Nathan ‘Natie’ Kirsh (born 6 January 1932) is a business magnate born in Potchefstroom with a property empire spanning Australia, Swaziland and the UK.
He has Swazi citizenship and, according to Forbes, he is the wealthiest person in Swaziland and the 435th wealthiest person in the world as of 2015. He also has residency status in the UK and the USA.
Photos: K9 Designs – Verity Phiri
It started in Potchefstroom, where at 20 he helped his mother run the family malt factory. His big break came in 1958 when he wanted to use a £1200 insurance payout for his father’s death to build a brewery in Swaziland.
“Instead the Swazi colonial government asked me to manage its maize industry,” he said.
On 9 March 2017, he came to visit his old school, Boys’ High. He arrived by helicopter with his wife, Frances Herr, and was welcomed by his fellow Old Boy, Wally Hopton.
He was taken on a tour around the school and enjoyed the performances by the Collegians and, of course, doing the war cry with the Grade 8s. He mentioned how impressed he was by the standard kept by the principal, Mr Johann van Vuuren and his staff.
The school has named their sports complex in honour of him.
Kirsh owns Ki Corporation, a Liberian-domiciled company held by the Eurona Foundation.
The Eurona Foundation is a trust organised in Liechtenstein. Kirsh and Prince Michael von Liechtenstein are the two trustees of the foundation.
The Eurona Foundation also majority owns (84.5%) another of Kirsh’s companies, Mira Mag which, in turn, owns a significant stake in an Israeli security company, Magal Security Systems. Kirsh left South Africa permanently for Swaziland in 1986 and now has residency in Swaziland. His main holding group, Kirsh Holdings Group, owns Swazi Plaza Properties – his biggest interest in that country – in a 50/50 partnership with the government-owned Swaziland Industrial Development Company (SIDC).
It was an honour for Boys’ High to have him in their midst and the encouragement he passed on to the Collegians was much appreciated. The school is looking forward to another visit from Mr Natie Kirsh.
