Reinhard Bonnke Ministries

One of the organizations supported by Merwe Viljoen is Christ for All Nations, the name given to an evangelistic organization founded by German-born Reinhard Bonnke in 1975. Reinhard, who was ordained after attending a bible college in Wales, started his preaching career in 1969 in the small mountain kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa. He and his wife Anni spent seven years in the country as missionaries, and it was during this time that he heard the call of evangelism. The Christ for all Nations organization, or CfaN, began with just 100 attendees in Botswana’s national stadium in Gabarones. At this meeting five of those attending claimed to have been healed. The Word spread, and by the time the final scheduled meeting came along Reinhard Bonnke was preaching to a packed stadium. Twelve years later 80% of CfaN pastors were converts from that first crusade.


Reinhard Bonnke Ministry’s first tent held just 800 people, but the rapid growth of followers soon saw larger tents being commissioned, a yellow tent that held 10,000 people soon had to be replaced with a larger one capable of holding as many as 34,000. Reinhard soon expanded his crusades to include other African countries, and a record crowd of 1.6 million people attended a crusade on a single day in Lagos, Nigeria. Today Christ for all Nations ministries can be found all over the world.


Douw van der Merwe Viljoen, an active Christian, has long been an vigorous supporter of the Reinhard Bonnke Ministries. With the help of such active followers as Merwe, Christ for All Nations continues to go from strength to strength attracting a seemingly endless parade of nations eager to hear the Word of the Lord.

Golf

There are many theories regarding the origins of the game of golf, but it is universally accepted that the modern game originated in Scotland. The first written record of the game dates back to 1457 when it was banned by James II as being an “unwelcome distraction to learning archery”. The oldest surviving rules of golf were put together in March 1744 for the Company of Gentlemen Golfers. Today the game is played on some 35,000 courses, half of which are in the United States, by millions of golfers all over the World. A number of different forms of the game have evolved over the years, including Match play, Stroke play, Skins and Stapleford. In any game a player is permitted a maximum of 14 golf clubs in his or her bag, often comprising a combination of woods, irons, hybrids, wedges and a putter.

Naturally with such a popular game there are many manufacturers of golfing equipment, and one of the best and most popular of them is a company that goes by the name of Ping. Ping golf clubs are manufactured by the Karsten Manufacturing Corporation of Phoenix, Arizona, and are available in over 70 countries around the world. The brand is used by many of the world’s top professional players. Ping’s founder, Karsten Solheim, is the only golf club manufacturer to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida.

With his home base at the Stellenbosch Golf Club, Douwvan der Merwe Viljoen frequently enjoys a round of golf, and plays off a handicap of 20. He can often be seen on the greens and fairways of Stellenbosch Golf Club with his bag of Ping golf clubs.

Tixsa

Tixsa is a wholly South African ticketing and box office management system that came online in the early months of 2010. The system is intended to be used by venue owners and is designed to make their operations easier and ultimately to enable them to sell more tickets. Tixsa, as a service provider to the entertainment industry, aims not only to make it easier for venue owners to manage ticket sales, but also to make it easier for the fans, whether music or sports oriented, to purchase those tickets. By cutting out the middle-man Tixsa ensures a greater revenue percentage for the venue owner. Quick to see that this new venture had immense potential, Douw van der Merwe Viljoen was one of the early investors in the new business enterprise.

Tixsa, which is modeled on the American TicketBiscuit system, essentially cuts out the middle-man and enables venue owners to sell event tickets directly to the public through their own websites. Before Tixsa came onto the scene, Computicket held a virtual stranglehold over the South African ticketing industry, with little, if any, competition to break that monopoly. With its online ticketing and event management system, Tixsa has become a healthy competitor. Today the online company is providing services to more promoters, venues, schools, festivals, and sports attractions than any other online ticket company in the country.

Tixsa is just one of the many investments held by Merwe Viljoen. He also has interests in a Mozambiquan holiday lodge, a Kruger National Park game lodge and is Chairman of the finance company Waxbill Capital.

