Saiccor The First Fifty Years Sinclair Stone i Copyright © 2002 by the author All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher ISBN 1 919780 52 1 First edition, first impression 2002 Published by Rollerbird Press An imprint of Troupant Publishers PO Box 3622 Pinegowrie 2123 e-mail bvr@iafricacom Cover design by Sally Whines Typesetting by Lebone Publishing Services, Kempton Park Printed and bound by ABC Press, Cape Town Although Sappi has funded the publishing of this book, the conclusions and opinions expressed in this book are those of the author Foreword In the typical Sinclair Stone manner, this history of Saiccor has been thoroughly researched, is precise in its rendering and is, where necessary, blunt in its comments While parts of the work are necessarily technically detailed, the work is largely the story of the people who have worked at Saiccor; and appropriately so, for it is the people associated with Saiccor who have made it what it is Sinclair Stone stands front and centre of this host of good people, with his unwavering commitment to the business and his real affection for the disciples of Saiccor It is fitting that this legacy has been given to us by the man who is, in himself, a legend at Saiccor, and it is with sincere gratitude that I acknowledge the work that Sinclair has put into this history, compiled on the eve of his retirement after thirty years with the Company No one else could pretend to take on the task Anyone aspiring to make a career at Saiccor, or wishing to understand what makes Saiccor tick, should read this book ALAN TUBB Umkomaas April 2002 iii Preface Not only is the story of Saiccor an important part of South African industrial history, it is also a fascinating tale of enterprise and endeavour that deserves to be preserved for posterity The pioneers of Saiccor have all died, but the legacy they created grew into a highly successful business which, as the twenty-first century approached, was the world leader in its field It is the only South African company outside of the mining industry that has successfully survived for 50 years by exporting its entire production It is also unique in the history of immigration, where a large number of people from a small area of Italy emigrated at the same time to a small area in South Africa The secret of Saiccors success has been its people During its first 50 years some 10 000 people have been employed by Saiccor In a story of this nature, it is only possible to mention a few of these employees However, each and every one of the 10 000 people made a contribution to Saiccors success Numerous outside companies and individuals have also worked for Saiccor from its inception, and they too have contributed to its success Sinclair Stone March 2002 iv Contents References vi Acknowledgements vii 1 The Cantacuzene period, 19521965 1 2 The Yeomans period, 19661967 55 3 The Wharton period, 19671970 63 4 The Tainton period, 19711983 71 5 The Dell period, 19831985 101 6 The Campbell period, 19861987 119 7 The Mackenzie period, 19871989 129 8 The Mazery period, 19891996 141 9 The Tubb period, 1996 165 v References Aldred, F C, SAICCOR Where it started, Paper Southern Africa, January 1982, reproduced in Sappi News-Nuus, September 1988 Bernstein, M, The Story of Saiccor, CBI Report SAI1323L2 Cantacuzene, M S, Trials and Tribulations of a Tumbleweed (privately published),1999 Flood Report, July 1959 Hastie, W, Factory Report, April 1954 Hastie, W, Factory Report, June 1957 The Digester, 19952002 The Raypulp Recorder (Saiccor Magazine), Vol 1 Nos 1, 2, 3 (1960); Vol 2 Nos 1, 2, 3 (1961); Vol3 Nos 1, 2 (1962) Saiccor News, 19861988 SAICI Contract Blue Book, May 1954 Torviscosa, SAICI brochure (1967) The following were also consulted: Saiccor archives, photographs and documentation Works Manager/Director monthly factory reports from September 1953 Minutes of Board meetings from 4 October 1951 vi Acknowledgements During the course of the writing of this book, I was grateful for discussions with Ferruccio Monte, Silvano Moro, Enoc Baldin and Eridanio di Marco, particularly on the early years, and with Norman Boulter and Ted Beesley on events in the 1960s Jacqui Bertossi was helpful in supplying dates from personnel records My thanks to my wife Yvonne, Alfredo Battiston, Alan Tubb and Derek Weightman for proof reading, and to Linda Johns for typing text and arranging pictures Mike Gangle scanned the photographs I am grateful to all those employees, both past and present, who provided photographs from their personal collections vii Dedication For all those people who worked for or performed work for Saiccor The Cantacuzene Period (19521965) TheThe CantacuzeneCantacuzene PeriodPeriod (1952(1952 