OBITUARY: Former FNB chief economist Cees Bruggemans suffered no fools
Interviewing Cees Bruggemans felt a bit like how I imagined a gladiator might feel upon entering the ring: dry mouth, sweaty palms. Am I going to ask a really daft question? Bruggemans might not have been a muscle-bound mountain of flesh with a dangerous weapon in hand, but he had a momentous intellect, which you could argue was more dangerous and certainly more cutting. And yet he was generous with his insight and his ideas and loved a good discussion. Bruggemans died on Tuesday morning, aged 64. He is survived by his wife Heidi, five children and five grandchildren. A Dutch immigrant, he joined Barclays National, as First National Bank (FNB) was then, in May 1985 as chief economist, where he stayed until his retirement in November 2012. Before that, he had worked as a corporate planner for Shell, and an economist for Standard Bank and Senbank. He also lectured at Wits University. He was a graduate of Stellenbosch University, from which he held a D.Com in economics, and which later...
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