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Sappi Limited / Eugene van As Farewell, Mpumalanga

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Sappi Limited Executive Speech Ockert le Roux Eugene van As Farewell Mpumalanga
Tuesday, 28 October 2003

Mr van As, Honoured Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my honour to welcome you all here today as we pay tribute to a man under whose leadership Sappi has become the company it is today the worlds leading producer of coated fine paper and dissolving pulp. No small feat for any company, it is a huge achievement for company that has had to manage its growth through some of the most challenging times in modern history.

In business strategy, it is said the fish rots from the head, implying that even the best organisation cannot survive poor leadership. So influential is the role of the leader in the life and success of an organisation that a flaw at the top affects the health of the entire organisation.

We at Sappi have been privileged to witness the very best leadership that the world of business has to offer, to see our company grow and flourish under the leadership of a true visionary.

At the time of his retirement last year, Mr Eugene van As was the longest serving Executive Chairman and CEO of a listed company in South Africa, having first taken up the dual position in 1978. Not only is it rare for a business leader to balance the very different demands of these two roles successfully, but it is also testimony to a kind of dedication and commitment seldom seen anywhere in the world. During his tenure, Mr van As has lead

Sappi Limited / Eugene van As Farewell, Mpumalanga

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Sappi from its South African roots to a strong global positioning in the world market, a positioning that will serve the company, its shareholders and staff for many, many years to come.

Throughout, he has displayed the unique ability to assess market and social trends and to use this knowledge to set our company at the forefront of endeavour in all aspects of our business; from R&D to forestry management, from manufacturing to distribution, from product excellence to marketing. In the past decade, during the socalled information revolution, he continued surely and steadily to build on Sappis core business, ensuring for the group a solid platform throughout the turmoil of the implosion of IT stocks world-wide.

But true leadership is about more than the bottom line, its about fostering exemplary corporate governance and recognising the companys role as an intrinsic part of the broader community. In this, Mr van As has again lead the group in formulating both benchmark business practices and a model Corporate Social Investment programme that has made a real and tangible difference in the lives of so many people. In this way, he has demonstrated how a large corporation can build wealth on all levels through financial profitability, human capital development and community empowerment alike.

Today we at Sappi Forestry would like to pause and thank Mr van As for his truly inspiring leadership, for building a company that we can all be proud of and for proving to the world that South African skills and products can stand up together with the best in the world. We would also like to take this opportunity to wish him well in his new role as non-executive Chairman. True to form, he will be leading Sappi through this period of transition in a planned, structured way.

Mr van As, your legacy is not only the balance sheet of this company or its world-wide infrastructure. Your legacy is a living one and is present in the hearts and minds of every Sappi employee. At the end of the day, that is the kind of legacy one can really be proud of.

Thank you.

ends.

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