Mike Walwyn, a director at the South Africa Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff), who died on Monday at the age of 72, will be remembered as one of the most kind and knowledgeable people to have served the local cargo industry with distinction.
Marwaan Abdul, managing director of Nexlog, where Walwyn was operations director, said he had come to know him about 10 years ago as part of the fledgling logistics company’s efforts to benefit from his “wealth of experience”.
Walwyn, who joined Nexlog from Seaboard Maritime Services, “had an extensive network and strong relationships in the industry”, Abdul said.
“In the early days, he assisted us by putting things into place and creating a foundation for our business in a very short period of time.”
Abdul said what struck him about Walwyn was his versatility.
“He was involved with precursors to all aspects of the freight industry. He was well versed with ships agency work for example, in addition to freight forwarding, and played an influential role with fresh fruit developments such as Capespan.”
Abdul added that where Walwyn had made an invaluable contribution to Nexlog was to expose the business to markets abroad.
“He contributed quite a lot through his network. Because he was a member of Saaff, and Africa representative for Fiata (International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations) at one stage, he helped us tremendously when we started to deal with Europe.
“Through Mike we managed to access a lot of global experience. And despite being a relatively small company, when we had to step up by chartering planes or vessels to help clients, Mike showed that it was possible to go the proverbial extra mile.”
Walwyn will also be remembered for his gentle approach, composure, and willingness to share knowledge.
“One of the challenges in our industry is that people tend to keep knowledge close to their chest. When they believe they have a competitive advantage, they keep knowledge to themselves. That wasn’t Mike. He was prepared to teach and share information.”
Clifford Evans, client liaison manager at Berry & Donaldson, said: “I am very fortunate to have had the privilege and pleasure of having Mike as a colleague for more than 30 years and will forever be grateful for his ability to share knowledge.”
Evans said on the Executive Committee of Saaff in the Western Cape and the Port Liaison Forum (PLF), both chaired by Walwyn, “it was always a learning experience, simply due to the enormous amount of knowledge he had about every aspect of the freight industry.
“His opinion and insight were highly sought after. Mike was always ready to provide information or assist in whatever way he could.
“Ever the gentlemen, he could defuse a potentially hostile confrontation with just a few calming words, and in doing so, would probably provide a solution. I will always appreciate the many long discussions I had with Mike covering anything and everything related to our industry, and I will miss receiving one of his telephone calls which normally started with: ‘Hi Cliffy, I have an interesting case.’”
Terry Gale, who chairs Exporters Western Cape, said: “It is with great sadness that we heard of the passing of Mike, a true stalwart of our industry.
“I was fortunate enough to be vice chair of the PLF with Mike the chairman and one of the initiators of this platform, started in the 90s when the Port of Cape Town was experiencing severe congestion and industry took it upon themselves to meet weekly.
“It worked so successfully that to this day the PLF meets monthly, as an independent body.”
Gale reiterated the widely held opinion that Walwyn was probably one of the most knowledgeable people in the industry, especially as a calm voice of reason when ill-thought government decisions impacted on industry’s ability keep logistics going at a multimodal level.
“His contribution to our industry was immeasurable,” Gale said.
Basil Hanival a fellow member of Saaff, who served alongside Walwyn for about 20 years, especially on technical matters, said Walwyn was one of a kind.
“His wisdom will surely be missed. He was known as the voice of the port user for the voice of Cape Town.”
Earlier this week, Saaff CEO Dr Juanita Maree said she was at a loss of words over Walwyn’s passing, sharing a social media post with Freight News that confirmed the role he had played in developing a relationship with the media.
Liesl Venter, Cape-based editor of Freight Features, said: “I remember the first time I met Mike. I had only just started as a logistics reporter – so new to the field that I still thought a freight forwarder was just a fancy name for a trucker.
“Mike guided me through those early days, often explaining – sometimes with a sly grin – where I was losing track. If he explained the port tariff methodology to me once, he must have done so a hundred times.
“As the years passed, I needed less hand-holding, but he remained the person I turned to first. He always made time to explain a situation, share an insight, point out a fact, give a response or simply just chat, about anything and everything.
“His knowledge of the freight industry was unparalleled, though I'm not sure he ever fully grasped how much he was relied upon and revered.
“Once, on a quiet side street in downtown Cape Town, we discussed what it meant to be a stalwart. This was during a period when mentioning the organisation he represented was forbidden.”
Venter said at this stage fraternising with journalists was simply not allowed.
“Mike, true to form, paid little heed to that restriction but I began calling him an industry stalwart in every article I wrote to make up for the lack of a title. He found it somewhat ridiculous. I asked if he would prefer ‘doyen’. His response? ‘Just write Mike Walwyn. It will do,’” he said.
“That was Mike: humble yet determined to tell freight stories, whether sanctioned or not. Mike was indeed a stalwart, a doyen, a mentor. He was far more than any title could encompass – a genuinely good person: kind, patient and deeply respected.
“He would be the first to tell me to stop being dramatic, but the logistics industry is weaker without him. And for a long time to come.”
Mike’s opinions were always measured, providing wisdom, perspective and insight, said Joy Orlek, former editor of Freight & Trading Weekly.
“He was a true industry giant.”
