The Mandela Moment
It was Winnie Mandela’s first public appearance after the death of her former husband Nelson Mandela in December. Arriving at Orlando High School, she was welcomed by cheering crowds, African National Congress officials and photographers as she made her way through the gates ahead of the line and into the voting station. Mandela, seen here with South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources Susan Shabangu, left as quickly as she came, rushing off to Bekkersdal, where incidents of violence had been reported on the eve of the elections.
‘My Vote Is My Vision’
Twenty-year-old Bridgette Mashile cast her vote at Jules High School.
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“I just couldn’t wait to mark ‘X’ on the ballot paper because I already knew which political party I was voting for when the day finally came. Voting for the very first time has really had an impact on my life. The ink on my finger is good proof that I am now old enough to make my own decisions, especially how I would like my country to be run.”
For Madiba’s Legacy
The fact that she is blind did not stop 52-year-old Elizabeth Malebo of Alexandra township from participating. Malebo is grateful for the social grant she receives every month.
“Before 1994, black people were deprived of so many opportunities but the people who suffered the most were those living with disability like me.  I will continue to vote in honor of Madiba’s legacy.”
Grateful For Democracy
Patricia Abrahams, 53, has never missed a chance to vote in the past 20 years and is grateful for the opportunities of democracy.
“It is always the thought of the sacrifices of our late president, Nelson Mandela, that encourages me to vote. Apartheid had deprived us of the opportunities we now enjoy. I live in a previously so-called ‘white neighborhood’, an opportunity my parents’ generation never experienced. As an arthritis patient, I have the right to better medical treatment at any hospital without being discriminated.”
The Mandela Moment
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It was Winnie Mandela’s first public appearance after the death of her former husband Nelson Mandela in December. Arriving at Orlando High School, she was welcomed by cheering crowds, African National Congress officials and photographers as she made her way through the gates ahead of the line and into the voting station. Mandela, seen here with South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources Susan Shabangu, left as quickly as she came, rushing off to Bekkersdal, where incidents of violence had been reported on the eve of the elections.
‘My Vote Is My Vision’
Twenty-year-old Bridgette Mashile cast her vote at Jules High School.
“I just couldn’t wait to mark ‘X’ on the ballot paper because I already knew which political party I was voting for when the day finally came. Voting for the very first time has really had an impact on my life. The ink on my finger is good proof that I am now old enough to make my own decisions, especially how I would like my country
to be run.”
For Madiba’s Legacy
The fact that she is blind did not stop 52-year-old Elizabeth Malebo of Alexandra township from participating. Malebo is grateful for the social grant she receives every month.
“Before 1994, black people were deprived of so many opportunities but the people who suffered the most were those living with disability like me.
I will continue to vote in honor of Madiba’s legacy.”
The Art Of War 2.0
In the run-up to the recent South African elections, social media emerged a winner.
When Sun Tzu penned The Art of War, he probably had South Africa’s 20th democratic elections in mind. Never has the importance of military positioning been more important. Forget the rallies, the posters, the promises and speeches that either roused emotion deep in our bellies or left us reaching for the mute button. This war was not just about these traditional weapons of battle but for the first time saw political parties enter the social media ring in a fight for followers, likes, and retweets.
The dust has now settled. The bruised, the battered, and the victorious have claimed their places. South African political parties have certainly latched onto the hype of social media with the top four performers in the election, the African National Congress, Democratic Alliance, Economic Freedom Fighters and Inkatha Freedom Party, all ramping up their online artillery in the build-up to the elections.
The social media whirlwind has been an unmatched phenomenon that has changed electioneering tactics forever. It’s hard to believe that in 2007, when Barack Obama first made his presidential intentions known, iPhones did not exist, Twitter was the new cool kid on the block and Facebook had a mere 50 million users. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that the ‘twittersphere’ has proven to be a reflection of national opinion and that Facebook has become the go-to space to talk party policies and how they are intended to shape our future.
South African political parties have woken up to the fact that in addition to posting the last weekend’s party photos, young people are gravitating to social media to voice their political opinions. The unwritten rules of the social media game open up a space for peer-to-peer engagement (arguably the most effective tool of influence), where the playing field is leveled in 140 characters, and where thought-leadership is not the preserve of a handful of insiders.
For the technophobes who haven’t embraced social media yet, consider this: Johannesburg has the highest number of Twitter users in Africa. South Africa has consistently recorded on average 100,000 new Twitter users every month in the past three years. In the 2008 elections, Obama claimed 70% of all the votes of people under the age of 25. According to the United Nations Population Fund, 88% of young people in South Africa have access to a landline, a mobile phone, or the Internet. You do the math. Social media in electioneering has very little to do with technology and everything to do with social behavior.
Like a first date, our political parties’ soirée with social media has been hesitant and somewhat cautious. As we build up to 2019, political parties that are the keenest to get to second and third base will be building their social media budgets, finding the right expertise, and ultimately claiming more virtual and ballot box votes.

The Poll Picture

You started as a schoolteacher. How did you get into development work?
South Africans of my generation were born into a situation that required us to take a stand. Some of us were lucky to be in communities where there were opportunities for us to be involved in charity and development work. The organization that gave me the first insight about my community was the YWCA, because my mother was a member. She was my role model as she was involved in community work. A lot of women were quietly making a difference. They were ordinary women doing extraordinary things during the apartheid days. They were filling the gap to provide services the system was not providing in black townships. Many of them worked in communities to get women to grasp the fact that spacing children will give them the freedom to be productive citizens, further their education and take time to become leaders.
How much of a challenge is reproductive health today in Africa?
Reproductive health continues to be one of the biggest issues of our time. Many of the girls start their journey to poverty at a very early age. It is usually because of unmet needs of reproductive health, and lack of access to services and in some cases, the challenge of reproductive rights that are violated: it could be rape and denial of services, therefore at an early age, they end up having children they cannot afford to look after. And as soon as that happens, they have signed a contract with poverty forever. They have also introduced poverty in the next generation, as it is most likely that the children they have will also be poor.
At another level is the prevalence of early marriages, one of the biggest challenges we have in the 21st century. They are sanctioned by parents and traditional leaders and we have inadequate response and action by governments. Many of the children who have early marriages are never going to take full advantage of their potential. A young girl who has the capacity to be a great scientist loses all of it, because at age 12, she is married to a 40-year-old. In many situations, the girls are married off to people they don’t know. So their emotional wellbeing is completely ignored.
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What about the missing Nigerian girls?
What has happened to the girls in Nigeria is in many ways a reflection of this crisis. What we are experiencing is modern-day slavery – the trafficking of young girls abducted in their communities. We are doing it to ourselves as Africans, we are taking our own children and abducting them and selling them and all of us who condemn slavery as nations of the world are not there to make sure this practice is not allowed to thrive on our continent or anywhere in the world. We have to find a way of making this a global responsibility, and not just the responsibility of the nation where it happens.
We are establishing a partnership with African Development Bank and will be working in post-conflict countries to support the recovery of women so they have the means to rebuild their lives and the community. The majority of women in Africa work in agriculture. Statistics [reveal] that if we show the same amount of support to women in agriculture, it will positively impact 150 million people on the continent.
What about issues of public health?
In some countries [in Africa], mothers and children die under circumstances that are preventable. Public education and access to public health is growing on the continent, there are many good stories of economic opportunities for women in ecotourism, sustainable development and the knowledge economy. For all these decisions to become public norms, you need all of society to buy into the changing circumstances. You need the man to be a part and parcel of this. For International Women’s Day 2014, our program ‘He For She’ called for men to come out and share their views on why gender equality is important and what they can do about it, in their companies and communities.
What is the global perception
of Africa?
It is by and large negative. We are not hearing enough about women who are breaking the glass ceiling and are change-agents. We don’t hear enough about Rwanda, where the parliament has the highest female participation. There are an outstanding number of women who are passing laws in Nigeria.
More should be done to ensure girls do not stay out of school. The education is also about curriculum, and to produce teachers who do not propagate stereotypes. And [the need] is to have a labor market that has equal pay for men and women.
You have been SA’s Deputy President. Would you ever be keen on making it as its first female President?
There are a lot more capable women.
When it happens, it will be a great day for South Africa and I will be cheering and supporting them.
&#8211; Interviewed by Methil Renuka

