SA Rocks

This last friday I handed in my notice to my bosses. My last day of work is the 23rd November, and then I have a few days to pack up two years of my life [and the entire contents of a well stocked WHSmith bookshop] in shipping boxes and head home to the sunny shores of the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

I am so excited, I feel like I am going to explode with antici….pation. I have spent the last two years cataloguing why the UK is not for me, and why home is where the heart is [that is stuck on an aloe in the hills of frontier land or floating in a rock pool on the wild coast]. I can’t wait for sunshine, glorious sunshine and rising temperatures and warm evenings on the beach. I will consume only braai and biltong for the first week, and drown myself in SAB’s finest offerings [and I am not even a beer drinker usually].

But putting all excitement aside for a moment, there is a small list of things that I am returning to that don’t leave me giddy with joy. Try to read the following points in the spirit in which they are written – that is positively, with an eye to what we should want to achieve together in South Africa.

1. Firstly let’s get crime out of the way. No one wants it. It affects everyone. It sucks, sure. The point is that there is crime everywhere in the entire world. House breaking is universal. What probably worries all South Africans more than theft is the level of violence we have come to associate with these crimes. I think Rev. Desmond Tutu has already said publically [cant find the quote at the moment], that clearly Apartheid and our past did much more lasting damage than we originally thought. It broke something fundamental in us as a people. Maybe that can’t be fixed, but we can raise a new generation of whole and happy people, by nuturing the humanity we see in all of us. I just wish we could fast track this.

2. I have previously written about how I miss driving over here, and i do, but I know I am going to be in the position to afford a car and the upkeep thereof when I get home. Not everyone can say as much, and the only other real option for these people are taxis, which often come with taxi violence and unroadworthiness as a package. We need to provide effecient public transport locally and long distance options. To do this we need to offer both gov-funded and private contracts and open up the industry. The market is there, where are the Richard Bransons of South Africa?

3. limping, crawling, capped internet is for the nineties! I love ordering my groceries online in ten minutes and booking a delivery slot. I love renting all my dvds through a personalised list on the internet. I adore having a wealth of information at my finger tips at any time of the day – always connected, fast and above all cheap. I pay for my internet connection is two hours working time. It costs the same as 4 pints of lager or 3 packets of cigarettes or a third of my weekly shopping. It gives scholars access to research they couldn’t even imagine. It drives development pure and simple, and we need it in SA!

Yes, they aren’t small problems, but they are fixable. When we get them sorted, I guarantee lots more people will start heading home, and fewer will want to leave for long term anyway.

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No, I am not getting rid of the current contributors, they are doing a sterling job! But I thought that it has been some time since I asked readers, bloggers and anyone else to contribute.

So if you have a blog post, cool story, idea, concept ar anything else for that matter please email me either with the full post or the idea!

If you are interested in becoming a more permanent contributor to the blog then email me too with your pitch!

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I am so pleased to see that this years 46664 concert is not holding back with local performers. And not only that, but I know people who are buying tickets to specifically some of the local bands. Cassette is one of the bands that I am extremely excited to see. Goo Goo Dolls and Razorlight (internationally) are on the top of my list.

The other local bands include:

Arno Carstens
Cassette
Danny K
Goldfish
Jamali
Johnny Clegg
Jozi
Just Jinjer
Louise Carver
Loyiso
Malaika
The Parlotones
Prime Circle
The Soweto Gospel Choir
Vusi Mahlasela

What an amazing line-up of bands! I have already bought my tickets and hope that you are on your way to do the same. If the local bands aren’t enough to get you there to support the cause then maybe these bands will tip you over the edge:

Peter Gabriel
Annie Lennox
Corinne Bailey Rae
Razorlight
Ludacris
Goo Goo Dolls
Jamelia

If that doesn’t get your blood pumping then simply buy your ticket to support the 46664 charity and event!

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This is a bit delayed, sorry, I’ve been a bit lazy!

Myself, Carly, Justin and Jason tried our hardest to welcome the Boks in to Rosebank on Friday. What we got was soaking wet and some great footage and patriotic displays! Unfortunately we didn’t see the rugby players as we were too wet and mistimed the entire event!

Here are two videos from the event:

And here is one from Carly Wienberg at The Times:

Brought to you by: The Times Multimedia

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The one and only Keo.co.za is our featured blog interview this week. Let’s get into it:

Hi Stu – Can I call you that or is it a secret?

