Perry Feldman, well-known Parys farmer, businessman and community leader, died in a Johannesburg hospital early on Sunday morning from Covid-related causes, in the company of his loving wife, Veronica, and other family members. Perry matriculated with high marks from Parys High School in 1961, and graduated with a B.Com degree from Wits. Just after qualifying he went to Israel as a volunteer during the six day war.
He returned to Parys to join his father Abe as a partner in their mixed farming business near Dover. During the political unrest in Parys about thirty years ago (around 1984-1990) Perry led with attorney Lou van Wyk and Father Louis Balink on the local Peace Committee, working towards defusing political clashes, towards non-violent solutions between the races. This earned him thanks and respect from people as diverse as the Parys Mayor Seef Dannhauser and local political activist Ace Magashule. In the early 90’s he joined Searle and Lorna Sacks as business partner in Parys Biltong.
This grew to be the largest supplier of biltong, dried fruit and nuts in SA, and also the town’s largest employer of labour. With his old school friend, Arnold Schoonwinkel, he later formed Greening Tumahole, a charity that sourced and supplied 1 200 trees to Tumahole residents, and also the first Parys branch of the Democratic Party.
Eleven years ago he launched the Free Market Foundation’s Khaya Lam initiative in Parys. This remains an ambitious national attempt to raise funds to enable thousands of township occupants to obtain clear title deeds to the township houses they occupy. So far, this has registered 3 500 houses in Tumahole alone in the names of their new owners.
“Ownership means the owner can sell, bond, donate, improve, enlarge or bequeath his house,” Perry always explained.
These title deeds “…increased Ngwathe’s rateable property values by around R430m, and have injected the same capital into the national economy,” Perry recently wrote. Nationally, some 11 000 title deeds have been transferred by Perry’s FMF team.
Perry is survived by his wife, Veronica, children Batya and Ari, six grandchildren, and a sister and a brother. Batya told Gazette: “We are consoled by the outpouring of grief and sympathy from Parys friends of dad.”
