SA Rocks

I have recently had my positivity and that of this blog challenged in a very rational and structured way by a gentlemen calling himself “Preacher”. I have my opinions about his point of view and I will respond to his comments below:

Preacher’s comment:

I continue to grow incredibly frustrated with fellow South Africans who seem to share this mentality where a poor attitude is one of the biggest challenges facing the average disgruntled South African. Being positive about the situation in South Africa is one thing, being absolutely blind to the reality of the situation is another thing altogether. Every time you raise the issue of crime, poor service delivery or rising living costs, you get the same response. “Get off your behind and do something about it!” What most people fail to realize is that by paying your taxes and being a good citizen, you are doing something about the situation. You are making a positive contribution.

I am a white male aged 28. Being the indirect benefactor of Apartheid has automatically made me the villain, nothing more then another pale face who has to pay for the sins of his forefathers. Enough about my past though. I wanted to get that out of the way so that you could automatically put me into whatever box you put people like to put me into. Im sure you have a label for it. We South Africans love nothing more then to label and classify people.

Lets, however, rather look at my present situation and possible future. One that is shared by quite a few South Africans of which a fair percentage are beginning to feel the way I do. Perhaps the positive South Africans would be able to elaborate exactly where I am wrong in my cynicism and highlight exactly why I should change my attitude to that of a positive South African. I need examples here. After all, it seems that negativity is almost as big an issue as crime, HIV and unemployment. It has to be. I mean, every time you dare complain about the state of the nation you are called a negative whining spoilt brat. Perhaps once I have been enlightened my perception of the current challenges we face will be accepted with glee instead of the growing frustration I face daily. Im not quite sure. Making an informed decision alone just does not seem to cut it. Continue Reading

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Some may argue that it’s utter bullshit that only now, thanks to 2010, things are being done in SA to change the state of things.

I am of the mind that any sort of jump-start is worthwhile, necessary and relevant. Better late than never.

Do you think that things have been left for too long? Is 2010 to late and should we be making such a point of doing all this work specifically for 2010 world cup? Should we not be making a difference for the citizens of SA instead of the visiting tourists?

I am interested to know what your thoughts are.

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I was sent a great email by one Gerhard Schroeder who has been collecting data about SA for a while now. His email consisted of a document of some really kick ass facts about our great country and the people who live here.

This will be the first of many posts to come about varying topics over the next week. I am going to try and not fill the week with these posts even though the facts are pretty cool and will hopefully spark some interesting debate along the way.

So lets kick-off the SA FACT FOR THE DAY with some facts about our economy:

Many world-wide banking innovations originated in SA: We were the first country in the world to introduce interoperability of ATM cards through Saswitch; the first developing country to introduce credit cards; the first African country to introduce ATMs; the first country in the world to introduce biometrics on cards for the payment of pensions and we were one of the first countries to use satellite communication for branch operations.

From now onwards there will be a fact for the day every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I hope that people read these facts and everytime you are at a dinner party and someone quotes some unfounded “fact” about SA that you can remember these facts and quote them right back!!

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Practical visionaries, particularly qualified futurists, real geniuses (of the Mensa variety) who also happen to be genuinely good guys are rare finds.
Even more so if they choose to stay in South Africa despite the obvious lures from other shores for this unique & valuable combination. This Guy has a captivating vision for what we could be, as South Africans/ Africans within a global context. He speaks without the hypnotic ra-ra of sugar-rush motivational speaking, so often unfounded on anything but blunt patriotism.
Instead, strong, clear, sometimes challenging solutions – based on long-term strategy and unlocking present untapped resources – inspire real possibilities. This is what anyone fortunate enough to spend time with this man will see and hear.

If you haven’t been introduced – I’d be honoured to give you a little glimmer of the force for good that is Guy Lundy. If you read SA Rocks regularly, you won’t be surprised.. Guy has been celebrated here before (thanks SA Rocks founder Nic) for his legendary speech “I Pledge Allegiance“. The speech went viral after it profoundly rocked our Toastmasters group; passed hand to hand around the world when South Africans desperately needed the clarity and optimism it offered.

From that seed of hope a book was born, and then another, and saw Guy jetting around the world to share the miracle of South Africa’s unique lessons in transformation. His background as an economist and futurist offers an expanded view that most SA pundits need to provide solidity for their scenarios. Guy has an engaging scenario that was developed coming in as CEO of Accelerate Cape Town : Southern Comfort / Southern Tiger (THIS is well worth a read! especially if you don’t count yourself among the apathetic & would love to get involved in ensuring SA rocks).

If you’re also keen to bridge the gap between idealism and productive action (read: good business): stay connected to the projects that Guy will be initiating through Accelerate Cape Town. Join the Facebook group for updates. Or even better, if your company/organisation can afford to get Guy to come in to do one of his legendary presentions: this is a guarantee that your trajectory will take an upturn from re.visioning your future here.

