Gavin Relly (Born 1926 in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tran ...

– died 10 January 1999 in

Hermanus Hermanus (originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

) was a South African businessman and former chairman of Anglo American.

Early life

His grandfather was Sir Walter Stanford, who argued strongly but unsuccessfully for enfranchisement for native peoples regardless of their race or colour at the National Convention of 1909, which led to the creation of the

under the terms of the

South Africa Act 1909 The South Africa Act 1909 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created the Union of South Africa from the British Cape Colony, Colony of Natal, Orange River Colony, and Transvaal Colony. The Act also made provisions for p ...

. Relly was educated at

Diocesan College The Diocesan College (commonly known as Bishops) is a private, English medium, boarding and day high school for boys situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The school was established on ...

and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

before serving in Italy during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. He then worked for Sir

de Villiers Graaff Sir De Villiers Graaff, 2nd Baronet, (8 December 1913 – 4 October 1999) (first name De Villiers, surname De Graeff, Graaff) known as Div Graaff, was a South African politician who succeeded his father, Sir David Graaff, 1st Baronet, Sir David ...

, leader of the United Party. He joined Anglo American in 1949 and became the private secretary of

Harry Oppenheimer Harry Frederick Oppenheimer (28 October 1908 – 19 August 2000) was a prominent South African businessman, industrialist and philanthropist. Oppenheimer was often ranked as one of the wealthiest people in the world, and was considered South A ...

and later of

Ernest Oppenheimer Sir Ernest Oppenheimer (22 May 1880 – 25 November 1957), KStJ was a diamond and gold mining entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist, who controlled De Beers and founded the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa. Career Ernest Oppenhe ...

. He would later develop the company's gold mines in the Free State and oversaw the creation of Highveld Steel and Vanadium. He became chairman of Anglo American in 1983. He led a group of South African businessmen who met with the banned

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

's representative Oliver Tambo in Lusaka,

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

in 1985, resisting the pressures from the then South African government under State President of South Africa P.W. Botha . He was succeeded by

Julian Ogilvie Thompson Julian Ogilvie Thompson (born 1934 in Cape Town, South Africa) is a South African businessman and former chairman of De Beers and the Anglo American mining company. Early life Julian Ogilvie Thompson was born in 1934 in Cape Town, South Africa ...

in 1990.

Death

Relly died of complications from cardiac surgery and was survived by his wife Jane, and children Janis, Georgina and Giles.

References

Profiles of Anglo American chief executivesEx-Anglo chairman Gavin Relly dies
1926 births 1999 deaths Alumni of Diocesan College, Cape Town 20th-century South African businesspeople Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford South African people of British descent {{SouthAfrica-business-bio-stub