Building a career on honesty, reliability and consistency

Mike Killassy, one of the best-known stud livestock auctioneers in the South African livestock sector, built his decades-long career on integrity, honesty and sheer hard work

- Annelie Coleman

Renowned stud livestock auctioneer Mike Killassy started his career in auctioneering in the Eastern Cape in the 1970s with a losgoed auction in Hofmeyr.

Killassy, who grew up in Aberdeen, says he never actually decided to enter the world of auctions, but when the opportunity arose to join the auctioneering fraternity, he fully embraced it.

After the completion of a stint in the navy, he considered a legal career but found the Latin a bit challenging. In the late 1970s, while living in Graaff-Reinet, he chanced upon an advertisement for a job at a local auctioneering firm. He applied, got the job and was promptly asked to assist with an auction in Hofmeyr. The then auctioneer called on Killassy to take a turn on the rostrum.

“That person told me he believed that I had what was needed to become an auctioneer, and that is where and how my career started. After I was involved with a few sales, BKB offered me a post, and I eventually ended up as a stud livestock auctioneer.

“I am lucky in the sense that my career fully started during the golden era of auctioneering in the 1980s. I worked with auctioneers such as Clive Gardner, Barry Purdham, Dallas Kemp and Roly Roderick, who all in one way or another added to my development.”

Killassy also credits men like Namakwa Dreyer, Jimmy Maritz and Okkie du Preez for their role in the formation of his career.

RAND SHOW