Re-establishing Round Table International was not a straightforward process. Waldo Thöle from South Africa, who served as the first International President of the reconstituted RTI (RTI Board 1991–1992), wrote a short essay about the circumstances of the time. This report is based on his account of RTI’s rebirth.
The rebirth of Round Table International was initiated at the WOCO meeting held in Quebec, Canada, in 1988. The motivation for re-chartering Round Table International as an umbrella body for all Round Table Associations throughout the world was that many members were unhappy with their membership of WOCO, and that they felt that the 40 year age limit was not being protected and eroded by the fact that other non Round Table WOCO members were trying to increase the age limit. There were already a number of Round Table Associations throughout the world that were planning to increase the age limit from 40 to 45. The Round Table Associations in general felt that this was a principle of Round Table and should not be changed, and therefore we should have our own International Body with its own rules and regulations protecting various essential elements of Round Table.
There was a move by various non-Round Table Associations to include women in membership, and this was also something which was of concern to Round Table and representatives from some of the other regions. The committee was established and communicated with member associations as to what they required in the constitution, and met on one or two occasions to finalise the draft constitution. This draft constitution was then presented at WOCO in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1990, at a special meeting of Round Table Associations, and was then discussed, amended and accepted. The decision was that the re-charter of Round Table International would take place at the WOCO meeting in Klagenfurt, Austria, on 16th September 1991.
The constitution of Round Table International set out the objects of Round Table International and dealt with the concerns of the various Round Table Associations throughout the world. The association was initially divided into two regions, namely:
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- The Africa Asia Pacific Region (including the Middle East, India, South-East Asia, New Zealand and Australia).
- The European Mediterranean and America’s Region.
The only two officers of Round Table International were the President and the Vice President. A General Secretary was also appointed, whose duty was to prepare and maintain the minutes of the meeting and perform general administrative duties. The President and Vice-President did not receive any remuneration, and the only travelling expenses that were budgeted for by Round Table International were limited and were as follows:
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- The cost of travelling of the President and his partner to and from the annual general meeting of Round Table International as well as that for the Vice-President and his partner, and of the General Secretary. Any other costs of travel, for example, if associations or regions wished the President of Vice-President to visit, then these costs had to be paid for by the inviting associations.
The reason behind the restriction in the costs was that there were numerous views expressed over the years that becoming a WOCO President required you to be a wealthy person and have unlimited time to travel. This meant only a few people could stand for WOCO President, and the travel budget added to the association’s costs, but the members saw very little benefit from this.
After the decision to re-charter Round Table International at the WOCO meeting in Austria, the proposal was made that Waldo Thöle (ARTSA) be the Charter President, and Cees Verweij (RT NETHERLANDS) Vice-President. It was proposed that David van Riel (RT BELGIUM) be appointed as General Secretary. When Round Table International’s first AGM was held in Klagenfurt on 16th September 1991, all Round Table International Associations that were present signed The Charter of Round Table International, and elected the aforementioned parties as their first officers and General Secretary.
This was a most exciting moment for Round Table International, and the culmination of two years of negotiations, discussions, meetings, and proposals, as well as bringing a new spirit into Round Table throughout the world. The Charter of Round Table International, which came about due to the concerns of Round Tablers to preserve our unique character and identity, and the Charter, reflected this commitment that we had as Round Tablers. It ensured that we would use the body to promote and foster friendship and fellowship throughout the world, as well as to promote and extend Round Table into countries that did not have associations.
One of the items that arose after the formation of Round Table International was the relationship between RTI and WOCO and the individual Round Table Associations in WOCO. At Klagenfurt it was the first time that we experienced a WOCO AGM as well as a Round Table International AGM taking place during the same week, and over the years, the relationship between Round Table International and WOCO was debated and experimented with and finally at WOCO AGM of 2005 in Costa Rica, a motion by Active 20–30 International, saw the closing of the old WOCO Umbrella Organisation and a formation of the WOCO Foundation. This meant that Round Table International would, from then on, have their own AGM every year, with the Foundation joining as a guest every 3 to 4 years to show what work they had achieved. The first year that it was only a Round Table International AGM was in Polokwane, South Africa, in 2006.
