Rotary Club of Durban celebrates centenary
Rotarians from all over KZN will converge this week in Durban to remember another lunch 101 years earlier in 1924 when the then Mayor of the City, Walter Gilbert, brought together 43 prominent Durban citizens already active in local charity work. Among them were the founders of what was to later become the Durban University of Technology, the Durban YMCA and many other important landmarks.

ONE of South Africa’s oldest service clubs, the Rotary Club of Durban, celebrates its centenary this month, January 2025, having served the people of Durban for 100 years.
A formal luncheon will be held on Saturday, January 25, to honour the event. Dr Raymond Perrier, director of the Denis Hurley Centre, will be the guest speaker at the centenary celebration. The club was officially chartered on January 25, 1925. It was to be of such singular influence in city affairs that most major developments in the rapidly growing new city were first piloted during the Rotary Club of Durban’s regular Tuesday lunches. Though the club was mostly concerned with creating projects to meet the social needs of the community, its members also dug deep into their own pockets to fund the construction of several old-age homes and community centres.
Over the years the club also chartered 12 Rotary clubs and prided itself on being a first-responder to Durban’s social needs. Pride of place in its work was the creation of The Durban Chamber of Commerce, the Community Chest, TAFTA (The Association for the Aged), Lifeline and SANCA’s (SA National Council in Alcoholism and Drug Dependence) Lulama Treatment Centre.
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Because of Rotary’s unique conception as a club representing one leader of each category of business and profession in the city, it had a built-in early-warning system of the social needs of the city which enabled it to take a lead in introducing such innovations as black schools’ eisteddfods, built radio communications facilities between rural clinics, took cinema entertainment to old-age homes, created the Mnene holiday resort, the Restmount Mountain Homestead, and the Beatrice Street YMCA, and also took the lead in prisoner rehabilitation.
During the Second World War the wives and partners of Rotarians, known as Rotary Anns, were called upon to knit 50 000 pairs of socks for the troops. Post-war malnutrition problems among the city’s poor gave club member Phillip Hind the inspiration to create the ‘all-one’s nutritional needs’ breakfast food ProNutro which he sold at cost throughout South Africa, while public health specialist, Dr Fred Cluver, developed the fortified Government-subsidised Bremer Bread which served a similar purpose in the 1950s.
“Above all was the comradeship which brought together leaders from every walk of life within our community, the glue which bound us all together was to get judges and missionaries, heart surgeons, electricians, accountants, politicians and every other diverse calling that one can imagine, all working together on projects usually far beyond their own individual skills levels. It was an amazing chapter in all of our lives, and I know every one of us grew immensely out of the experience!” said Richard Cluver who, with two associates, was inducted as the youngest ever members of the club 50 years ago this year, and many years later became club president.
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“The Rotary club still meets regularly and is responsible for many exciting civic community projects. We invite interested people to consider joining us. All in all, the Rotary ideal of ’Service above Self’ prevails,” concluded John Johnston-Webber, past president and past assistant governor, and PRO for the club.
Rotarians are paving the way for a new generation with their Interact club held at Clifton, Glenwood High School, Eden College and Durban Girls’ High School. These are community engagement youth organisations mentored by Rotary Durban.
Rotary Club is still active and engaged and an integral part of Durban’s civic society. The current president of Rotary Club of Durban is Rydal Spavins.
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