Farewell to Michael Spicer, Leader and Visionary

It was with great sadness that The Brenthurst Foundation received news of the passing of one of our founding Advisory Board members, Michael Spicer, on 9 March 2022.

Mike's history intersected with the Foundation in several formative ways. As a Council member (and former employee) of the South African Institute of International Affairs, he gave me my first job at SAIIA as Director of Studies in 1994 and, later, as National Director. With his mobilization of support from the Anglo Chairman's Fund, SAIIA was able to make the transition successfully from what was largely a meeting-based and membership-supported forum to a research-driven organization in keeping with needs and the times. In the late 1990s he introduced me to Jonathan Oppenheimer and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

At the same time as the establishment of the Foundation in 2005, Mike moved over from Anglo, where he had worked mainly in government and corporate affairs for more than two decades, to head up Business Leadership SA. During his time at BLSA, he was an active collaborator with the Foundation, leading joint business-government delegations to Singapore, Latin America and Vietnam, participating in Foundation-led presidential advisory boards in Mozambique and Malawi, and embarking on various combined research projects from Colombia to Zimbabwe with many stops in between. His involvement in our work in Rwanda in 2008 led to his involvement as the chairman of the Team Africa Rising cycling initiative. An extraordinarily eloquent and incisive public speaker and exceptionally well read, he was always good fun to be around. We shared one particularly memorable trip to the Ilha de Mozambique with Johnny Clegg, characterized by endless story-telling and laughter. It is hard to believe that both are no longer with us.

Mike was simply an unsung hero who will be missed by the Foundation and the many people whose paths he crossed. Our condolences go out to Ireen and his children, Simon and Nicholas, and grandchildren.

Greg Mills, March 2022