Centurion Close

Centurion Close is a development of modern commercial office suites being built at 119 Gerhard Street, Centurion, which is located between Pretoria and Midrand. The buildings and the suites therein are classified as being A Grade, intelligent and flexible, and since the project’s inception, Merwe Viljoen has been closely involved in its development. Centurion Close is being developed in three phases, and the buildings are flexible enough to offer suites of between 153m² and as much as 5,801m² gross lettable area.

Centurion Close is an excellent venue to consider when contemplating the relocation of your office space. The development is located just a kilometer from the new Gautrain Station at Centurion, and is only a few minutes drive from both the N1 and N14 highways. The development has 24/7 security in place, and has an emergency backup generator that automatically takes over in the event of an Eskom “load shedding” event. There is a shopping mall next door to the property and a good cross section of restaurants and national chain stores within 5 minutes’ walk. The office suites themselves can be configured by the developers to suit your individual company requirements. As well as being involved in the development of the project, Douw Merwe Viljoen also has a major interest in its marketing. He will be happy to address any inquiries that you might have regarding the development.

Centurion Close is just one of the many interests enjoyed by Merwe Viljoen. Hea also has interests in a game lodge in the Kruger National Park, a holiday lodge in Mozambique and is Chairman of the finance company Waxbill Capital.

Xtreme Freedom

One of the many interests close to the heart of Douw Merwe Viljoen is the altruistic Christian organisation that goes by the name of Xtreme Freedom. Xtreme Freedom’s mission is in the prevention of drug abuse and the rehabilitation of addicts. The organization accomplishes this by actively getting others involved and by launching drug prevention programs, establishing treatment and aftercare centres, and by recruiting, training and employing people to man those centres. Xtreme Freedom was the brainchild of Ado Krige, who started working actively against drugs in 1984 and started the first South African anti-drug youth disco in 1987.

Merwe became involved with Xtreme Freedom in 2004 when he offered financial assistance to the organisation. He has introduced to the organisation several prominent businessmen and medical physicians who now take an active part in its administration. Today Merwe is the organisation’s official auditor. With his help Xtreme Freedom plans to establish by 2017 a country-wide network of treatment, training and aftercare centres. In the short term the organisation is raising funds for the building of a regeneration treatment center at their present home base, a detox facility and a counselor training center in Derdepoort. 

Xtreme Freedom is eager to attract partners from the corporate world and from government departments, churches and schools. The organisation’s founder, Ado, is himself a rehabilitated addict and supplier, and spends much of his time speaking about drug abuse to schools and promoting his campaign.

Douw Merwe Viljoen

Merwe Viljoen started off his career in the modest surroundings of the South African Revenue Services, but only after matriculating from Hoërskool C.R. Swart in Pretoria in 1981 and later graduating from the University of Pretoria with a CTA degree. It was from here that he passed his chartered accountant’s admission exam and was later awarded a Master of Taxation degree. After being awarded his B Com Honours degree he remained with SARS for just two years before starting the auditing company of Viljoen and Nieuwoudt.


Douw Merwe Viljoen is married to Zelda. He and his family relocated from Pretoria to settle on a small wine farm in the Stellenbosch region of the Western Cape. Here he has been instrumental in the setting up of a number of important agreements, including sourcing and acquiring finance from the Development Bank of Southern Africa for the Government of Zimbabwe’s first phase of toll roads. He also obtained mining rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for Ruashi Copper Mine, now jointly operated by Metorex, a company listed on the JSE. Merwe was a founder member of King Pie and was involved in launching the product in the United Kingdom.


Today Merwe has interests in a Kruger National Park game lodge, a Mozambique holiday lodge, is Chairman of the finance company Waxbill Capital, is involved in commercial and residential property development, and asset portfolio management. Douw van der Merwe Viljoen’s latest venture is into the realm of wine farming, in which he describes himself as a fledgling.