‘Take Time To  Become Leaders’

It takes weeks to secure an appointment with Nigeria’s high-profile Director-General of the Securities &amp; Exchange Commission (SEC). And when we do, it’s on a public holiday.
Walking into Arunma Oteh’s office in the country’s capital Abuja is like walking into a trophy store: shiny medals, mementoes, plaques and trophies take up an entire wall.
One glance is enough to convey the success of Nigeria’s tough-talking chief capital market regulator. A career she couldn’t have imagined.
As a child, Oteh wanted to be an inventor. A proud workaholic, she puts her discipline down to her sound upbringing.
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“My parents were really stern but also loving, and for my two sisters and I, the constant quest for knowledge and excellence was firmly rooted in this background. They had such a great sense of character and the courage to be different and standing up for what was right regardless of the cost. I believe they instilled this in me. My childhood is really what has made me who I am today,” says Oteh.
It was tough being the daughter of a father who had exalted expectations. Once, she ran home elated, report card in hand. She had big news.
“Dad, I did it, I came first in class!”
One look at her report, and her father said: “Great, but next time, you have to be first plus plus.”
Such was Oteh’s family. They looked down on mediocrity and believed in brilliance. Hailing from the southeastern part of Nigeria, Oteh grew up in Kano, northern Nigeria.
Oteh’s mother, a nurse, wanted her to become a medical doctor, her father, an engineer, wanted her to take on his profession. But Oteh had other interests. She recalls fondly her obsession to become an inventor. Computer science was in its infancy in the 1980s; she loved the sciences and believed she could become a pioneer. So she studied computer science.
In 1984, Oteh graduated top of her class and faculty from the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, after which she taught computer science to first year university students as part of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), a compulsory government program for Nigerian graduates.
After NYSC, she went to Lagos and was interviewed for jobs. The offers came thick and fast, and she decided to work for Centre Point, a stockbroking firm, because she admired Dennis Odife, the owner of the company and a highly respected businessman.
“I was impressed with what he had done with the company and what he had become. It was an amazing decision and defined what I ended up doing later in life. I was hired at the time to start the management information systems department but few months into that role, he thought it would be good for me to work in corporate finance. That’s how I got into finance and got really excited about it too,” says Oteh.
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Oteh’s fascination for her new found career grew and she explored the next step for growth. Her mentor, Odife, had been to the prestigious Columbia Business School in the United States. And she saw this as a must.
She started reading up about business schools and applying in her first year at Centre Point. The acceptance letters poured in. And she made it through the selection process at Harvard Business School.
“My father had always said, if you do well, you can always get what you want,” says Oteh.
Oteh worked in the United Kingdom for some time and flew to Harvard in September 1988. Here, she found herself surrounded by intelligent people and erudition.
“Business school was amazing. The case study methodology employed at Harvard also helped hone my skills in decision-making and problem-solving. This is an environment that prepares you to take on the world. I was very interested in finance. As the first Nigerian woman in the Harvard Business School MBA program, my class mates were quite wowed and thought I was a princess.”
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It all led to a career as Director-General of the SEC, a post she has held since January 2010.
This is merely one of the many hats she wears. She was also elected Chairperson of the Africa Middle East Regional Committee (AMERC) of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) in June 2010. She is a member of the Nigerian Economic Management team and serves on the board of a number of organizations including the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) and Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
Today, Oteh is charged with transforming the Nigerian capital markets and unlocking the country’s economic potential.
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Her appointment four years ago came at a crucial time, on the heels of the global financial crisis. Nigeria’s stock market had fallen 70% from its peak in March 2008. Investor confidence was low. There was need for change and a tough regulator.
By the time she started, Oteh already had a wealth of experience and believed she had the panacea.
Her message to the people was to save and invest wisely. To the policy makers, she preached against depending on short-term bank finance, and in favor of medium and long-term finance to fund infrastructure.
“Having that crisis helped, because people had seen what could go wrong. The environment to support a tough reform agenda was present as they could see the importance of a regulator that would do its job. When I joined, the vision was for the SEC to be the best regulator in Africa and I said, ‘best regulator in Africa?’ That’s not ambitious enough. Our aim should be to be the best regulator in the world. Nobody invests in a particular market because they love it. They are more interested in the safety and security of their funds. In that case, it is important to build a market that can stand globally acclaimed. This isn’t possible without integrity,” says Oteh.
Oteh was ready to put her money where her mouth was in an arduous revamp of the Nigerian capital markets.
It wasn’t going to be easy.
“That led us to alleging that 260 individuals and entities had carried out different forms of market abuse. The second thing was to focus on the Exchange. Nigeria had one operational exchange and being a visible symbol of our market, it was very important to ensure that we address the challenges of the Exchange because then, we develop the industry of fund and asset managers and develop the fixed income bond market to the point where it became easier for people
to borrow.”
Thanks to her efforts, today, she has the likes of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which launched a successful bond last year. She has also been able to regulate over-the-counter markets.
“We have two platforms, the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), which targets unlisted securities so there is more efficient trading in those securities or the platform sponsored by the financial market dealers association which does wholesale trading in Federal Government bonds. Also, introducing new instruments like Islamic finance products, and encouraging real estate investment trusts,” she says.
With all these feats and more under her belt, Oteh believes there is still more to do, and with careful execution, it’s only a matter of time before all her boxes are ticked.
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There have also been some dark days along the way for Oteh, as in 2012, the board of the SEC had directed her to go on compulsory leave, following a probe into the near collapse of the capital markets and allegations of misappropriation of funds and disharmony in the apex capital market regulator.
Oteh fought the system tooth and nail and went to great lengths to expose inadequacies in the structure, accusing the Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Nigerian capital market of corruption and unaccountability in a heated exchange at the public inquiry.
Following a two-month suspension, Oteh was cleared of all allegations and went back to her job as Director-General.
“I was angry that a system that is so well-endowed was being managed irresponsibly. I had also built a longstanding career and reputation over 22 years anchored on excellence. I knew there would be risks attached to fighting back and that I would be misunderstood but I also felt that standing up for what was right, far outweighed any costs attached for me. If I didn’t do it, who would?” she told FORBES WOMAN AFRICA.
Prior to her appointment at the SEC, Oteh was Vice President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), and was at the forefront of internal reforms that scaled up the bank’s response to Africa’s development challenges.
She had also served as the bank’s Group Treasurer for five years, managing a portfolio of assets and liabilities worth billions of dollars. In her years at AfDB, she restored its ‘AAA’ rating by Standard &amp; Poor’s.
“Some of my most fascinating experiences were that people were just so excited to hear about Africa – there was such a curiosity about the continent. At the time, AfDB was a ‘AAA’-rated institution and we would go to sell AfDB bonds in Japan. People were relatively familiar with why we were so highly rated. So, most people felt very comfortable with the credit when you sold bonds – they knew there was no risk,” she says.
Oteh had also started the Euro currency programmes while at AfDB.
This great adventure with AfDB began post-Harvard, following a year’s project with the Harvard Institute for International Development assessing the competitiveness of manufacturing in West Africa. She had interviewed at AfDB where she got hired into the West and North Africa portfolios in 1992. She covered Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana and Sudan, traveling in these countries.
After being away from her home country for 22 years, Oteh, a proud patriot, believes there is no place like Nigeria. She is highly optimistic.
“There are no countries that have taken the bold steps we have in the financial sector in the last few years,” she says.
As her current term draws to an end in January 2015 – and that’s also when she will be turning 50 – Oteh and her team, are working tirelessly still, raising the bar and repositioning the face of the Nigerian capital market globally. It is yet to achieve demutualization and this is a direction the institution would like to steer towards.
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Oteh is also passionate about mentoring young girls, and advocacy. She holds a strong view on women’s place in society, drawing attention to the low number of women in key positions and boards.
“Equal opportunities should exist in the work place. A meritocracy where the best suited and qualified individual gets the job is also as vital.”
She also believes in a great support system and that young women should have self-belief.
“Successful leaders should pave the way for younger women to climb the corporate ladder through mentorship and coaching,” she says.
On career and family, Oteh, who acknowledges devoting her life to career, says she wouldn’t do it differently.
They call her the ‘Iron Lady’ for her tough decision-making.
“If leading change, being passionate, resilient and decisive about a great course is what makes me an iron lady, then I proudly raise my hand up high to that tag,” says Oteh.
She has come a long way from Kano. Oteh is not telling us what her plans are post her current assignment, but we are sure to hear more about her in the news.