The re-charter of Round Table International has lead over the years to the consolidation of Round Table as well as to building the organisation into a strong and viable body, which now has many more benefits than initially planned for, and it has continued to grow from strength to strength. The member associations of Round Table International at the Charter were the following:
Associations and their Year of Foundation
RTBI 1928 RT DENMARK 1936 RT SWEDEN 1943 RT NETHERLANDS 1946 RT BELGIUM 1950 RT FRANCE 1950 RT NORWAY 1947 ARTSA 1950 ARTCA 1953 RT GERMANY 1953 ARTEA 1954 RT SURINAME 1955 RT AUSTRIA 1956 RT SWITZERLAND 1957 WARTA 1960 RT NEW ZEALAND 1961 RT INDIA 1962 RT LUXEMBOURG 1963 RT ITALY 1964 RT HONG KONG 1965 RT ICELAND 1974 RT MALTA 1975 RT ISRAEL 1979 RT MAROCCO 1979 RT BERMUDA 1980 RT CYPRUS 1981 RT GREECE 1981 ARTAG 1982 RT TUNISIA 1983 RT GIBRALTAR 1984 ARTIO 1985 RT USA 1986 RT PORTUGAL 1987 RT ESTONIA 1990 RT HUNGARY 1990 RT LIECHTENSTEIN 1990 RT POLAND 1990
Complete list of Round Table International Charter Signatories:
| Name | Nationality | Position |
| Waldo Thöle | South Africa | RTI President |
| Cees Verweij | Netherlands | RTI Vice President |
| David van Riel | Belgium | RTI Secretary |
| Gerard O’Herlihy | RTBI | RTI Charter Committee |
| Dr. Martin Uitz | Austria | President |
| Walter Max Schwendenwein | Austria | IRO |
| Marc Picalausa | Belguim | President |
| Jean de Brauwer | Belguim | IRO |
| Andreas Tsovloftas | Cyprus | President |
| Hans de Neergaard | Danmark | National President |
| Poul Aalund | Danmark | IRO |
| Nòlvak Leho | Estonia | National President |
| Vaho Klaaman | Estonia | IRO |
| Philippe Savioz | European & Mediterranean Region | Regional Secretary |
| Kari “Lille” Lindroth | Finland | NVP |
| Keijo Manner | Finland | National President |
| Esa Anttonen | Finland | National IRO |
| Francis Depauw | France | President |
| Philippe Vandevoorde | France | National IRO |
| Hans-Jûrgen Winter | Germany | President |
| Michael (Mike) Knauth | Germany | National IRO |
| Mike Price | Hong Kong | President |
| Tama’s Halm | Hungary | President |
| Bjarni Gudmundsson | Iceland | President |
| Adaslteinn Arivason | Iceland | IRO |
| Anand Gurdip Singh | India | President |
| Yaron Hirshson | Israel | President |
| Giuseppe Lorenzi | Italy | National President |
| Marco Jacobbi | Italy | National IRO |
| Parimal Hindocha | Kenya | National President |
| Christopher Caruana Turner | Malta | President |
| John Cooper | Malta | National IRO |
| Cader Jaunbocus | Mauritius | Vice President |
| John Reinerie | Netherlands | National President |
| Larry Lepper | New Zealand | NVP and IRO |
| Trygve Rossebo | Norway | President |
| Ole Berg | Norway | National IRO |
| Mark Taylor | RTBI | IRO |
| Bruce Bennett | RTBI | National President |
| Dave Frankish | South Africa | President |
| Jo Neser | South Africa | IRO |
| Anders Nilsson | Sweden | President |
| Filip Gille | Sweden | IRO |
| Felix Mauron | Switzerland | National President |
| Lucien MĂ©tille | Switzerland | IRO |
| Mohsen Khamassi | Tunisia | IRO |
| Pete Jackson | Zambia | President |
| Steve Dyson | Zambia | IRO / PRO |
| Peter Edmeades | Zimbabwe | President |
Written by Waldo Thöle
Sources: Personal Account