You can indeed, most call me Ig and a lot of other names probably not worth reproducing here.

So your blog is pretty much the most popular blog in the country. How’s that feel?

Pretty dam cool. We never really had anything to compare ourselves against to until Amatomu came along. But it is very rewarding after all the effort from the Keo team in the last three years.

You are a fairly tough guy to get in touch with. Is this something you’ve done on purpose? There is no “contact us” section on your blog in case you didn’t notice!

Funny – people keep pointing that out. Beginning to think we should add one ! There is an email link for the webmaster – thats gets you just about anything you want. And most of our readers just post their questions in the comments and i try to answer them – as do all the guys who write on the site.

What have you done to make Keo.co.za so popular? Is it the sports angle?

Sports in SA was always going to be a winner, and when Keo started the site it was admidst the whole 2003 World Cup debacle, and a little bit of contraversy never hurt, i think our biggest asset was Keo.co.za was one of the first out there in terms of allowing fans to talk back, As opposed to a lot of the traditional columnists who offered an opinion and no channel to challenge it – this has of course changed and just about every media site now offers this facility these days.

We also got quite a lot of paper exposure through the columns Keo wrote for the Business Day, the Independant Group – and this gave us great exposure to South Africans who love nothing better than to talk about rugby. Keo.co.za is also the official online partner to SA rugby and SA Cricket magazine and provides branded content – which also brings us new readers all the time. I also think on any day that you vist the site – you can get a snapshot of the entire rugby world – and leave an opinion – and i think this is our single biggest reason for our success.

Do you ever get berated for what you cover with regards to black/white/racial sports? Too much rugby, not enough soccer, too much cricket?

Keo is essentially a rugby site, we didn’t really cover anything else until the end of last year when we added cricket looking to the world cup in the West Indies, it was met with mixed reaction, some didn’t like it, some did. In terms of the politics in sport – we do cover it and it generates a lot of debate – not all good . We have had a couple of requests not to publish stories covering the political side of sport – but the reality is we publish news and if we don’t publish it – someone does in the comments and the debate will go on.

If anything we get more complaints about stories we have missed !

What do you think makes SA such a special place to live?

Dude, you have to ask ? It Rocks !

Is our sporting culture different to that of other nations or does every nation think that?

I think we are particularly unique for a variety of reasons, South Africans love to rally behind winners – Look at the RWC wins – dam it sounds sweet to say wins and not win – , The African Cup of Nations win, all our Olympic athletes – we love them and we celebrate them and back them to the hilt as long as they win – if they don’t South Africans can be a little harsh on passing judgement from the couch. But i think most nations have the same vibe – everyone wants to win, we just seem to create obstacles to our success whenever we can.

Are there any future growth plans for Keo.co.za or other projects you are planning?

We have endless ideas about expanding the site, but time and money tend to get in the way, i hope by next year we would have added a couple of podcasts and video casts, we are looking at a shopping section for supporters. Hopefully in the next few weeks these ideas will firm up and we will implement them. My biggest fear is to be just another rugby website – we want to be the place rugby fans visit on the web because we are the best at it – not because the site has endless features.

You don’t often cover women’s sports, is that going to change or do I just keep missing all those blog posts?

I think in the 7000 odd articles in the databse – 5 are about the Womans Bok team – so in short no we don’t really cover womens sport.

Do you truly believe that sporting patriotism has an effect on the broader community in the long run, like the RWC win for example?

Yea i do, its been shown time and time again in SA and abroad. People need heroes. And our sporting stars tend to deliver more often than not. Its a great unifying force.

In closing, what do you have to say to all your loyal readers and all those amazing South African sports fans?

Without you we wouldn’t be where we are today, we luuuuurve you.

Thanks alot for participating Mr Keo! Keep on rocking!

Keo is probably Mr Keo himself ! But you cannot mention the site without mentioning – Simon, Jon and Ryan who generate our copy all day and all night. They deserve alot of repect and take a lot of flack.

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I was sent the below Facebook conversation thread by a friend (thanks Sim!) and thought that it would be worth putting on SA Rocks.

