Sir David de Villiers Graaff

First Baronet of De Grendel

Sir David Graaff’s unique South African story begins as a poor child in Villiersdorp, watching over sheep and pigs. He was helped by a well-off friend of the family and taken to Cape Town to work at the man’s butchery. Within a few years, David was not only in charge of the butchery, but was the first person to use refrigerated food storage facilities for meat in South Africa. With a business empire begun, he went on to have a colourful political life and played a role in many South African milestones. He helped create Roggebaai by filling in the harbour with construction rubble, he became mayor of Cape Town and brought the first streetlights to the town, and bought the wine farm De Grendel.