(Author: Suzanne Belling, Vol. 65, No. 2, Rosh Hashanah 2010)
Whenever I had the privilege of interviewing David Susman, z”l, – first in the 1970s and in subsequent years for various publications – the phrase that always came to mind was: “an officer and a gentleman”. That perception of him never changed.
The gentleman quality is one to which all who crossed his path will attest. The officer part is actually true, for, as a young man, he fought in Israel’s War of Independence and reached the rank of second lieutenant and platoon commander.
Of course, these were just two of the attributes of this former chairman of Wooltru and Woolworths, veteran communal leader and philanthropist.
Always dapper and dashing, it was clear in 2009 that David was ailing. It was the last occasion I saw him, taking with me the parting gift of his book An African Shopkeeper: Memoirs of David Susman. This reflects on “a life filled with the richest of experiences, many of which feel so remote as to be the part of the life of someone else, and not mine” and which he characterised as “an attempt to record the benign influence of many of my betters as it is a chart of my personal meandering through a life which has treated me with great kindness”.
The rich and well-lived days of David Susman’s life came to an end in May 2010. His son, Simon, in paying tribute to this model of society, remarked on his “deep humility”, his abhorrence of the obsessive pursuit of money and fame and how, having acquired both of these attributes, “wore them humbly and a little shyly”. His whole life had been about “challenge, pioneering and seeking the truth”.
So full was David’s life that is difficult to extrapolate the highlights. Born in Johannesburg in 1925, he spent his early years in the former colonial Northern Rhodesia, where he retained business interests. He was educated at Kingswood School in Grahamstown and the University of the Witwatersrand. He served in North Africa and Italy during World War II and in the Israel Defence Force in 1948.
Communally, David referred to himself as a ‘nogschlepper’ and, as in the title of his book, not a businessman of the calibre he was, but a mere ‘shopkeeper’ – an African shopkeeper. Far from his self-deprecatory title, David Susman in reality had an exemplary communal leadership record. This included having chaired the boards of trustees of the Cape Jewish Aged Home (Highlands House), United Herzlia Schools, ORT-Tech (he was a former national president of ORT South Africa as well) and the IUAUCF Welfare Campaign (now the United Jewish Campaign) in the Western Cape. Shortly before his passing, he had just retired from his chairmanship of the Cape Town Holocaust Centre.
David further served as a trustee of the SA Foundation, the Urban Foundation, UNISA and the University of Cape Town Foundation. In addition, he was a member of the SA Ocean Racing Trust.
Then there was Woolworths. This really began for him, as David he termed it, “when the Circus came to town”, comprising, inter alia, Sir Simon Marks (later Lord Marks), chairman of Marks and Spencer (M&S), Marcus (later Lord) Sieff and a senior executive of the world famous chain, Michael Sacher, a nephew of Sir Simon, several other M&S executives, and Ann Laski, daughter of Sir Simon’s sister, Elaine Blond. As he observes in his memoirs, “Among the shareholders were a British Cabinet Minister, a Maharajah and Chaim Weizmann, later to become the first president of the State of Israel. Never before, or indeed since, has Woolworths enjoyed such distinguished shareholders”. Major players in the South African Group, which had entered into an agreement with M&S, were David’s father, Elie, resident director of Woolworths in Johannesburg at the time, the former head of Woolworths Max Sonnenberg and his son, Dick.
David and his long-time friend and World War II army buddy, Jeff Perlman, “agreed in our youthful wisdom that Woolworths was appallingly merchandised, overstocked and poorly led”. After Sir Simon’s outspoken and aggressive attack on the store managers, buyers and on the merchandise, David and Jeff presented the British chain store tycoon with a painstakingly written outline as a basis for the future policy of Woolworths. Wrote David: “I was completely mesmerised by him. He spent an inordinate amount of time with me, explaining, illustrating and asking my opinion about the business. Not even the most sycophantic of Father’s employees had ever done [what I had done], let alone Max or Dick, and certainly not Father himself.” All this, he continued, “was heady stuff for a callow young student. My mind was whirling with new ideas, values and experiences. Simon Marks’ powerful personality, his uncompromising standards and his profound philosophical approach to his business have dominated my life as has no other influence”.
And so began David Susman’s illustrious career and a life linked and interlinked with family, friends, business and community. His life changed, too, through his friendship with Marcus Sieff, Michael Sacher and Michael’s wife, Audrey, and other members of the family (“A sense of social responsibility began to appear alongside my more natural self-indulgence”).
Then Cecilia Sonnenberg, wife of Dick and famed for her annual Shakespearean open-air theatre productions at Maynardville in Cape Town, stepped in, deciding that “it would be ridiculous for Ann Laski to return to England without even the chance to size me up and reject me”. The respective families insisted on David’s and Ann’s attendance at a huge party at the Sonnenbergs’ home.
“Ann was a very pretty, lively English girl, with all the values and beliefs of her privileged background. Her wartime stint in the Fleet Air Arm as a radio artificer had broadened her perceptions… Her quick wit and ready sense of humour enchanted me, as it does to this day,” he told me during my last interview with him.
They spent much time together before “the kings and the princes” (together with Ann, the “princess”) left South African shores. There was an exchange of letters after David entered his final year at the University of the Witwatersrand. With his newlyacquired social conscience, influenced by the M&S family’s Zionist endeavours (Marcus Sieff’s mother, Rebecca, founded WIZO, David Ben-Gurion was a personal friend and there were business ties with Chaim Weizmann), David then decided to fight for Israel in what he termed his “second war”. In the course of this, he was wounded in a skirmish (“The only remaining evidence is that my left shoulder hangs down some three centimetres below the other, creating a major challenge for my tailor”).
After their marriage in London, David and Ann lived in Israel, where David joined the Foreign Ministry and was appointed second secretary. “After a few months of doing crossword puzzles, I was transferred to the American Desk, under the ‘tender’ ministrations of Teddy Kollek [later the renowned Mayor of Jerusalem]”. Giving up “after much soulsearching” his dreams of diplomatic achievement, he returned to England. It was there that he was offered a job by Simon Marks and familiarised himself with the unique philosophy and ethics of Marks and Spencer, of which he became a director.
On his return to South Africa in 1952, David joined Woolworths, becoming a director, managing director and finally chairman from 1983-1990. He was chairman of Wooltru from 1981-1993. In the tradition of the M&S family, he rose to the heights in Jewish leadership, with chairmanships too numerous to mention. In the year before his passing, he resigned all his major portfolios passing and concentrated on his recreational activities – “angling and interfering” – bringing his ever-ready good humour to the fore. David leaves his wife, Ann, children, Simon, Jennie and Daphne, and nine grandchildren. His passing leaves an irreplaceable void in the Jewish community of South Africa. Jewish Affairs, which benefited greatly from his unsolicited generosity in recent years, extends heartfelt condolences to his family.[/vc_column_text]
David Susman, 1925 – 2010 (photo: L Hammand)
Journalist and international correspondent Suzanne Belling is a former Editor of the SA Jewish Times, Johannesburg Jewish Voice, SA Jewish Report and other publications. She is a Board member of Jewish Affairs and past Executive Director of the Cape Council of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies
