The NCT Story

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THE PEOPLE • who shaped NCT

From the start NCT has been fortunate to have been able to draw on the experience and leadership of people of exceptionally high calibre – people who not only foresaw the need for co-operation amongst their fellow growers, but decided upon what they could put into the business rather than what they could get out of it. In the beginning there were leaders such as the late Mr Heine Küsel and Col Joe Slatter who were instrumental in rallying together their fellow growers to form NCT. Their vision saw the need for collective bargaining if the private timber growing industry was to develop. Amongst prominent personalities of those early times was T F (Eric) Mackenzie who was in the forefront encouraging the growth of new paper industries in South Africa. Mention has already been made of those who were instrumental in the formation of CTC; namely Craig Anderson, Dim Royden-Turner, John Slatter and Volly van Breda. All these personalities continued to champion the cause of the private timber grower during their time. Many other prominent growers, leaders in their own communities, put in immeasurable time and effort to attend meetings and gatherings in the interests of furthering forestry development. From Northern Natal came P R (Rudolph) Nel, R M (Reg) Niebuhr and J A (Jannie) Scheepers who have and still do, travel long distances on a regular basis to attend the various meetings. S N (Stuart) McMurray from Melmoth and the late A G (Aggie) Payn from Harding, were two other long-standing directors who have served their fellow growers with distinction in Zululand and Southern Natal respectively. Closer to home were Dr N D (Doug) Crowe, W A (Walter) Küsel, F O (Friedhold) Klipp and D F (David) Earl. R P (Peter) Lorenz, and Dr C A (Carl) Seele still serve on the board and have given tirelessly of their time and efforts.

The NCT Story