Jumbo Anderson, best known in the industry as the man behind Stopak, died at his home in Cape Town on June 16, aged 65, after a short illness. Recently retired, he was a larger-than-life character whose nick name says it all. After studying for a BCom at UCT, he went on to complete an MBA. “Because of his great ability to get on with people, sales and marketing were his strong points,” long time friend and colleague John le Roux told FTW. “He started as a sales rep for ESSO and then moved on to Morkels, Johnson & Johnson in East London and then Grindrod’s in Durban.” In 1980 he returned to Cape Town and was one of the founding directors of Personal Trust. When South Africa, in the early 80s, experienced very high interest rates, he ran the Money Market division of Personal Trust and played a massive role in getting Personal Trust established and known, said Le Roux. In the early 90s he moved on to Stopak and played an important role in developing the company. Well known too for his rugby-playing prowess, he was a powerful lock and played rugby for both UCT and False Bay, winning several Western Province caps in the early 70s. “His love of life and people, new gadgets, new models of his existing car, and factories getting designed and built, just a plain old “good idea”, allowed him to get carried off on flights of fancy that nearly always ended up needing his enthusiasm to be reined in. But the space in Jumbo Anderson. between was never anything but educative, entertaining and usually very funny,” said long-time friend Diarmuid Baigrie. “A wonderfully apt name for a man who led from the front, was a commanding presence but could blend in quietly with ease, seemed to move slowly but actually could shift his bigness quickly and with purpose, here today flying there tomorrow.” He leaves his wife of 41 years, Liz, three children and five grandchildren. OBITUARY By Liesl Venter All indications are that the fuel price will continue to rise as tensions in the Middle East and North Africa continue to drive up the cost of oil, economist Ulrich Joubert said. “It is very difficult to predict what the price of oil is going to be in six months’ time and at most it is a thumb-suck,” he told FTW. “Indications are that unless the tension and political uncertainty in the Middle East and northern Africa come to an end we can see the price of oil remaining in the region of $110 per barrel if not more.” He said with no sign of the unrest ending economists were assuming that in the long term it would be more expensive to keep the world economy’s wheels moving and the price of oil would increase. “In South Africa we have seen the strength of the rand affecting the economy and the fuel price,” said Joubert. “While it has not been felt as badly as elsewhere in the world we don’t see the cost of energy or fuel decreasing all that much. At best we could probably see the price of oil decrease to $100 per barrel, but it is unlikely.”
