Neil Fraser

Neil Fraser passed away on 1 November 2023. His contribution to Johannesburg and South Africa will not be forgotten. In the article below, published originally on the City of Joburg's website on 24 October 2002, Lucille Davie reveals part of Neil's powerful story.

He’s got a full white beard and moustache to match his white hair, he smiles often, and he’s passionate about cities, particularly Johannesburg. He’s Neil Fraser, executive director of the Central Johannesburg Partnership (CJP), an inner city renewal initiative.

Neil Fraser

Fraser’s been in Johannesburg since 1985 and is fiercely involved in many aspects of the city – from its growth into an African city, to creating jobs for people on the street.

Born in Hopetown in the Northern Cape in 1939, Fraser qualified as a quantity surveyor at UCT in 1961. He spent a year in the profession but found the work “dull”. He joined construction company Murray & Stewart (later Murray & Roberts) and moved into management. In 1985 he was transferred to Johannesburg as divisional director, responsible for building construction in the then Transvaal, Natal and Swaziland. In 1988 he was seconded to the Building Industries Federation of South Africa as executive director for a year, but ended up staying four years. 

In 1991 he set up his own consulting practice, Neil Fraser & Associates. But...

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.

On a Saturday afternoon, after a morning spent in a similar manner, a man wearing black trousers, a black T shirt and cap, all offsetting his white hair and beard, is showing a group of tour guides around Newtown and Joburg centre city. He walks energetically and purposefully, one might even describe him as bulldoggish in the way he moves, and he recites the facts supporting the city’s revitalization. For three hours he demonstrates the renewal of Joburg. The visitors are stunned. Their pencils are never still; their cameras click away. They crane their necks, viewing this transformed city. What he doesn’t tell them is that were it not for him and some far sighted and dedicated colleagues and associates, our city, the repository of living memories, of history, of wonderful architecture, would be well nigh moribund and lost in irreversible decay. After the tour, Neil Fraser downs a quick beer and rushes off to another engagement.

Neil Fraser

I talk to Fraser, born in 1939, Executive Director of the Central Johannesburg Partnership, in his office situated in a magnificent reclaimed building in...