Renier van Rooyen will always be known as one of South Africa’s foremost entrepreneurs and philanthropists. As the founder of Pep Stores he created one of the largest retail businesses in South Africa from very humble beginnings and little money at the age of 23. His belief in the power of ‘Faith, Positive Thinking, Hard Work, Enthusiasm and Compassion’ was combined with a business formula of selling clothing cheaper than anybody else and within 16 years he managed to turn a single shop with one employee, into a retail giant with 500 stores, 10 factories, 12,000 employees and a turnover of close to R300 million by 1981. During this period the name Pep became synonymous with quality clothing at discount prices, a phenomenal rate of growth and a company that cared greatly for its employees and for the community in which it operated.
A Biography: Throughout his life Renier had displayed compassion and empathy for those less fortunate and in particular, the black and ‘coloured’ community in the Northern Cape and Western Cape. Renier’s financial generosity was matched by his tireless efforts to oppose apartheid legislation which had resulted in much hardship for the majority of people in South Africa. Renier’s outspokenness on the injustices of apartheid caused him unpopularity in government circles while his views on the necessity of scrapping apartheid measures such as the Group Areas Act preceded political reform of the De Klerk era by at least 20 years.