From College Princess  To Queen  Of The Markets

No one could ever accuse songstress Shingai Shoniwa of being dull.
When she hits the stage late on Sunday evening at Ronnie Scott’s legendary Jazz Club in London’s Soho, she is in her third change of outfit, each brighter and more spectacular than the last. Each with an African twist.
Clearly, launching a solo music career is serious business and for Shingai dressing for the occasion is part of the theater.
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Born in South London of Zimbabwean parents in 1981, she has been the lead singer and bassist with Indie pop band The Noisettes for 11 years and has been touring the world, headlining gigs and creating music with fellow Noisette Dan Smith for far longer.
Together, they hit the big time in 2009 with their second album titled Wild Young Hearts, an album packed with catchy melodies and great vocals from Shingai, a singer who is confident and comfortable with her craft.
“Believe it or not, it has been really hard to get people to accept me in the music industry, a brown girl who plays bass and who sings and writes her own material. People want to pigeonhole you into a particular genre, and I don’t fit.”
For years, Shingai has been singing the lyrics to Sometimes a bitter-sweet break-up tune: ‘Sometimes…  we start over&#8230; and go solo’. Now it’s her turn to start over. For the last three months, Shingai has been in Los Angeles recording her debut solo album &#8211; the first time she is recording music without Smith.
For Shingai, the United States (US) has a broader musical canvas.
“In [Britain], radio trends are not daring, not exciting and they are driven by imported music. In the US, pop music has room for a lot of original characters.”
When we were arranging this interview, Shingai texted me from Cuba to tell me: “Cuba is incendiary! It’s a feast for the creative spirit&#8230; I’m recording some wonderful music here with Afro Cuban artists… I’m very inspired.”
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Her Los Angeles life is obviously still evolving, and as they rehearse together in the jazz club’s downstairs dressing room she shows Smith pictures of her newly rented West Hollywood home. Transitioning her life from one continent to another is already well underway. She has sold her old Mercedes in London, and a new vintage model is about to be purchased. Laughing loudly, she says she is now based between Hollywood and Hove, a town on England’s south coast.
Tonight, at Ronnie Scott’s, is the first time she will have performed any of the new material on stage and she admits she is nervous and has butterflies. Some musicians drink to gain some Dutch courage. Not Shingai.
“I won’t drink alcohol because you have to feel the music and drink just kills it.”
She’ll be playing a short set of tunes old and new. But, for her it’s all about the audience’s reaction to the Thomas Mapfumo-inspired Zimtron, which sounds like a mash-up between Mapfumo and the afro-pop of Fela Kuti.  I think this is a big step on from the Indie pop of The Noisettes but true to form Shingai kicks back.
“I don’t think so, it feels like an evolution. Zimbabwean music and Shona culture has always been a big reference point for me.”
Watching Shingai rehearse the set during the soundcheck is a revelation. Doors open and paying guests arrive for song and supper at 6.30PM sharp. Shingai, performing as a guest with the Natalie Williams Soul Family, has 22 minutes to run through four songs which are brand new to the band. Acting as musical director, Shoniwa sings her own part and eases the arrangements up and down, bringing the band and three vocalists in earlier and later as required.
“Most singers just know how to sing. This was a hard night with lots of new songs and she took the pressure off us by doing that,” says the Soul Family bass player afterwards.
Shingai has flown in from Los Angeles for tonight’s London gig and her large family are here in force to see her perform.
“I’ve never been away from them for this long before, and I’ve been missing them so much,” she says.
By coincidence her twin sister, Shorai Shoniwa, a media executive, slips into a seat beside me when I’m settling down to watch Shingai sing.
“Since she was four years old, Shingai has been performing, and we are all so proud of her,” says Shorai.
When I mention that we were all supposed to meet at 4PM and Shingai had turned up at 5PM &#8211; still without her stage dress,which is in Kilburn, west London &#8211; Shorai laughs.
“We call that Shingai-time in the family!”
When Shingai  was 10 years old she went and lived with her grandmother in the savannah plains of Tete in Mozambique for a year. She explains that if not for the colonial boundaries, her Malawian gran would have been from the Chewa tribe.
“That year made a big impression. It just made me appreciate the richness of the colors, the sounds, the fashion, the voices of my African heritage.”
Which explains why Shingai reflects Africa so vividly in her clothes and in her work today.
For Shingai, music was always a part of family life.
“I’ve grown up in an environment where I’ve had a lot of musicians coming in and out of my living room. From the late eighties my mum and uncle used to put on events at the Africa Centre. Someone would ask me: ‘Who’s your favorite singer?’ and I’d say Whitney Houston and they’d say: ‘Well this is how you play it Zimba style!’”
Shingai was born in Brockley, raised in South East London and is quick to emphasize that’s where all the best London art colleges, like Goldsmiths and Ravensbourne, are. She went to the prestigious BRIT school for the Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon and studied theater for two years. Towards the end of her stay, she formed Sonarfly with Smith.
Sonarfly quickly moved from an eclectic repertoire of blues standards and cover songs to writing their own original material. The Noisettes arrived in 2003 and in part had to busk to raise the money to record their first album. They have subsequently recorded two more acclaimed albums and are delighted to have made more of an international impact with their third album Contact.
But, tonight belongs to Shingai, the London singer who is so proud of her Zimbabwean heritage. The audience reception to Zimtron is rapturous and Shingai is thrilled.
So what does the future hold for her?
“We live in the global world where we have access to and can see what everyone else is up to. It’s about reaching everybody. To me, headlining festivals in Zimbabwe and in Malawi, on Freedom Day in Johannesburg and at Belladrum in Scotland is just as important as playing Abbey Road, the O2 and Glastonbury. We’ve done that, enjoyed it, and now for me it’s about reaching out to people internationally.”
So watch out Africa, Shingai Shoniwa is coming!
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Solo In Soho With A Songstress Of Steel

