After graduating and toying with the idea of becoming a prosecutor in Rhodesia (there was lots of good and cheap big game hunting and fishing there) sanity prevailed and I joined Dyason Douglas Muller and Meyer (now Dyasons) in Pretoria to do my articles at the princely salary of R120 per month. I joined up with some contemporaries from Maties including Poen Hoffman, Ghoempie Albertyn and Mitt Bredell. We lived together in a house in Muckleneuck (rather a posh suburb) and euphemistically named the place “Maidens Hope.“ The house became known for its very good parties and the good looking guys living there!!,or so we thought.
After a fortunate run on the Stock Exchange whilst still a clerk I had enough money to travel overseas as soon as I had completed my articles. A friend of mine and I bought a camper van in London and off we went to explore. I had enough money not to have to work for a year and to have work interfere with my intensive studies of strip shows, belly dancing and beer festivals.
On my return I joined George Pretorius at Cliffe Dekker and Todd in Johannesburg. I had just got to like Johannesburg when I was offered a job by a firm in Durban. I was originally from KZN and had some farming interests there so the offer was attractive.
Shortly after I arrived in Durban I married Anita Cronje, whom I had met on a blind date in Pretoria during my Maidens Hope days. We have lived in Durban since then and have been fortunate to have 2 girls and a boy. I am proud to say that all three of them are Graduates of Stellenbosch University. Only my eldest daughter followed in my footsteps and did law.
I was a partner in De Villiers and Strauss until Johan Strauss and I broke away in 1984 to start our own firm known as Strauss Daly. This firm has grown tremendously and now has offices throughout the country.
In 2001 I resigned as the chairman of Strauss Daly and the set up a legal call centre primarily to collect debt on behalf of the Big 4 Banks and the retailers. When I sold my interest 3 years ago and retired we were 2 Attorneys and nearly 500 call centre agents.
I have been very involved in game farming, hunting and fishing having hunted big game and fished in South Africa and in the neighbouring states as also in Britain and USA. I have also been the president of both the amateur and professional hunting bodies.
I currently live on a golf estate near Ballito. My time is spent on serving as a non-executive director of a listed Company and a Bank and travelling extensively in Africa and Europe and USA and spending some time at our beach cottage at St Francis Bay. My four granddaughters also demand and get a lot of my attention.
It is hard to believe that we left University 50 years ago. I am so looking forward to seeing all my class mates again
Bill Daly
Bill & Anita
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