In memoriam: Tony Farah

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9 October 2013 News

By Ken Baker.

Tony Farah

The electrical engineering and high-tech business fraternity was shocked and saddened by the recent passing of Tony Farah, best known as the founder of Spescom. A large number of friends and family attended his memorial service in Woodmead in August.

Farah was born in Johannesburg of Lebanese parents on 12 November 1948. He matriculated at Marist Brothers Observatory and went on to complete a BSc Electrical Engineering degree in 1972 and MBA in 1974 at the University of the Witwatersrand.

In 1990 he took a sabbatical from Spescom to complete an Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School. This tertiary education stood him in good stead for the continued development and success of the multinational and JSE-listed Spescom Group which he founded in 1977. Prior to the founding of Spescom, Farah was an executive director at Hubert Davies Electrical Engineering from 1974 to 1977.

During the period from 1988 to 1992, Farah served as vice president of the Electronics Industry Federation. From 2001 to 2007 he served on the Presidential National Commission for Information and Development as well as Public Administration and Defence. In 1997 he was nominated Lebanese World Businessman of the year by the Lebanese Cultural Union.

On Farah’s retirement after 30 years at the helm of Spescom, the popular and highly respected entrepreneur reminded an interviewer that the group had developed and patented many technologies over the years including tokenless prepaid metering, a technology that is now successfully marketed internationally.

During the latter years of his leadership as executive chairman and Group CEO, Farah admitted that he found, particularly over those last few years, that the added administration and red tape required by more and more strict corporate governance rules, made it much more difficult to react quickly to market conditions and hindered his entrepreneurial expertise – but, in his words “it’s all been a great journey”.

He was MSAIEE until the time he resigned from Spescom. On his retirement to Cape Town, he established a new Farah investment company – New Investment Creation. Finally he was investor/advisor on a new venture at Zulustar – a new Farah family growth company – the activities of which became very close to his heart.

The late Tony Farah is survived by Judy, five adult children and families. To almost the last minute of chatting with his entire family in his home in Bakoven near Camps Bay in Cape Town, he was relentlessly full of humour and he passed away peacefully in his sleep.

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