Those who have been to Cape Town’s colorful Bo-Kaap quarter will instantly recognize the same vibrant vibe at District Six Eatery, which celebrates Cape Malay cuisine in the heart of Johannesburg’s Emmarentia suburb.
There are hurricane lanterns on the floor and panama hats on the walls. A faux chandelier sheds light on an ornate mirror and shelves laden with old biscuit tins, chinaware and pickle jars. On another wall hang family portraits and jazzy carnival costumes. Everywhere you look – walls, tables, chairs, linen – are theatrical fuschia pink, blue and orange colors.
From the small kitchen in the back, owner Grace Fourie emerges, like a stage-performer from the green room. She is wearing suspenders, jarman shoes and gold rings. When this diminutive 38-year-old smiles, you also see a glistening gold tooth.
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“That’s my Midas touch,” she winks.
Her ten-table restaurant, District Six, named after the historicial Cape Town precinct, is packed on weekends. Don’t expect to get a seat without a reservation. Tables spill on to the streets and revellers stay on until 2AM. Fourie is always present, as owner, chef, waitress – and to offer the customary parting hug.
“We offer home-style food and most people who come are regulars, but even first-timers don’t leave without a hug. The world is full of crime and animosity, so that’s the least we can do as people. I mingle with the guests, and give about 50 hugs a night,” says Fourie.
The personal touch is not the only reason she has a cult following among foodies. Fourie offers authentic Cape Malay flavors on the menu: samosas, oxtail in pumpkin, lamb curry, bobotie, smoorsnoek and tomato lamb bredie. Like the décor, the house salad is a riot of color and tastes. She sells lime pickles and pineapple chutney too, at R35 ($3) a bottle, and makes her own masalas. On weekends, she includes live comic acts, and house music by David Kramer and Bobby Hendricks.
Regulars also ask for the milk tart, another specialty. But by the time you get to dessert, Fourie would have already won you over with her honeyed talk, lacing it with enough “my sweetheart”, “my angel” and “my darling” endearments.
The Johannesburg-born Fourie says she learnt the art of customer service during her years working as a teller with Nedbank. After that stint, she worked as a hairdresser in a salon in Sophiatown – that’s when she first visited District Six Eatery, as a guest. It was then owned by Capetonians Romano Gorlei and Clarence Swartland. She offered to waitress at the restaurant, and in 18 months, the owners asked if she would be interested in buying the business.
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“I used to eat here, and offered to help. I would work until 4PM at the salon and start at the restaurant from 5.30PM. They trusted me, and when they asked me to buy the place, I did,” she says. Fourie took over in 2012, bought new furniture and crockery, and revamped the menu. She also got help from her attorney-boyfriend, Emmanuel Giddion, who spent his childhood in Cape Town’s District Six.
“A lot of Capetonians who come here get teary-eyed when they see the memorabilia and taste the food,” says Giddion.
That’s when Fourie knows she has done something right.

50 Hugs a night

I have not worked a day in my life, because I love what I do. The daily adrenalin rush of live television is a necessity and I thrive on the pressure. Recently, CNBC Africa went global with an exclusive interview with President Jacob Zuma. To prove my mettle as a financial journalist, I asked a number of tough questions. The more challenging aspect was that CNBC Europe had booked a satellite link the following morning, directly into their live shows. We would cross ‘live’ six times during the morning into the global CNBC network and introduce segments of the president’s interview live from Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa.
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Each of the first five live crossings to London was a nerve-wracking two-minute ad lib leading into the interview. It was as though this is what I had been training for the last 13 years. Five crossings down, and congratulatory emails started streaming in from our global network affiliates, the most notable from CNBC Europe’s Head of News and Programming, Patrick Allen: “Watching from New York, very happy with the outcome, interview good, report great, you and shot look great, bravo.” But in the live television business, it is not over until it is over.
Our biggest moment was still to come – our live link directly into Squawk US. The controllers out of the US spoke to me: “Bronwyn, this is New Jersey, we are linking you into Squawk US. This is CNBC US, the biggest financial broadcaster in the world, they have a very different broadcast style, no mistakes tolerated. You must conduct a precise 45-second ad lib, then throw forward to a 15-second sound bite from President Zuma.”
My heart was pounding and my knees shaking, as
I waited for the cue from Becky Quick, the CNBC US anchor. Then it happened.
“Thank you Becky – emerging markets are out of favor and their currencies are all under pressure. South Africa has one of the most volatile currencies in the emerging market space having fallen some 17% against the dollar over 2013. Many economists in South Africa feel ongoing allegations of corruption against the ruling party and unrest in the mining sector are fueling further rand weakness. In a CNBC Africa exclusive, I sat down with South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma and asked him what he thought was behind the rand’s fall.”
And just as suddenly as it began, it was over. South Africa’s minute of fame on the world’s biggest financial network had come and gone. How did it go? The broad smile on my producer’s face and her thumbs-up indicated it was a clean execution. My reputation intact, I was ready to face another day in the world of live broadcasting.

