Timotheus (Tim) Du Toit was born in a British concentration camp near Krugersdorp in 1900, at the height of the Anglo – Boer War. He grew up in the beautiful Stellenbosch area of the Western Cape Province of South Africa, attended high school at Paul Roos Gymnasium and graduated with his law degree from the University of Stellenbosch in 1927, before moving north subsequently with the dream of opening his own law firm. His timing, however, could not have been worse, given that he chose to do so in 1933, the midst of the worst economic depression that the world has ever known. Pretoria, although the seat of government and an economic powerhouse relative to other South African cities at that point, experienced the harsh reality of this depression as severely as any large city across the globe. He was not to be deterred, however, lack of money or even a single client notwithstanding, and commenced practice on Pretoria's Church Square in the autumn of 1933.

These were difficult times, but our founder was made of sturdier stuff, an uncompromising, determined (some would say 'difficult') individual, whose exceptional legal skill and business acumen soon saw him attracting clients from across the spectrum, bringing his dream to reality. The defining moment in our history took place when he co-founded a financial institution by the name of Volkskas Bank Limited during these early years, which went on to become one of the largest commercial banks in the country. He represented the said Volkskas Bank formally, and largely exclusively, from 1938 onwards, thereby casting in stone the future road of this firm in financial services law.

This relationship endured largely unchanged for more than half a century, until the amalgamation of Volkskas Bank with three other financial institutions in 1990, and continues with the resultant ABSA Bank Limited to this day, albeit as part of a wider panel of attorneys.