Read it through. It’s an interesting take on SA and an interesting way for us to use Facebook. These people used it to help eachother find love for SA:

Jill Ambrose: okay.

as anyone who has ever spent an extended period away from South Africa will tell you… there’s a ubiquitous ‘rollercoaster of emotions’ with regards to the country we all call home, which lurches from missing SA desperately (with all it’s beauty, quirks and tragedy…) to never wanting to return to a place which isn’t quite as efficient/safe/stable/ as the typical developed nation.

i think you all know what i mean. so i won’t bore you with the details of my white-middleclass-paranoia. i’m just asking for your take on how to stay proudly south african.

despite the World Cup victory (and thank goodness for that!) all i am left with to remember SA by are the daily statistics and news articles about how SA is the most dangerous/corrupt/HIV-ridden…

i guess i’m looking for a little faith… anyone….?

Jennifer Reynard: This morning I spent 5 minutes scraping ice off my car window.That is not particularly a reason to be proudly South African, just an observation on the perils of living 55 degrees 55 minutes north.

I think the things that make me proudly South African are as follows:
1. Knowing that there are haves and have nots. The more I speak to people, or visit beautiful European countries, the more I realise that by and large they have no idea how lucky they are. I think the perspective gives us something valuable.
2. We are vibrant, not stuffy. Look at tiny little Thabo being hoisted onto the Boks’ shoulders. As some Aussies we were watching with were saying, can you imagine Gordon Brown being lifted onto the England team’s shoulders?
3. We are building a country, not just inhabiting one. Over here all the systems and protocols are so ancient that a lot of things are just ‘the way they have always been’ (if you read our blog you will know Kyle’s rants about banks over here).
4. People at home understand you. It means not having to live a life spent explaining that ‘you grew up in Africa’, or whether we have roads, or explaining that the word is ‘Afrikaans’ not ‘Afrikan’ (which, btw people seem to think is a universal language of Africa, haha)

Now the hard part: you’ve seen the first world, the transport, healthcare, the law abiding citizenliness. I think it is hard to take such a sympathetic view of home once you have seen those things. For me, at moments like that, I remember what a young country we are, how much we have done already, and the skills that I have that can help us go further.

That is my ‘ray of sunshine’ style input into the conversation.

Jessica Combes: I’m going to agree with Jennifer – she said it perfectly.

What I will add is I am proud of the work ethic instilled in me by virtue of not living in a typically developed nation.

I look at some (ok, most) of my students – their apathy and general ignorance – and I thank God every day I come from a place where you have to work hard, because you’re replacable and the government isn’t going to look after you in terms of health care, etc.

Living in South Africa makes you resilient to many things on many levels (from a really long line at the bank to a murder on the news) – we just take everything in our stride, because we’ve learned to. We’re flexible people. We’re driven people. We’re passionate people. We’re interesting people.

Another thing that makes me proudly South African – our history. Not just apartheid and how far we’ve come from there, I mean all of it. I only realised how interesting it actually is when some of my students actually asked me about it and their reaction was sheer awe.

“So the Dutch and England were squabbling (their word for the day) over South Africa? Wow! Cool country!”

How awesome is that?

Kerryn Stapp: 1.) because we have the best people in the world.
2.) because we have problems but we’ve overcome one helluva lot!
3.) we have a booming economy, 2010, gautrain etc
4.) and we still have a high quality of life – big back gardens, braai’s
5.) our government is actively focused on promoting and developing women
6.) its kind of exciting seeing how far we have to go…a little daunting, but a challenge nontheless…

Lara Van Lelyveld: Although I am technically in “the most beautiful city in the world”, the home of Kafka and Kundera, the Charles Bridge and my university is 700 years old, I would never settle here. I would happily trade it all in for South Africa.

Everyone has pretty much covered the reasons South Africa is great. For me, it is the people, the sky and the space that I miss the most. Cities suck. I need wide open spaces. The sun never shines here and everyone is cross all the time. I get shouted at at least every second day. Apparently not speaking the local language is a sin punishable by public harrassment.
People in SA just get it. You don’t have to explain everything. And everytime I have to refer to a braai as a BBQ, I die a little bit inside.

Despite the fact that the SA govt is full of shit, corrupt and occasionally useless, the crime levels are sky high and HIV/AIds is ravaging the country, it is HOME and that is perfect for me. The first world can keep it’s public transport, ‘culture’ and old buildings, give me a bit of space, a small town, and a few good friends and I will be happy for life.

permission was given to republish this thread.f

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To the 15 men who carried the hopes and dreams of 48 million people on their shoulders last Saturday night and did not drop them, all I can say is THANK YOU – and you deserve it.

You had me on the edge of my seat all through the match and you had me in tears when you received the trophy and hugged President Mbeki one by one as you filed past, victorious.

On Friday (according to my English colleagues!), we were “overconfident”.

On Saturday, we were the world champions.

I walk around with a new spring in my step, alternately humming Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika and that completely silly and completely addictive Bryan Habana song, smiling benignly at all the Poms crying in their coffee. My favourite moment early last Saturday night was when I was rushing home on the Tube to see the game, naturally wearing my Bok T-shirt and surrounded by red and white shirts. Leaning laconically against the platform doors at Waterloo was a tall black guy sipping his beer, waiting for the train and wearing a Bok jersey. We fleetingly made eye contact, then recognised each other’s shirts. I gave him a quick grin and a thumbs up; he winked and raised his beer to me. It was like being in a secret society. And being surrounded by all these red and white jerseys everywhere gave a whole new perspective to Bok van Blerk’s line “‘n handjie van ons teen ‘n hele groot mag”…

And still, we won.

To celebrate this historic victory there can be no more appropriate drink than a springbokkie. It’s green, it’s gold, and it’s delicious. But be warned – it’s also addictive!

You will need:
Amarula Cream (or substitute Cape Velvet Cream or Bailey’s)
Creme de Menthe (or any similar mint liqueur)
shot glasses
a teaspon

The ratio of the 2 ingredients to each other is up to you. I have seen recipes that call for half-half, while others suggest more of one or the other. Personally I would not go much further than half half – too much Creme de Menthe and it tastes like Listerine!

Fill half of each glass with Creme de Menthe. Then carefully top up by pouring the Amarula over the back of the teaspoon so that it floats. Down in one gulp if you must… but I much prefer to sip it

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I recently decided that I need to do more interviews with great people in SA. The first person I chose is Adii. He is a freelance WordPress designer but he’ll tell you more about that. Recently Adii has gained huge exposure on some of the biggest blogs around and this caught my eye. His portfolio is large and extends across the world.

So here goes:

Hi Adii – can we call you that? – thanks for getting involved in SA Rocks! Tell the SA Rocks readers a bit about what exactly you do.

Hey Nic – thanks for having me – it’s always a honour being recoqnized by one’s peers. And sure, I’m Adii all the way – nobody calls me Adriaan online anymore!

I basically see myself (and thus promote myself) primarily as a WordPress designer. which means I do a whole lot of custom WordPress blogs for clients weekly… I have however also moved into strategic consulting (ito new media / social media) lately and I believe that gives my work an edge over other designers – my sites aren’t all about just looking pretty. Apart from that, I’m also a very active blogger and I can contribute most of my successes to my blog – it’s been the starting point for most of my new jobs and ventures.

You haven’t been blogging or designing for very long. How’d you get yourself out there so quickly?

Simply being bold and connecting. I’ve never been afraid to get shot down when I’ve approached the big guys and girls – that’s how I got an interview with Matt Mullenwag (Mr WordPress himself). And the whole 9 months that I’ve been blogging has been about that – making new friends, touching base with well-known and popular developers, designers, bloggers etc. and then begging for some linklove! The few free WP themes that I released didn’t do any harm either…

You represent SA quite effectively in your reputation. Is this an integral part of what you do? Your South African flavour?

I wouldn’t say that my nationality is integral to what I do, but I’ve never been afraid to hide it either. When I registered the domain name, I didn’t even consider getting an international .com / .net etc. – there’s just no need to hide the fact that we’re South African. And judging by my own successes this year – my nationality hasn’t hampered my business either.

I actually complain to international clients about our crappy broadband speeds on a daily basis… It’s all about embracing who you are and where you’re from – and from what I’ve found clients love the fact that a person is being him-/herself. Funny thing is that my blog has gone mad since I launched the original polaroid design (V1) back in June and I simply attribute that to the fact that the more personality a blogger brings to his / her blog, the more readers can relate to the blogger.

I’m a good old Afrikaans boytjie, who loves my beers, braais and good rugby (Mark F – wishing you had that over in the UK?). That’s me in real life and online – can’t change that.

You’re based in Stellies, tell me about that? Has at made any sort of impact on your career so far? Do you plan on staying down there?

I’m finishing up my four years at Stellies this year and I seriously can’t wait to get out of this place actually. Stellies is great for the first half, but as you get older the people and situations around you get more immature… That said, I’ve loved doing my Honours this year and I’ve had some great lecturers who have truly taught me strategic thinking (which is a great asset). I was doing a bit of a dead-end undergraduate degree (Chartered Accounting), but this year has been a breath of fresh air.

