The article below forms part of Mike Alfred's series on Joburg personalities from the first decade of the 21st century. Click here to view Kathy Munro's fantastic introduction and here to view the series index. The stories were written in 2005/6.
Mervyn King spoke to me in a conference room. I asked to see his office expecting it to offer clues to an outstanding career. It wasn’t special: not particularly large, certainly comfortable and expensively furnished, but not greatly different to any other functional space in the building. No memorabilia were evident, just piles of paper for a project on which he was slaving. I asked about the two eighteenth century naval prints hanging on one wall and was told that they were left over when the other executives had selected their art. King has aged well apart for a little off the top. His eyes are steely blue and he exudes a controlled energy. He’s undoubtedly wealthy. He tells me that he’s arranged to ‘die a poor man.’ His money lies in trusts for the family. His wife has to nag him to buy new suits and shirts although he looks immaculate. He collects wine and legal tomes. They’re bequeathed to the family. He loves his car, a Jag. Annual holidays are indulgent, but life largely comprises work.
Mervyn King, well known Joburg advocate, former judge and businessman, has spent much of his working life telling people how they might behave. It’s comforting to acknowledge therefore, that his ethos stems...