‘I Have Not Worked  A Day In My Life’

It is dawn on a Thursday, the sun is barely over the horizon. A mist swirls between the 25 canoes packed on the banks of the Msunduzi River at the Natal Canoe Club in Pietermaritzburg. Jane Swarbreck and former Olympian Jen Theron are already sweating. They are paddlers in Group C, among the top women in African river racing.
The Dusi Canoe Marathon is a journey across 119 kilometers of wild and treacherous waters in the searing heat of KwaZulu-Natal, tackled only by the toughest competitors. This race draws tens of thousands, only a thousand qualify, and fewer make it to the finish line. Even fewer are women.
This is how Africa’s toughest river race has run since 1951. It was conceived by South African soldier Ian Player around a campfire in Italy, during World War II.  Six years after the war, Player was the only one to finish it. It took him six days, eight hours and 15 minutes. He survived two days of low rivers, a flash flood and a night adder bite.
For Swarbreck and Theron, who finished fifth in the women’s category, the challenges on the white waters would make Player tremble in his soaked boots.
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“There is a massive difference between navigating with an 18kg and a 22kg canoe. It is slower in a heavier one, but your lines in the water with a lighter canoe have to be clean. If not, you will sink and that can cost you four to five minutes a time. When you are racing, every minute counts,” says Theron.
It is a race won on the road as much as the river. The weight makes a huge difference when portaging – that is getting out of the water and carrying the canoe rather than risking it split in half on the rocks.
“The Dusi is unlike any race in South Africa. If you cannot run you do not stand a chance of winning… sometimes I just wish a man could race in a woman’s body to see how difficult it is,” she says.
Theron knows a thing or two about the limits of the female body. She competed in the 500 meter K2 and K1 sprints at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, finishing 8th and 7th respectively. For years, she trained alongside men and says there is a big difference in physicality between genders.
“Men have a faster recovery time because of their testosterone. It does not mean women train less than men, they train equally, it is just they are physically unable to,” says Theron.
Along with carrying heavy canoes, barring the first day when they set out in a women-only group, women racers face off canoe-to-canoe with men.
“On the water you have guys constantly tailing you in your wake, like the peloton in the Tour de France, it can take off 30% of their resistance in the water and you cannot get them off your back,” says Swarbreck.
An electrical engineer by day, Swarbreck is a South African adventure racer, who has at times ‘dabbled’ on the water. A year ago you would not have caught her near the Dusi race. She learned to paddle in a few months and was surprised when Theron approached her to team up.
“Even getting around the dam once and not falling in the water was an accomplishment for me. Now, I came fifth in the Dusi. Who knows what can happen next year,” says Swarbreck.
Despite having equal footing on the water, women that win prize money have a different story to tell.
“I think it is really unfair that the race organizers can give male winners R115,000 ($10,500) and the females half of that. It is the only race in South Africa where the top prizes are unequal,” says Theron.
The organizing committee cited that the prize pool was smaller due to a lack of depth of field in the women’s category. In the 2013 Fish River Canoe Marathon, also held in South Africa, the prize money sat at R30,000 ($2,750) for both genders.
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“What is more upsetting was the female winners were 23rd overall. A couple of years ago, coming in 64th would have meant you came first. You can see how women have improved and their race was much more exciting than the men’s,” says Theron.
Abbey Ulansky, known as the Dusi Queen, clinched her ninth pole position when she crossed the line with partner Robyn Kime, called the Dusi Princess, making it their third victory in a row as a pair.  They won with a slim lead of two minutes and eight seconds.
Along with Theron and Swarbreck was an unlikely pair made up of a Czech, Ana Adamova, who trained in the sub-zero temperatures of a European winter, and South African Abby Adie. From day one, they were nipping at the leaders’ heels.
It was an eventful final day for Adamova and Adie. The two started 90 seconds behind the leaders. What they did not see coming were children pelting them with stones 20 kilometers from the end. Adamova finished the race with blood pouring down her face.
Of the 817 canoes that took to the misty waters of the Msunduzi River in Pietermaritzburg, 715 made it to Durban three days later. It is a tough race for anyone, for these women it is just another day on the water.

‘I Wish A Man Could Race In A  Woman’s Body’

When Majida Nantanda – the coach of the Ugandan national women’s football team – was growing up, her four brothers treated her as an equal in their matches. She thought that was the way it was supposed to be.
When she went to school, she realized girls were not expected to run around kicking a ball. Nantanda’s opportunities to play the game were far fewer than those of her brothers. She knew that was not the way it was supposed to be.
Nantanda defied the odds, endured the jeers and forged a career in sport. Her determination and talent saw her play for the Ugandan national women’s football team for nine years. When she was done, she turned her attention to coaching and football development, with a twist.
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In 2009, Nantanda joined Tackle Africa, an organization that uses football for HIV/AIDS awareness among the youth. Her rationale was simple: “I committed to developing a grassroots football program to empower more girls and women in sports. But I also use football to address issues like health and education. Considering that football is by far the most popular sport in Uganda, if more coaches can be trained on how to provide HIV/AIDS education, it will have an important impact among the youth,” says Nantanda.
Nantanda offers something slightly different than her male counterparts, because she targets women’s education.
“For girls, it is about knowing their own rights, how to stand up for them and taking ownership of their bodies, something they learn through female coaches. Our female coaches teach girls to be strong, to speak up and make decisions. They work on empowering women to have free choice, particularly around their sex lives in an often male-dominated society,” says Tom Colborne, head of business development at Tackle Africa.
She is also a role model for young boys, who do not have the opportunity to meet many women in elevated positions within their societies. The female coaches are seen as figures of knowledge, confidence and authority, according to Colborne.
But it is not as simple as it sounds.
“I had many challenges in bringing a group of boys together to play organized football, and at the same time talk about an HIV topic related to the drill. Some parents discouraged their children when they heard I am speaking about condoms, but I did not lose hope. I explained to the parents, what, why and how football and life skills link together,” says Evelyn Achieng, a Tackle Africa coach in Kenya.
“I love the drills, we do them once a week. After we learn it, we practice and play it over and over until we remember it. Some drills show exactly what is happening in our bodies, so it is fun, but it is also important to learn. These games have really helped in my education. I am active, I listen and I concentrate. Here we all know each other and we help each other learn about discipline, HIV, life and making friends,” says Juma Christine, a beneficiary of Tackle Africa’s Kenyan project when he was younger.
Tackle Africa has 8,000 girls on their books, and 200 female coaches working in six countries across southern and East Africa. It is also working with the Tanzanian sports ministry to train 120 female coaches. Juliana Mokiwa is one of them and has already seen the dividends of her work pay off both in her personal life and in football.
“In Africa it is true that many women have no say with their husbands. Now, I have the knowledge about how I can make decisions. I have also learned different skills about football, which I will teach other coaches and players,” she says.
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Tackle Africa has seen the confidence and ability of female players grow, however footballing infrastructure remains a challenge, admits Colborne.
“There’s still a long way to go before there’s a women’s professional game in any of the countries we work in. Even the top division male players are rarely able to earn a decent living through the game. But, we see women’s national teams beginning to spring up and there are numerous organizations running women’s leagues,” he says.
Despite all that, Tackle Africa is not looking to unearth the next Nantanda, instead it is hoping to keep young people playing football, so they can reap the benefits associated with the program.
“We help female coaches to be better at coaching, so that they can develop players – not because we care about making better footballers, but because we know in order for our sessions to work, the coach must be credible [and only then will it have] young people coming back. With good female coaches, they can ensure girls attend their sessions as regularly as boys, and learn as much about football as they do about life.”

