Durban - A century ago, Richard Herbert Rutherfoord (known as RH) watched his sugar cane crop and his sugar mill on the southern banks of the Mfolozi being washed away during a flood.
Left with nothing, he re-established his mill and then travelled north to put out word that work was available.
In his travels, he came across a trading store for sale at Ndumu. And his decision to buy it shaped the direction of the Rutherfoord family over the next 100 years.
Speaking on four generations of the Rutherfoord family trading in Maputaland this week, Craig Rutherfoord who, with his brothers Scott and Ross, makes up the current generation, said the purchase of that small store had mushroomed into many small stores across the remote areas of northern KZN.
“We still trade at the same site as the original store - we have a Spar store there now. RH also tried farming tobacco and cotton, but the store kept him going. All the goods would come on the river and the rivers were notorious for hippos and crocs,” said Craig.
After World War II, Craig’s grandfather, Roy Rutherfoord, and his new wife, Maureen, moved to Ubombo. The area was a favourite at the time among European settlers because, being up in the mountains, it was cooler, with no mosquitoes or tsetse fly.
When the railway line reached Mkuze in the late 1950s, there was a surge in trading and the pioneering Rutherfoord family has been cited as playing a crucial role in opening up the Maputaland area.
“Our headquarters were set up at Mkuze and my grandfather (Roy) expanded the small stores in places like Kosi Bay and Sibaya. They would sell a variety of items, from clothes and shoes to coffins, bicycles and huge amounts of mielie meal,” said Craig.
Roy also helped black traders launch their own stores, as well as building two schools in Mkuze and Ndumu. He wrote a book, Where The Dirt Road Ends, on those early years.
“Some of the (black) traders from then are also multi-generational and it’s nice to see the same families are still running their businesses,” said Craig.
A wagon delivers goods.
His childhood memories include holidays in Kosi Bay and many store trips with his grandparents.
“At the end of the day, we’d always stop next to a river, where my grandparents would have a whisky or gin and tonic with cheese and biscuits.”
In the late 1960s the family sold some of the smaller stores and the ones they retained became Spar stores.
In the 1970s, Craig’s father and third generation member, Peter, worked with his parents and, in 1980, took over the business.
In 1982, Peter bought out his other shareholders and in 1987 partnered with Pat Goss, Peter Clarke and Tom Smith to start KwaZulu Cash & Carry in Empangeni, the forerunner to Boxer Cash & Carry, with all their stores being changed to that brand.
In 2002, Pick * Pay bought Boxer Cash and Carry, while the Boxer Superstores reverted back to Spar stores.
Over the years, the family also invested in other businesses, including Ghost Mountain Inn, and Craig said women in the Rutherfoord family were always active in the running of the businesses.
“RH’s wife Gladys was a strong lady and, from the stories handed down, was a good shot. My grandmother, Maureen, used to do the buying for the shops and all the sales reps were very nervous when they had a meeting with her,” said Craig.
His mother, Susan, is involved in the running of Ghost Mountain Inn with him.
“We all grew up working in the stores. If you miss a Sunday lunch, it’s like missing a board meeting. We spend a lot of time travelling, it’s a tough game. Retail is not for sissies,” said Craig.
While the family’s head office is now in Durban, Ubombo is still home.
“It’s encouraging to see how the region has grown from two-track dirt roads and no connectivity to electricity and tarred roads, including a tarred road through to Maputo,” said Craig.
The Independent on Saturday