions at half wages, and was paid off with a ‘golden handshake’ or ‘copper chopper’ as it was called then. He started a construction company; bought Tommy Tucker Snack Bar for his wife and bought Charlie Higgs’ 600 acre Lake Farm near Murundu. He also leased 3300 acres of government forest land to graze cattle. His friend, John Glen, gave him his 10 acre plot in Murundu when he emigrated.
After his construction company collapsed due to the economic situation, Grewar turned his big house on Plot 7 into a bar and turned the chicken houses into bedrooms. He called it ‘Motel California’ inspired by the famous Eagles song. It went fairly well until the Ndola breweries ran out of beer. He then sold the motel and invested in shops and flats in Mufulira.
In 1976 the economic and security situation in Zambia became intolerable and the family decided to seek a new home. Doug left first, with his wife promising to join him when he had found a job and a house. He left with only a suitcase and £2000 emigration allowance, leaving behind property worth millions. He worked in Southern Rhodesia, South West Africa and Europe, before finally settling in Swaziland in 1968.
Grewar’s first wife refused to join him in Swaziland, so the marriage ended in divorce. He eventually remarried and started a new family. He founded Amandla Construction, a building and civil engineering company that successfully completed many multimillion rand contracts, including the R3million Gege Police Station, that was opened by the then Swazi Prime Minister, Obed Dlamini. He also founded Cash Discount Centre, a trading company, and Amandla Investments, a property investment company.
Grewar succeeded in creating work for over 200 Swazi citizens and soon his companies were turning over several million every year, more than replacing what he had left behind in Zambia.
Grewar, whose Swazi name is Nkomoyahlaba, followed the traditional Khonta system to become a Swazi citizen, and unwillingly became involved in the Swazi version of politics when the people of his Myesisini Inkundla selected him to stand for a seat in parliament. He says he was happy that another Swazi, Anton Roberts, beat him.
In 1998, after the death of his second wife, Grewar moved to Vryheid, where his two sons were schooling and he had invested in several properties. Here he joined the Abaqulusi Residents Association. Over the years, Doug was treasurer, then secretary and finally, chairman. This year, Doug stepped down as chairman and the ARA merged with Afriforum, the human rights organization.
At 75 years old, Doug Grewar is still reasonably fit, and strong enough to coordinate the Paddadam Park clean up project, which was started while he was chairman of the ARA, and he is determined to see it completed. Grewar describes the project as a “cooperative effort between the Municipality and the community to turn what had become a rubbish dump back into a Garden of Eden.”
“The Paddadam Project is a practical example of what can be achieved in our country if we can forget the political crap and get on with working together to develop the country for the benefit of all citizens.” says Doug, who celebrated his 75th birthday on September 18.
“I admire my Dad’s determination in trying to do something positive for the community.” added Grewar’s eldest son, Steven.