I will always look back at my 4 years at Stellies and smile about it. It has most definitely sculpted me as a person and it has definitely contributed to my career – quantifying that is probably more difficult, but the measure is whether I’d do it all over again if I could (and the answer is for sure).

As for staying here… I’ve accepted a job at a top corporate communications company in Cape Town and I’ll be heading up their New Media division from 2 January 2008. I will also NEVER consider living anywhere else in SA – if it’s not Cape Town, then it’s Europe…

WordPress is your specialisation and template design is your forte, how and why did you get into template design?

Seriously I don’t know actually… It started out as a hobby really… Last year around June I decided that I want to blog as well (and make money), so I searched around for a open-source blogging platform and came across WP. I taught myself to skin it for my own blog back then (not adii.co.za), then I started doing the odd “help-out” for friends and everything just snowballed from there.

I’m still amazed at the vast open spaces I’ve found in this niche however. When I started I thought that there must be so many quality WP designers out there, but fact is there’s a bucketload of average WP designers out there and only 10% of them are good enough to get the top jobs. That’s why you’ll find that guys like Brian Gardner and Micheal Pollock (Solostream) are fully booked all the time. In hindsight, getting into WP – although by “accident” – has been one of the best choices in my life!

Has it been tough living in SA and making an international name for yourself?

Not at all! Most of my clients don’t even know where I’m from and the one’s that do know noticed it from our time differences (and subsequent delays in responses or concepts).

You’ve had some noteable debate going on with some “high profile” WP designers. Has their opinion or public slamming of some of your stuff made you change your approach at all?

Haha! I’m actually not going to say much about that situation, as there are too many brainwashed people out there that won’t recoqnize the truth of the situation even if it was standing before them.

I have however not changed my approach or strategy and I don’t intend to do so. I’ve reached the heights I have due to me being me and not being afraid what the community might say / think. Instead however of fighting fire with fire in this situation, I’ve gone back to the drawing part, strategizing and formulating a plan that’s going to take everyone by suprise. My aim is to become the WordPress Rockstar (thanks for that term Dave Duarte), but you’ll see that all happening when the plans start rolling out… (Hint: My new Premium News Theme is part of this plan).

I’m interested to know what motivates you, what inspires you and what keeps you going?

I would say money and greed, but that would just be shallow! Nah, only joking… This might sound corny, but my fiance is the sole reason for all my drive and hard work. Through working hard (blogging, designing, consulting etc.) I’m effectively building my dream life and at the center of that, there’s my fiance. So she has been my motivation, inspiration and the center-piece of the amazing life I’m building with her!

I’m obviously inherently ambitious and there’s nothing like a good challenge to get my over-excited. But that’s just part of my character – I will always have this drive to succeed, irrespective of whether I had a fiance or not. But having something so dear to you supporting your every move, definitely makes the journey so much more fun and rewarding!

And finally, do you love being South African and if so why?

Oh hell yeah! I love the fact that we, as South Africans, are actually so inherently diverse and multi-cultural. People say racism and apartheid, but I see a whole new generation emerging where it’s all about embracing the obvious differences to work together and produce something great. I get warm fuzzies in my stomach when typing that… But that is true!

I’m proud to be called South African due to everything that our country has come through. I’m a proud South African due to the future that we’re creating and the relationships we’re building… If that’s not enough reason to be proud, I can always add a good braai, Western Province Rugby (in their glory days) and a chilled glass of Amarula on ice to the mix…

Thanks Adii!

If you are interested in good design and an example of great marketing of oneself, check out Adii’s blog!

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This is a must-listen. Tokyo Sexwale takes on… EVERYONE.

Get it at The Times and Listen Now.

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There are many South African bloggers who have made and continue to make a great impression on me and the countries onlince scene. I have taken the time to compile a list of who I think are some of the most influential bloggers in SA.

Jon Cherry – has had his fingers in many cherry pies. He initiated the SA Blog awards which were arguably the best and worst thing to happen to the SA Blogosphere in recent history. His projects include: Cherrypicka, FeverPitcher, Jetstreaker and is one of The Times Blogumists. Jon’s all-round involvement in the local blog scene definitely makes him an influencial figure.

