Driven by Heritage: The Woman Who Helped Build a KZN Business Legacy

Long before Super Tyres became an established tyre business, it was a small family venture built on determination, hard work and very little money.

At the heart of that story was Jocelyn Horn, a young law student whose financial acumen, discipline and willingness to get stuck in helped lay the foundations for what would become a business legacy spanning more than five decades.

This Heritage Month, Super Tyres fondly remembers the woman who played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s early years and whose values continue to influence the business today.

Jocelyn, affectionately known as Jos, met her future husband, Bob Horn, in the late 1960s. At the time, Bob was working as a butcher, earning R48 a week, while Jocelyn was studying law at university.

Bob had accumulated around R20,000 in debt, and it was Jocelyn who put her legal and financial knowledge to work, methodically arranging the repayment of what was a significant financial burden at the time.

It was an early indication of the qualities she would bring to the business they would eventually build together.

“Jocelyn had a remarkable ability to look at a situation practically and work out what needed to be done,” says Nytanya, General Manager of Super Tyres. “She was disciplined, determined and incredibly hands-on. Those qualities became an important part of the foundation on which Super Tyres was built.”

The business itself was born almost by chance. After Bob sold a set of old tyres for R2, he recognised an opportunity in collecting and reselling scrap tyre casings.

In 1971, Bob, Jocelyn and Bob’s brother, Bill, put everything they had into establishing a modest tyre business on Leopold Street in Durban.

There was no luxury or certainty in those early years. The family worked together to get the business off the ground, with Jocelyn contributing wherever she was needed. Even while pregnant, she would work alongside the team and, at times, do wheel balancing herself.

When the Leopold Street location proved too quiet, Bob took another significant risk, signing a lease on a West Street storefront when the business had just R435 in the bank.

Bob and Jocelyn outside the West Street store. Image supplied by PR company.

Behind the scenes, however, Jocelyn was keeping a close eye on the finances. By late 1973, she had formally taken on the role of Financial Director, a position she would hold for decades as the business expanded from its humble Durban beginnings into a multi-branch operation across what was then Natal.

She brought her sister-in-law, Marge Lahana, into the business to assist with managing the books as the company grew. For Jocelyn, financial management was about more than balancing the books. It was about discipline, responsibility and understanding that small decisions made consistently could ultimately determine the success of a business.

One of the phrases she was known for captured this philosophy perfectly: “If you take care of the cents, the rands look after themselves.”

It was a simple principle, but one that became part of the DNA of the family business.

“That saying really captured Jocelyn’s approach to business and to life,” says Nytanya. “She understood that building something lasting doesn’t happen overnight. It comes from making good decisions, taking care of what you have and remaining committed through the difficult times.”

Jocelyn passed away in August 2006, but her influence did not end there. Her son, Dean Horn, joined Super Tyres in 1997 and became CEO in 2011, continuing the family legacy his parents had started.

Today, more than 55 years after the first Super Tyres shop opened, the business remains family-owned and continues to be guided by values that were established in its earliest years: honesty, integrity, hard work and trust.

For Nytanya, remembering Jocelyn is about recognising more than an important figure in Super Tyres’ history. “Jocelyn was a woman ahead of her time,” she says. “She was working as the Financial Director of a growing, multi-branch business from 1973, at a time when women in senior business roles were far less common. She wasn’t simply Bob’s wife or a supporting partner. She was an integral part of building the business.”

Her story is also a reminder that business heritage is not only about buildings, brands or milestones. It is about the people whose determination, sacrifices and values shape an organisation and influence the generations that follow.

For Super Tyres, Jocelyn Horn remains part of that story. More than 20 years after her passing, the principles she lived by continue to steer the business she helped build.

www.supertyres.co.za