1965)1965) Saiccors first Managing Director (although the title at the time was General Manager) was Michel Cantacuzene, or more properly, Prince Michel Surgueyevitch Cantacuzène, Count Spéransky, a Russian aristocrat who had fled with his family to France in 1919 during the Russian Revolution when he was six years old) (The family name has been traced back to the eleventh century in Russia)) Cantacuzene joined Courtaulds (France) in September 1933 after his father had put in a good word with John Hanbury-Williams, a senior director of Courtaulds (London) who was married to Cantuzenes cousin) Michel Surgueyevitch Cantacuzene, In January 1950, Cantacuzene Managing Director of Saiccor, 19521965 married Barbara, his second cousin, and daughter of Hanbury-Williams (by then Sir John, and Chairman of Courtaulds)) In September 1952, Cantacuzene was asked to run Saiccor by Sir John Hanbury- Williams and Dr Franco Marinotti (Count of Torviscosa), President of SNIA) 1 The First Fifty Years he origins of Saiccor, however, go back to 1912 when a young Scots immigrant, Major Peter Rattray (later DSO), purchased a farm in Kwambonambi' The Tarea was completely underdeveloped when Rattray started cultivating sugar cane and cattle ranching' During his absence at World War I, his wife Ethel planted some Eucalyptus saligna (blue gums) around a shack as a windbreak On his return, Rattray noticed the phenomenal growth of these trees, which he discussed with a Government Forestry Officer who encouraged him to embark on an extensive saligna-planting programme Major Peter Rattray The first plantation started in 1922 and in 1928 the first commercial trees were felled and sold as props for the mining industry In 1928, Rattray had his timber tested for making paper by the Imperial Institute in London, but it was found to be unsuitable because of the short fibres In 1933 the mines expanded and Rattray sold his timber plantation to Hunt, Leuchars and Hepburn, who set up a mining timber mill at Kwambonambi (Rattray continued planting) This encouraged others to grow timber in the area In 1937, Major Rattray died from an attack of malaria, and his son, Loring Rattray, took over the family interests Saligna plantations had expanded to the point where a surplus was developing In 1941, Loring Rattray founded the Waterton timber mill, the first sawmill in Zululand to produce sawn timber commercially This, however, was not sufficient to mop up the surplus and Rattray contacted the Imperial Institute to see whether saligna could be used to make rayon pulp (now more commonly called Loring Rattray in a dissolving pulp, as wood pulp is first dissolved in chemicals and then saligna plantation, reformed into rayon or viscose or cellophane) When the tests proved 1960 positive, Rattray started to look for overseas interests to build a rayon pulp mill on the Nseleni River, near Kwambonambi Courtaulds, a large British textile fibre producer, on a visit to the Imperial Institute, learned of the surplus timber in Zululand, and was attracted by the possibilities The original Courtaulds were a Huguenot family who in 1686 sought religious freedom in London, where they became gold and silversmiths The first to enter the textile industry was George Courtauld (1761-1823), whose son Samuel set up his own silk factory in Bocking, Essex, in 1816 In 1828 the company converted into a partnership, then a private company in 1891, called Samuel Courtaulds and Company Limited The firm became a public company in 1904 and was reorganised under the title Courtaulds Limited in 1913 Legend has it that Courtaulds received a kick-start by supplying black silk to the courtiers of Queen Victoria after the death of Prince Albert The company produced silk and silk products such as crepe Loring Rattray 2 The Cantacuzene Period (19521965) ABOVE: Before the saligna plantations, c'1920 BELOW: The first nursery, in the 1920s de Chine and chiffon In 1904, they bought the patent rights of the viscose process for producing textile yarn from the cellulosic solution, discovered and developed by British chemists Cross, Bevan and Beadle A new factory, the first commercially successful venture for the manufacture of viscose rayon, was set up in Coventry in 1905 They expanded the business in the UK, then into the USA in 1910, into Canada in 1925, and helped develop the industry in France, Germany, Italy and Spain Sir John Hanbury-Willliams was appointed chairman of Courtaulds in 1946 Until the end of World War II, Courtaulds bought all their wood pulp on the open market After the war, they were encouraged by the British Government to search within the Commonwealth (to keep expenditure in sterling) for a source of raw material from which cellulose could