Dave Duarte – Might not blog very often but when he does it seems to be profound. Most of the time. Dave made this list because of his incredible demeanor towards all things techie, innovative, blog-orientated and fresh. His work at the UCT Graduate school of business and Technomadic Markets have brought the online trend to marketing mainstream of business elite. His involvement in Muti.co.za, iCommons, Cerebra and the 27 Dinners makes Dave an effective networker. I think it’s a toss-up between Dave and Mike Stopforth when it comes to networking whores!

Vincent Maher Maher has featured on Al Jazeera and CNN in his capacity as a blogger, this alone makes him influencial. On top of his television appearances he has, along with Matthew Buckland, helped Mail&Guardian become one of the forerunners in the online sphere in South Africa. His involvement in Amatomu and Thoughtleader have set him apart among local online innovators. He was also nominated for IT personality of the year.
Maher’s blog also helps to define his prowess in the online sphere. Whenever he blogs you can rest assured that something dramatic will be said or take place. His coining of the term “Bullardgate” in the infamous bullard-scandal is one of the moments that stand out in recent history. Maher was also one of the first local bloggers to land a sponsorship for a blog.

Keo – When Keo talks the country listens. Sports are an integral part of South African culture. Keo is sport online in SA. There are no two-ways about it. Keo says Jake is going to win, and Jake won. Keo says that Sports are thriving and they thrive. I really do wish that I had more information on Keo.co.za but it is very hard to track the man down. Keo editors, if you read this, email me and let’s chat! This blog currently sits at the top of Amatomu.com rankings and has done so since it joined the service. Killer.

Mark Forrester – The man creates pure design bliss. He has helped design many blogs that form the top of the SA Blogosphere. He had a hand in the So Close redesign and the HomecomingRevolution and Represent blog designs. His own blog has put him on the international design map and made SA a name in those circles. His involvement in the design of Afrigator is clear and present and has definitely assisted the website in becoming a force to be reckoned with in Africa and the world.

Tertia Albertyn – Tertia is the author of one of SA’s greatest blogging successes, So Close. She was one of the first, the biggest and the ones that have lasted. Her blog allowed her to become a recognised figure in a niche market in SA and the world. She was recognised for her writing skills in 2007 as a 2007 Lulu Blooker finalist. She was in contention for the prize with the likes Frank Warren from Post Secret, Seth Godin, Colby Buzzell, Kristin Espinasse, Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas from Daily Kos. Tertia keeps on proving herself as a niche force to take seriously in the local blogosphere.

David Bullard – Author of the now defunct Bullog at the Times blog. The reason that bullog makes this list is thanks to his baptism of fire entrance in to the blogosphere. He had other names on this list scrambling for a response to his brash approach to bloggers and blogging. Bullard is living testament to the open nature of blogs. He surreptitiously entered the sphere, made his mark and departed as a non-blogger who blogged his way to fame in a short period of time.

Michael Trapido – Mr Trapido is a very new addition to the South African blogosphere (I hate that word but can’t think of another one). He was asked to blog for MG’s Thoughtleader blogging platform and has excelled. The reason that he makes my list of influential bloggers is his content. He pulls no punches and calls a spade exactly what he wants to call it. Trapido is a specialist criminal attorney. He is a director of the firm Turnbull and Associates. He is, like Bullard, living proof that blogging is for anyone and anyone can succeed. He has been of Thoughtleaders top bloggers for a while now and continues to pull no punches with his topics and his approach to blogging. If you haven’t read his blog yet, I think you should. Get there now.

Jarred Cinman – The voice of the underdog on his Thoughleader blog, burningpaper. Cinman goes against the grain in ever way and never ceases to make waves with his blog posts. He is intuitive, factual, heavy into research and loves to stir the pot. I love his blog posts because he is very willing to say what others wont and back it up with some viable research. Research is something that is seldom used by many bloggers but often makes the best bloggers who they are. He is a software director at Cambrient, South Africa’s leading developer of web applications and co-founded Johannesburg’s first professional web development company. This means that he has bite because his bark is justified. Another blogger who is a rising star. Keep a close eye on him.

Special Mention:
Adriaan Pienaar
Justin Hartman
Mike Stopforth

This list could be longer as any list of this type can always be. This is a subjective list and I know that many readers will have their own opinions. These are my choices and I am proud to say that I know, have spoken to or have met many of the people on the list.

Add to the list if you like and let me know who you think does SA proud in the online market nationally or internationally.

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