History of the T Show

The Show has a rich history and is built on a strong tradition. Dr Reuben Rutowitz, one of the founders, who has been involved from the beginning of the Show in 1939, recalls the farmers exhibiting their produce in the old city hall in Pretorius Street before the Second World War. After the war the produce was displayed on the lawns of the City Hall, in Paul Kruger Street. Rutowitz, who turned 91 last year, is still heavily involved in the Show of which he is an honorary lifelong member.

In 1954 lack of space forced Rutowitz to seek another venue. He approached Eric Louw, Minister of Foreign Affairs to negotiate with the City Council to obtain the current grounds in Pretoria West and the Show moved to the current grounds. Rutowitz perfomed the first official opening of the Show at its new venue. The tin and wooden houses, which were vacated after the troops were demobilised after the war, were demolished and rebuilt with bricks. The Skilpad Hall with a space of 4,000m² is the largest hall in Africa unsupported by pillars. It was built with financial support of the City Council.

Due to the high cost of maintenance the City Council handed over the management of the show grounds, stalls and Piet van der Walt Theatre to the Transvaal Agricultural Society in 1977. This Society was established, in 1963, as an affiliated body of the Northern Transvaal Chamber of Industries resulting in a flourishing partnership of these industrial and agricultural bodies with a strong growing phase throughout the years. The former “Industrial Exhibition and Trade Fair, Pretoria” was also, in 1963, renamed to the “Pretoria Show” as it is still known. In 1999 these two affiliated organisations merged to form the Pretoria Business and Agricultural Centre.

Until 1962 the Show only exhibited Industrial and Commercial products. A turning point came when Agriculture became a separate section from Commerce and Industry to truly make the Show representative of the country’s economy. A great improvement was also the installation of lighting in the evenings in 1973. The Show looked like a fairyland and drew even more crowds.

The Pretoria Show celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2009. Through the years this Show has always been one of Pretoria’s flagship events, but the need was identified to change the image of the Show to be more in line with expectations of consumers and visitors to the event. Tshwabac's Board took a strategic decision some five years ago, in terms of which the company's name was changed to the Tshwane Business and Agricultural Corporation.

This was followed three years later by changing the name of the Pretoria Show Grounds to the Tshwane Events Centre, partly to emphasise in the branding that the very versatile facility can be utilised for many events besides shows and exhibitions. As a logical consequence of the earlier strategic decision and also to effectively brand the Show in a continually changing environment by keeping it fresh and modern, a decision was made to rebrand the Show as the Tshwane International Show (T Show)