Passion & Quality
our history
Gys van Rooyen (Gys die Slagter) opened his first butchery 45 years ago. He called it Hamilton Vleismark. Together with his wife Alet (van Rooyen), they had it for years before they sold it. They then bought a butchery in Wilgehof.
The Van Rooyens were real people’s people – they became friends with all their clients. They said they would only sell quality meat – just the very best from the very beginning. He developed his trademark sausage recipe and no shortcuts were allowed.
Today, 45 years later, this same recipe is still being used, just as it was, and with no changes. The butchery only buys its spices from one supplier, as Gys used to believe this was the only supplier with 100% pure spices.
Passion & Quality
The butchery today
A few years after he started the Wilgehof Butchery, he opened a butchery in Long Street, Hilton. This was the first time he started using the name, Gys die Slagter. It was also a huge success but he had to make a business decision and moved it to the former Andries Pretorius Street, calling it Gys die Slagter – Pollys. His wife passed on years ago and he passed on more recently.
Sometime before that he handed over control to his daughter, who was involved in the business from a young age. She worked during weekends and holidays, which prepared her to be ready to take over, even though she felt overwhelmed running two butcheries by herself.
It was possible thanks to the great team of staff members, of which many have worked for the business way before her.
“My dad was often crowned ‘Boerewors-koning’ in a competition the former OFM – called Radio Oranje – had and most butcheries and managers competed with one another. One such crowning was when my dad was a manager at Checkers, another time he was a manager at another butchery, and once Wilgehof Butchery was crowned the best,” says the daughter of Gys die Slagter.