Huberte Rupert, wife of industrialist Anton Rupert, died in Stellenbosch on Friday night, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported.
Rupert died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 86 following a long illness, the broadcaster quoted her son, Johann, as saying.
She will be buried in a private funeral on Wednesday followed by a memorial service in Stellenbosch’s Dutch Reformed Church.
She was known for her promotion of the arts and as an astute businesswoman.
Die Burger newspaper quoted Louis Heyneman, chief executive of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, as saying he worked closely with Rupert in his former position as director of the Oude Meester foundation for performing arts.
”She has a very specific vision of how the arts should be promoted. She loved serious music, especially lieder. She had a great passion for Afrikaans and the Afrikaans arts, and never hesitated to support it,” he said.
”She often helped artists in her personal capacity without public acknowledgement. She gave without the world knowing … One day, someone asked her: ‘How can I pay you back?’
”Her answer was: ‘One day, when you are in a position to help someone else, then you do so for me.”’
She is survived by her husband, son, daughter and five grandchildren.