As part of the group’s global 50^th anniversary celebrations, SRK Consulting South Africa held a sparkling commemoration event at the Wanderers Club in Johannesburg last month – with memories and inspiration from local and overseas dignitaries.

The memorable occasion brought together clients, industry participants, current and former SRK leaders, and members of the media to reflect on the groundbreaking journey of SRK’s last five decades. The evening’s high-profile speakers looked back on the legacy of SRK’s founders and looked ahead to the bright future this heritage promised.

In a heartfelt video message shared by Hendrik Kirsten, he noted how he and the other founders of SRK – Oskar Steffen and Andy Robertson – were, at the time, recently qualified civil engineers, having just obtained their PhDs.

“In our early 30s, we took the risk of developing and bringing together our skills and knowledge in rock slopes, rock excavations, tailing storage, building foundations and pipelines, and we started this business. We did so while needing to take care of 17 dependents across three families,” said Hendrik Kirsten.

Kicking off the evening with the voice of one of the founders set the tone for the event, as he exhorted all present to embrace the next half-century with the same vigour and enthusiasm as the last.

The event highlighted the role SRK plays in the mining industry, with SRK Consulting SA chairman Vis Reddy acknowledging the great achievement. The stage was also graced by SRK Consulting global MD Tim McGurk, as well as former global managing director Andy Barrett.

The common theme of the event was the hope to continue working alongside industry partners and stakeholders with the same degree of success achieved in the past. Van Zyl concluded the night by noting the importance of people as a core part of SRK’s culture.

“At SRK, we’ve had some great people build a legacy for us, and we are going to pass that legacy on. We are a very personal business, and our people are of utmost importance.”