Join in & get fit for a future that is increasingly disrupted, unpredictable and define your own vision given the opportunities and risks on the horizon. The more of us that have a coherent, creative set of targets to work towards the more likely it’ll be that South Africa will get her day in the sun. We became a more united, diverse, colourful nation that miraculously transformed into a democracy.. is that it? All our karma burnt up? Or have we got the capacity for more?

I believe with my head & heart that we do. And passionate about celebrating the work of the brilliant & brave individuals who step up and do more than just speak. Hence the series >>

There are few people who have inspired as much confidence to contain a realistic yet still determinedly optimistic strategy for our future in South Africa as Guy Lundy. Read his blog, his books or book him to speak ..and let’s get some vooma & accelerate with more confidence into an SA we are REALLY proud of.

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Criticism is aplenty when it comes to the approach that I take here on SA Rocks. So, for once (and I think the first time) I am asking a question about some problems that we face in SA. These are serious problems with very subjective views on their solutions. I am not looking for an answer, I am looking for constructive and open ended debate that will allow everyone no matter their views, to see things from another perspective.

The three things in the title are three of the main issues that we face here in SA. We are working extremely hard to effectively and creatively combat issues in all three areas but many people feel that we are not winning.

I want to ask you what you think? How do we fix these problems, effectively, swiftly and in a long lasting manner?

I am will moderate comments that are offensive, racist, bigoted or in any way below board. This is not going to be a platform to moan, bitch and wail about how awful things here in SA are. Things are not awful in SA. Things are good but there are issues just like in every country.

I want to know what you think some of the solutions could be? I want to know about some solutions in your community that you have seen work effectively.

Personally, I think that there are little things that communities can do to help in their own ways. Neighbourhood watch is a great initiative that used to work wonders for me on my street. Four houses would look out for one another, if I saw something that was questionable, I would call my neighbours and tell them. And vice versa. If you see a broken robot on the street, call the municipality and tell them. If you see an accident stop and help, make a simple shift in your approach to the world. Stop bribing police officers and they wont be able to accept bribes. If you break the law, accept it and pay the price for it. Do not get pissed off when you are stopped for talking on your cellphone, instead, stop talking on your cellphone. These issues all contribute to the greater issues that we have here.

I hate to use this phrase, but much like charity starts at home, so do the solutions to the problems that we so vigilantly blame on the government, on the police, on the crime protection unit, on the car next to us, the municipality or any other organisation. I am not asking you to fix a pothole I am asking you to pick up the phone and make one simple call.

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I am trying something different here at SA Rocks. I want to open up a discussion forum on topical issues with the SA Rocks readers.

The first topic I would like to see discussed is the very topical, very current Public Service Strike taking place.

There are some rules though:

Comments on this post will be moderated – This will take place for obvious reasons. I am not looking for ranting, swearing and abuse. I want well justified, objective and fairly represented points of view. If you are abusive in any way your comments will be removed.

Expect rebuttle – Not necessarily from me, but from well informed readers who might have another opinion.

That’s it. If you would like other topics discussed please email me and let me know!

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WOW.. what an interesting week this has been. Have you been finding that there are more opportunities, changes, things to learn, things to read, people to meet than you’ve got time for?

.. the feeling of how the hell am I EVER going to catch up?!

I woke up this morning with the words of powerful exponent of innovation and leadership – GE’s Jack Welch – cutting through the clutter.

Shun the incremental, and look for the quantum leap

As South Africans this kind of thinking is crucial to our success. Anyone who’s travelled through countries with developed economies and you’ll agree that we haven’t a hope of catching up if we choose a tried & tested, conservative, incremental route to get there.

I laughingly inferred that the Patricia de Lille camp had strategically been campaigning a la Bullard on the post that I thought I was posting for SA Rocks on Monday. South Africa has slipped backed again on the Global Entrepreneurial Monitor’s annual report. Nigeria kicks our butt in entrepreneurial confidence, and hungrily using any tools that give inexpensive leverage.

Technology, particularly web and mobile technology offer us the opportunity to circumvent the heavy infrastructure that was historically required to be a world force. South Africa’s success in business or politics requires a perception shift, from working hard to working smart.. the lifeblood charged with embracing innovation. Innovation requires leadership to provide a solid framework, and guidance but NOT control. Do our leaders have that level of courage?

“Small companies have huge competitive advantages. They are uncluttered, informal. They thrive on passion and ridicule bureaucracy. Small companies grow on good ideas – regardless of their source. They need everyone, involve everyone, and reward or remove people based on their contribution to winning. Small companies dream big dreams and set the bar high – increments and fractions don’t interest them.”

