Farewell to Pep

 

Renier’s retirement weeks before his 50th birthday came with little prior warning. He felt like he needed a break from business and the associated pressure, and that he felt that he deserved some time for himself and to do all those things he never had time for. In the interview with Financial Mail, Renier

mentioned, with a hint of regret, that he really did not have much free time: ‘I have a garden, and I never get into it; I have a yacht, and never get on to it’. Renier explained simply that he quit because ‘he wanted to’. He said he needed a break, and that he long felt a need to spend more time on his own affairs: ‘The truth is, I am just tired and want to have a chance to see where my life is going’. He also admitted that he feared that he might lose interest in his business: ‘The decision to quit was not easy. I’ve tried to have the courage to do it, because there are a lot of advantages in not retiring. 

He expressed his confidence that the Pep management was strong enough to cope without him and that with Christo Wiese as chairman, Pep would have no difficulty in maintaining its growth and meeting its forecasts for the 1982 financial year: ‘I am handing over to Christo who is not only my close friend, but a man who will make a wonderful chairman and he is backed by a strong team with managing director, Tom Ball. I think they will do a better job from now on than I have done in the past'. 

Renier officially bade farewell to Pep Stores at a poignant ceremony at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town in April 1982. The ceremony was attended by Pep’s senior personnel and Renier’s family, business associates, and friends. It was a ceremony charged with emotion and reminisces, with both Christo and Renier’s speeches containing references to Pep’s humble beginnings in the Northern Cape and its hugely successful expansion ever since.