Harold Pupkewitz (14 July 1915 – 27 April 2012) was a Lithuanian born, Namibian entrepreneur and member of the President's Economic Advisory Council.
He was the Executive Chairman of Pupkewitz Holdings, a group of builders' merchants, car sale businesses, and a host of other enterprises, from its foundation in 1946 until his death.
While on a holiday in Windhoek in 1937 he decided to join the management of the family business, which at that time had developed from an ox wagon manufacturing enterprise to that of a general dealer, selling household wares and groceries.
[2] The Pupkewitz family business was founded by Harold's father Max in 1902 as an ox wagon building and repair enterprise.
In 1904 at the onset of the Herero and Namaqua War he opened shop in Okahandja, strategically situated between Windhoek and the coastal towns of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund.
The portfolio at first mainly consisted of building material and farm supplies but was expanded in 1954 with the addition of a furniture shop and a motor car sale business.
[1] When Volvo suspended their engagement in Southern Africa because of concerns about the apartheid system, Pupkewitz bought the local Toyota business in 1975.
Apart from Windhoek, the Pupkewitz group has outlets in many other places in Namibia, among them Walvis Bay, Keetmanshoop, Grootfontein, Otjiwarongo, Gobabis, and Aranos.