Confidence always precedes courage. The risk to venture into using emerging technology or taking the entrepreneurial leap, is most often not taken because of a lack of knowledge. Being clear kills fear.

I’m helping to design the Nomadic Marketing course running at the UCT Graduate School of Business using the principles of tech-enhanced brain-based learning to make a daunting subject relevant and immediately useful. [So if you find yourself at sitting next to someone at dinner who's in digital denial.. send them the link. They NEED to know how easy it actually is to use technology without being a geek or spending a fortune now]

South Africa hasn’t got the luxury of waiting for the hand-me-down, safe applications of social technology if we have big dreams for our little country.

BUT if we’re happy hanging out on the benches .. then slamming blogger’s rights, or waiting till the “playing field” is levelled is the surest path. Uninspired, derivative success is guaranteed, we’re getting there: slowly and incrementally.

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Last week South Africa played host to two freedom fighters of the digital domain. Genius of stature both. Founders of culture-shaking organisations that are reshaping our reality: Prof Lawrence Lessig (Creative Commons) and Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia).

[The heavyweight slammers with Sunday Times' Gregor Rohrig on his birthday]

I believe the SA Free Culture Tour (thanks Heather Ford & team of iCommons) has marked a turning point in ZA digital culture. It was huge fun, but there was also a huge message to get more active in policy-making and culture-building to ensure South Africa doesn’t slip into digital obscurity.

If you give a damn about the future of this country, especially if you intend to keep living here, I suggest a little listen to some of the recordings (the Sunday Times’ Special Report especially good). Unless of course you really enjoy limited bandwidth, paying staggering costs for the right to connect with other humans on the planet or other such injustices.. (there are those who enjoy S&M so I don’t want to assume, but I’d say the likelihood is that most of us find being a Telkom hostage horrifying).

We have more to be concerned about than the irritation of cost. The real tragedy of Telkom’s trickleflow of telecommunications to this promising young country, is that with the digital world accelerating and opening global connections of trade, education, distribution and capital flow, if we are left puttering in the slowlane it won’t be long before South Africa becomes a backwater. The braindrain will continue to pour out and Africa will be the poorer for their lack of foresight. [check Chilibean Paul throwing a solid klap at the parasitical parastatal]

We don’t need to whinge impotently about it though, there are a couple of things that we can do to respectfully suggest a longer-term vision.

Joining ISOC’s (Internet Society of South Africa) Public Policy group is a good start. Getting a proactive creative strategy mapped out for policy changes to help government serve us better is a great alternative to filling out all those tedious working visa forms. When you’re feeling particularly infuriated as your mailbox needs panelbeating from the last Telkom bill crashing in, take heart, you never know when you may find your self seated next to our Minister of Public Works Alec Irwin or Dr Ivy Matsepe-Cassaburi for dinner. You may have the opportunity to present that 3,8million signature strong petition you’ve collected through your site, politely, (with dessert to avoid indigestion).

If we all have a clear and constructive, practical approach to the problem, we may well offer our expertise as allies to help the government get Telkom out of the sticky patch of greed and seeming indifference to the future it has stumbled into. I’m going to take the Jimmy Wales’ default optimism stance, and believe that people inherently want to do good – even telecom monopoly excutives.

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There are three South Africans on the Forbes billionaire list, reports the Sunday Independent.

Nicky Oppenheimer ($5 billion), Johann Rupert ($4,3 billion) and Donald Gordon ($2,2 billion). It is really incredible that there is a South African contingent on the list, that is brilliant.

Nicky Openheimer	Johann Rupert
Donald Gordon (right)

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So imagine for a moment that you are a geek, or tech-loving entrepreneur: and you happen to live at the very bottom of a continent, where the most basic infrastructure is sporadic. You’re very very far away from Silicon Valley, Singapore, Bangalore, Tel Aviv, Helsinki, Cambridge, Mumbai, Shanghai or some-such global tech hotspot.

Frankly, the banks don’t give a flying fig for your woes young bootstrapper: if you fail you’re screwed.. (IF you happen to be lucky enough to have landed a high interest loan from these risk-averse behemoths, in the first place). The government has more pressing issues than focussing on developing the conditions that foster an economic environment favourable to start-ups. The very efficient taxman is gonna come knocking on your door, even if you land on your bum. There is very little room for failure here. Crime and xenophobia aren’t exactly welcoming attractions for talented immigrants. Firing someone is virtually impossible; so you better do it yourself, or have bloody good instincts. EISH!
Imagine too that the cost of your telecoms is 399% higher than the global average!
WTF :-/
Mmm.. now imagine wanting to start your own business in the tech sector. Sounds like fun hey?!

For South Africans, at home with lions roaming our streets and hardcore adventure tourism a speciality.. we eat this kind of challenge as a condiment on our boerewors roll. Mrs Balls of course. Continue Reading

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