The Soutpansberg bade a sad farewell to a truly remarkable man and pioneer of the area, Abool Aziz Ayob of Louis Trichardt, who passed away in the Netcare Hospital in Polokwane on Thursday morning, 24 November.

Aziz, the father of well-known Drs Asghar and Azim Ayob, was born at Elim Hospital on 15 May 1934. He was the grandson of the late Ayob Abba, one of the first Indian traders in the region. Ayob Abba arrived in South Africa around 1896 and in the Soutpansberg around 1899 with three of his nephews. Together, they started the business Ayob Abba and Company, with its head office at the corner of Kruger and Trichardt Street in Louis Trichardt.

Aziz attended school in Louis Trichardt during the headmastership of the late Phil van der Merwe and joined the family business at a young age. He was amongst the first Indian traders who ventured into building materials, timber and hardware. The business supplied carpenter’s and blacksmith’s tools and fencing materials to many of the regions farmers. In the early years, Aziz, together with two other traders, was an accredited agent for Plascon Evans Paints. Growing up as a hardware trader, his knowledge of building materials, steel-window-frame design and material quality was indeed vast. His businesses in the early years also had an interest in sawmilling in the Ratombo area.

Aziz knew almost all the early inhabitants of the Soutpansberg and the surrounding areas of Venda and Gazankulu. He had a historical knowledge of how the town developed and how many a trader started business, and he knew all their families very well.

Ayob Abba and Company also had a property subsidiary, known as Abba (Pty) Ltd. In 1980 , the Department of Community Development moved all the Indian traders to Eltivillas. All off Abba (Pty) Ltd was also expropriated. Aziz, together with Pieter D'Arcy Hermann, Fiona Leppan, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr and later Percy Rudman succeeded in lodging a claim against the State. The matter went as far as the Land Claims Court and was finally resolved out of court.

In 1986, after some 40 years at Ayob Abba, Aziz retired from active business and sold the concern to the Ahmed family. He continued assisting his children with some of their paperwork and administration.

“His passing marks the end of an era as he was the eldest surviving male in the Indian community. A history book’s final chapter has concluded,” said the Ayob family.

Close to 200 people gathered the same evening at the Louis Trichardt Muslim Cemetery to bury the late Aziz Ayob. His grandparents and parents, as well as his sister and other members of the Abba family, are also buried at the same cemetery .

The late Aziz is survived by his wife Mariam, sons Asghar and Azim, daughters-in-law Razina and Mishkah, his grandchildren Azeema, Iqram, Muhammad and Sa'ad, and two great-grandchildren, Asma and Rabia.

The family is grateful to the community that rendered so much assistance during the funeral. The family also thanked Ockert de Lange, Danie Pita, the Makhado SAPS and the Makhado traffic department for their assistance, as well as Drs Chaya, Venter, Razik Gani and the doctors at Netcare for their assistance and care.

"Verily, from our Creator do we come and unto him is our return," concluded the family.