One Shot For GOAL Another At Life

The Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, in the United States, will host the 78th Masters tournament in April, but this is only the second since it allowed females to join the golf club. But no women will participate in the international major. Instead, they will compete in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, which will take place a week earlier in California and is in its 41st year.
Gender-equality is not much more than a concept in golf, which takes pride in its staunch adherence to tradition. South Africa is one of the countries making strides to close that gap. This year February saw the launch of the Sunshine Ladies Tour, a six-tournament event, each of which carries prize money of R100,000 ($9,430). But is it enough to reignite the game among women who are oft-ignored?
“Women’s professional golf in South Africa was in a wasteland since 2009,” says Margie Whitehouse, the chairperson of the Women’s Professional Golf Association of South Africa (WPGA).
Prior to 2009, the only tournament on the women’s golf calendar was the South Africa Women’s Open, which did not have status abroad and was canceled in 2010 and 2011. When the WPGA elected a new board in 2012, they sought to change that.
“We acknowledged that our members and aspirant professionals were being forced to seek a competitive platform abroad. We set about, immediately, to create a local competitive platform,” says Whitehouse.
The Women’s Open, which is part of the European Tour schedule, is one half of how women are gaining ground on the golf course. The other is the new Sunshine Tour. Like its male counterpart, it too will serve as a qualifying event for the season-ending Investec Cup, a marquee tournament on the local golfing calendar. The men’s event has prize money of R6 million ($562,000), which according to Selwyn Nathan, the Executive Director of the Sunshine Tour, “heightens the sense of camaraderie in the South African golf community”.
For women, the purse is R300,000 ($28,000), but Investec see it as a way to support the fairer sex.
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“By incorporating a ladies element into the Investec Cup 2014, we are indicating support for the commitment, enthusiasm, skill and personal development that is required to succeed in this sporting code. Women’s sport is an uncluttered market commercially, and we look forward to showcasing some of South Africa’s top female golfers as athletes and individuals,” says Janet Larsen, Investec’s Head of Marketing.
Lee-Anne Pace is a Mossel Bay-born golfer, who won three tournaments on the Ladies European Tour in 2013 and was named the European Tour’s Player of the Year for a second time. She hopes to bring more success home to grow the local game.
“It is vital for South African golfers to support the Sunshine Ladies Tour and to help it become a successful and strong competition. As it grows, it will get more money and attract players from overseas. For now it’s just great that there is an opportunity for South African players to compete at home,” she says.
Like many South African golfers, Pace, who started caddying for her father as a teenager to earn pocket money, had to leave South Africa, the country of her birth, to kick-start her golf career. She received a scholarship from the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma and turned professional after representing the institution. Soon, she hopes to receive her full card for American tournaments, called the LPGA. With that will come increased earnings and the opportunity to compete in events such as the Kraft Nabisco Championship, both prestigious and lucrative.
She does not want to focus on the pay discrepancy too much.
“The men earn more money than us, but you know that going into this career. It should not really make a difference to how you approach the game. I am not too worried about the male-female inequality in golf. I am just enjoying myself and my career. I love golf and the challenges it holds and to be able to do it for a living is such a privilege.” For now, she is perfecting her swing.

Teeing Off At Home

Botswana is no stranger to National Geographic photographers, but this is not the only reason why it is the third most-visited African country. In 2012, the number of annual tourists (2,337,998) surpassed the number of its citizens. While Kasane, Maun, and the Okavango Delta remain the country’s most visited regions, investors and entrepreneurs flock to the economic hub.
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The country is the least corrupt on the continent and FORBES rated it as the fourth best in Africa in terms of doing business. In November 2013, De Beers relocated its sorting and marketing headquarters to Gaborone from London. The capital will also host the second Youth Africa Games in late May, thus bringing with it enterprises connected with the event. But business aside, from the moment tourists arrive at the newly renovated Sir Seretse Khama International Airport, they are met with modern and innovative architecture. Since independence in September 1966, Gaborone has transformed from a mostly dry shrubland with haphazard buildings, to a high-rise metropolis that is peppered with towering cranes and glass-faced skyscrapers.
Despite its altitude of 1,005 meters above sea level, the capital city is looking to further elevate itself to greater heights. The new central business district is a playground for architects, as key government ministries and the private sector play a friendly game of architectural one-upmanship along the stretch called Government Enclave.
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iTowers, the city’s tallest building, is a recent addition to Gaborone’s skyline. This office and residential block is best known for Sky Lounge on its topmost floor. Businesspeople seal the deal over cocktails and Lebanese food on the 19th floor. While there, visit the Sophie Lalonde Art Gallery, which showcases African artists. But be warned, the 360 degree panoramic views of the burgeoning development below comes at a hefty price for non-members of this exclusive venue. The glass balustrades reveal the city’s blueprints for a second tower and similar feats of civil engineering.
The Botswana Ministry of Defense, Justice and Security evokes images of the hollow, cube-like La Grande Arche de la Defense in Paris with its mirror façades. The ministry can be seen from the city’s most visited attraction: the bronze Three Dikgosi Monument. It is a tribute to three tribal chiefs – Khama III, Sebele I and Bathoen I – who traveled to Great Britain to prevent the country from being incorporated into neighboring Rhodesia or South Africa. In the backdrop is Botswana’s new BWP500 million ($55.8 million) high court.
Down the road, the Masa Center – meaning a new dawn in Setswana – is more accessible, but just as trendy. Its two symmetrical towers are on either side of a piazza. It is home to the country’s first 3D cinema, boutiques, a luxurious hotel and spa, five restaurants, as well as the blue-themed Absolut Bar – a rooftop venue with a pool and five-a-side football pitch.
The dirt road away from the inner city towards Sanitas Tea Garden gives the impression that one is bundu bashing in Africa, but do not let that put you off. This idyllic eatery is located in the country’s oldest and largest nursery, and uses its own fruit, vegetables and herbs in its dishes. Birds rest in the immense fig tree that provides shade to its patrons in this sanctuary of calm. The nursery grows water-wise plants due to the ongoing drought.
And while in the area, the Gaborone Yacht Club (open Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays) is a must. During regattas it overflows with expatriates. This local watering hole offers splendid views of the sun sinking behind the horizon. Yet, these days it is also a stark reminder of the water shortage.
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Go for an early morning hike up Kgale Hill, nicknamed the sleeping giant. At 1,287 meters above sea level, the rocky outcrop is the city’s natural observation deck. There are three one-hour hiking trails to the top. Rusty’s Route, from Lobster Road, is the most challenging, the easier two start at the quarry entrance. Whichever way you choose to ascend, the views are well worth the trek. And who knows, perhaps you will meet the resident baboons along the way.
Upon descending, it will be breakfast time. Tuck into an English or continental breakfast at Savuti Grill at the Gaborone Sun Hotel and lounge around the pool deck before meandering through nearby Main Mall. While there are many modern shopping malls scattered throughout the city – such as Riverwalk, South Ring, African, and others – one can buy just about anything along this commercial strip. It is lined with stores that sell clothing, shoes, music, and stationery. The headquarters and outlets of various organizations, banks and service providers also call this pedestrian shopping complex home.
Meet some of the capital’s most colorful characters here. From the 68-year-old seamstress, who manually pedals her Singer sewing machine and has called Main Mall her open-air office for decades, to the inviting photographer, who takes passport photographs against a red bed sheet that is hung against a building wall.
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Vendors have makeshift stalls from which they sell a smorgasbord of curios and treasures, such as leather sandals made from buck, quirky bumper stickers, books and DVDs, and sports t-shirts. They gleefully wave for attention. If hunger sets in, countless mmas – a term of respect for an older Motswana woman – sell home-made meals, such as beef stews and roasted chicken with cooked vegetables. Do not leave without trying dried Mopani worms, a protein-rich and crunchy delicacy among the Batswana. Of course, there are numerous fast food outlets too, and the Cresta President Hotel never disappoints.
A mere 15 kilometers beyond the city center, Mokolodi Nature Reserve delights visitors with the prospect of a close encounter with nature and wildlife on a giraffe or rhino tracking expedition. Those that feel safer within the confines of a Jeep opt for a game drive, especially the night drive, which is followed by a barbecue in the bush. Otherwise, the seating outside the reserve’s restaurant draws large crowds as wildlife comes to find respite at the watering troughs positioned a few meters away.
No matter what experience you may be after, Gaborone is sure to deliver.

