Business Unity South Africa (Busa) says it notes with shock and sadness the passing of Rob Legh on Thursday, July 1, from complications associated with Covid-19.

"We express our sincere and heartfelt condolences to Rob’s family, his wife Kathryn and children India and Tommy, as well as his colleagues.

"Rob served as chairperson and senior partner at Bowmans, where he served since 1986. Our most recent interaction with Rob was in the last 15 months or so, before his illness, in the work business has been doing, with social partners, to manage the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Rob selflessly volunteered his time, expertise, and experience to work with Business for South Africa in its efforts to work with social partners, including government, to limit the economic and human impact of the virus. Rob played a leading role in discussions and engagements on the Temporary Employment Relief Scheme for employees to cushion the severe impact of job losses because of the pandemic," Busa states.

It adds that he was instrumental in leading discussions on relief for employers that suffered severe losses because of the lockdowns.

"Rob’s expertise, experience and sheer determination and commitment were critical to processes to expedite payment of funds and efficiency of processes.

"Rob was a true South African patriot. His dedication, commitment, passion and expertise to bring relief to employees and employers during the pandemic was an example for all of us working in that environment," Busa says.

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel also expressed his condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Legh.

“Rob was a true patriot. He had a deep love for his country and believed strongly in a better future for all citizens and in pursuit of this goal, he was active in organised business. His untimely passing away is devastating to his family and is a real loss to the business community and to South Africa.

"In addition to being an exceptional lawyer, he was a true gentleman, a kind and humble man and deeply caring of people. He will be deeply mourned and his colleagues and I will miss his wise counsel,” Patel says.

The Minister notes that he had worked closely with Legh, in 2018, on the Competition Amendment Bill.

"Rob was insightful and played an important role during the talks. He contributed generously of his time and ideas and helped me to identify solutions that took account of the needs of the business and investor community whilst enabling the achievement of public policy objectives.

“Rob Legh was a pioneer of competition law in this country, and founded Bowmans’ Competition Practice in 1998. He spearheaded a number of high-profile merger control transactions and in the process helped shape competition law jurisprudence in South Africa. He was the principal legal adviser to Coca-Cola during talks I held in 2016 with the company that led to a ground-breaking agreement on public interest issues that has continued to define the country’s policy framework.

"Last year, during the Covid lockdown, Rob advised my Ministry on a pro-bono basis on matters relating to industry and prior to that he was always available to provide feedback whenever needed,” Patel says.