From Concrete  To Rhinos

Some may mistake Brett Murray’s self-titled book of art as a course in realpolitik, and The Spear – his work that depicts South African President Jacob Zuma standing like Lenin, from the Victor Ivanov poster, while his genitals dangle from the open zipper of his trousers. It triggered a defamation lawsuit by the ruling African National Congress and was defaced in May 2012, at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg. Yet the book that chronicles his artworks over a career of 30 years is more than that. It is an interesting study about Murray’s catalogue as satire and political comment, where political factions spark racial divide as the rule, not the exception. This beautifully put-together book treats The Spear debacle as one pinnacle in a prolific career that is, at times, touching and melancholic. It tells the story of a non-conformist, who has been creating controversy since the get go.
Murray’s pop art is elegant and austere: simple form, bold color, in steel, sculpture and mixed media. Each work is an attack on neo-tribalism, tokenism, apartheid, cronyism and pretentiousness. Over the years, some critics have thought his attacks somewhat simple-minded, but most agree his work is classic in its own way. Murray’s art is peculiar, it touches on the tragedy and absurdity of our past and present, but at its core it grapples with South Africa’s failure to communicate its humane emptiness.
A lot of art nowadays is incoherent and meaningless; audiences are not required to connect, and it leaves the observer contemptuous and superior, as though they were watching a television advert – with a sense that they are being sold to. Murray’s pieces are old-school, virtuoso triumphs that work on a primitive notion that his issues are all surface and physical – a la his 2000 sculpture titled Africa, with its African statuette and several Bart Simpson faces stuck to its body. Is it about tradition selling out to commercialism? Afrocentrism buckling to Westernism? A clash of cultures? The analysis goes on.
Many present day artworks do not make one think, instead it is decorative and beautiful to look at. Art is meant to challenge, to make one feel a part of something again, not just as though one is lost in another city. Good art makes one care about how the country is faring, and makes one believe in collective possibility once again. I guess Murray understands that. He creates exhibitions that speak to its audience. It is not that we want all his work to be high art, it can be low art too – like his Heritage Collection with its steel animals and African curio feel – and still feel like high art.
What makes Murray timeless are his themes – his art can access the modern youth because he knows what touches them. The recurrence of themes in Murray’s work illustrates that each generation wants satire, just addressed in newer ways. Murray fulfils this need, but with each new artwork, he pushes the boundaries a little further – have we become that desensitized? Was The Spear a step too far? When South Africa was a young democracy, it enjoyed any art that laid bare its diversity. As the country’s democracy has become more nuanced, complicated, and tricky, it is harder to be straightforward.
There was a lot of talk about The Spear this time last year that our tastes and habits had changed, moved on from Murray’s kind of art. But that is preposterous. Part of the purpose of art is to open up debate. The artist’s job is to give a glimpse of what is really going on below the surface. Murray does that with a simple angle: subversive gesture. His book reflects that modus operandi. It also makes it clear that his straight-shooting style will never go out of fashion, because it never loses sight of its primary reason: it is not intended to be solemn, but smart, inventive and deliberately absurd. That makes for good art.

Another Sharp Spear Point From Murray

As Cape Town basked in the glory of being named the World Design Capital 2014, the words ‘design, creativity and innovation’ rang loud at this year’s Design Indaba held in the popular Western Cape city. The annual conference focused on how these elements can positively impact the world.
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It was an early March weekend of fun and discovery for the creatives, artists, designers, hipsters – and ordinary folks – who made their way to the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC). There were 500 exhibitors, from Mikhela Hawker, who makes lampshades from recycled plastic bottles to others, such as Galago, which designs and tailor-makes leather sandals on the spot, in less than 15 minutes.
Part of the event was a three-day conference on creativity, which included talks by some of the world’s top entrepreneurs, creative minds and trendsetters, such as computer scientist Juliana Rotich from non-profit tech company Ushahidi, Ivorian architect Issa Diabaté, and South African photographer David Goldblatt. Tickets sold out quickly and for those who could not attend, the conference was simultaneously broadcast across four South African cities.
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The Design Indaba is a platform for exhibitors to showcase their products to consumers and industry buyers. Hearing the story behind the conceptualization, design and creation of a product directly from the people who make them, also helps drive sales.
One designer present at the event was Susan Slee, the owner of Maneki and creator of Mannetjie van Staal – meaning ‘little men of steel’ in Afrikaans. This former goldsmith and jewelry designer displayed an ethnic and animal-themed range of cutlery. Her fascination with the simplicity and quirkiness of children’s drawings led to the creation of the van Staal family. Her stainless steel cutlery range features six characters, each with a name and story. The range has since expanded to wood, carved by Zimbabwean artist Nathan Kenias.
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Yet another participant was Palesa Litha, an emerging designer who studied music before moving on to jewelry design. Her 2014 range, manufactured at an incubator in Rustenburg in the North West province of South Africa, explores the parallels between music and design.
The showcased designers were required to have at least two years’ experience in retail and had to have attended various workshops throughout the year, encompassing everything from costing and retail management to media training. Ten of these designers will now  go on to be a part of the South African collective at international trade fairs in in 2014 and 2015.
The Cape Town Fashion Council (CTFC) booked a R1-million ($93,722) space – the largest at the expo – to showcase 40 emerging and established designers. The CTFC develops entrepreneurship among designers and wants to shift fashion away from being about aesthetics towards embracing a sustainable business model.
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Bryan Ramkilawan, Chief Executive Officer of the CTFC, is working on partnerships across Africa and wants to share intellectual property to get the local and African design industry to where it should be.
South African consumers are starting to pay more attention to local rather than international designs, says Ramkilawan. Three days of sales at the pop-up stores totaled R1.1 million ($103,116), this excluded buyer sales estimated at R2.5 million ($234,327). All the money from the sales went to the designers.
Whether it is fashion, décor, music or art, be sure to head to this year’s World Design Capital. In the words of Ramkilawan, “design is a way of life”.
What design means to them
<h6>Shweta Wahi,</h6>
<h6>Fashion Designer</h6>
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“Design to me, is all about exploring the creative tidbits from my childhood, what&#8217;s in front of me right now, the colors I see, the people I meet, the way a piece of fabric falls on the body, the way it feels &#8211; it’s a matter of perfecting how it feels and looks to express myself and tell my story.”
<h6>David Tlale, Fashion Designer</h6>
<div id="attachment_6164" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-6164" class="size-medium wp-image-6164" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Apr-May-060-063-FSH-Design-ind-011-300x214.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="214" />Fashion designer David Tlale at his Sandton store; Johannesburg, 1 November 2011 &#8211; Photo by Brett Eloff.</div>
“Design means innovation, it means evolving, it means moving forward, it means how you reinterpret what has already been done.”
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<h6>Jeanne van den Heever, Product Designer</h6>
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“It means coming up with something creative, especially if you can add function to that in styling.”
<h6>Palesa Litha, Designer</h6>
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“It is a different way of thinking. It’s science, it’s philosophy and it’s a way of living.”
<h6>Weaving Cultures</h6>
<h6>Elbé Coetsee brought rural appeal to urban folk at the Design Indaba</h6>
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In the late eighties, Elbé Coetsee and her husband moved to a game farm in rural Limpopo, South Africa. Based 15 kilometers from Botswana and 18 kilometers from Zimbabwe, Coetsee often encountered women who were looking for work even as their husbands toiled away on the roads and farms. Coetsee took up the role of mentor, teaching the women to weave, embroider, bead, make candles and paint. This provided a great platform to exchange cultures.
“It’s a wonderful experience to be able to learn from them and share some of my culture with them. I really think it’s about bridging gaps and having an understanding for another’s culture.”
Soon the orders came rolling in. In 1994, Coetsee registered the company under Mogalakwena Craft Art Development Foundation, named after one of the main rivers in Limpopo; Mogalakwena, meaning fierce crocodile.
Twenty years on, the company has grown to 20 employees who handcraft dainty table linen, placemats, table cloths, serviettes and scatter cushions, distributed and sold throughout South Africa. Although living rural comes with its challenges, such as being in remote areas away from the trappings of the city, not to mention traveling on dust roads, Coetsee says being surrounded and inspired by nature brings her a joy she cannot describe. Coetsee says the Design Indaba allowed her to showcase her work to an audience that would otherwise not have been able to see it. “It was our most successful Design Indaba,” she says.
<h6>Micro-mini</h6>
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The Design Indaba also got to the heart of objects, and how. The ‘color one’ installation for Mini, by Scholten &amp; Baijings from Amsterdam, dissected the design and composition of a Mini One car. The car manufacturer also displayed the Mini Connected system’s Dynamic Music function, a feature that adjusts the rhythm of music according to the drivers&#8217; driving style. The faster one drives, the louder the music. Attendees at the event could create their own remixes on the Mini dance floor, which was equipped with motion sensors.
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Africa By Design

The new BMW X5 M50d awaits at the carpark of Richards Bay Airport in South Africa. I am to drive it to Mozambique, and it’s an estimated three-and-half-hour’s road-trip to the nearest border. I have always flown to Mozambique. Let the fun and games of driving begin.
This beauty on wheels has a lively, modern diesel engine with road prowess. My suitcases are loaded into the spacious boot. After hours of driving, I arrive at the Kosi Bay Border post. I point north, and the vehicle is about to embark on a journey out of its norm, away from the city streets.
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The off-road journey, though not on the toughest terrain, is quite sandy. The distance of 21 kilometers seems short on paper, but given the roads, it will take a while. I navigate deep into Mozambique, passing small villages along the way.
Only a few hours ago, the BMW X5 M50d had passed the test of being driven on the tar and gravel roads of northern KwaZulu-Natal with flying colors.
It had displayed magnificent road attitude and handled the open road like a big sedan. The vehicle sticks to the road like a dog to a bone.
It is a driver-oriented vehicle that instils confidence in the driver with its well-mannered suspension.
Driven by the 3.0-liter tri-turbocharged engine that pumps out 280kW of power, this X5 loves the road. Just push your foot against the the accelerator and see.
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Heels On  Wheels

Hester Maria Mende has just arrived in Scotland after a marathon three-month holiday crossing continents, cultures and time zones. She is yet to discard the boarding passes she has collected – from Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney and Auckland – on this recent trip. Yet, call this retired 67-year-old former South African IT developer and opera singer a globetrotter, and she is not satisfied.
For Mende, the world is just not enough.
Late December, Mende was basking on a sunny beach in Thailand when she received news of her clearing the first round of interviews for a one-way trip to Mars in 2025. Now one of 1,058 chosen candidates (from a total of 200,000 applicants from around the world), she will be in the final two rounds that will determine man’s foray on Mars soil.
She harbors no doubts she will make it.
“I believe myself to be the perfect candidate because the people in my age group and my circumstances are the ideal cannon fodder,” says Mende.
“I absolutely want to go. To be a part of that first step will be the ideal way of ending my life. We die anyway, so dying in the midst of this exhilarating endeavor will be fantastic for me.”
Early last year, Mende had spent R300 ($27) in all to apply for the mission after succumbing to an online recruitment notice. She had read that Mars One, a not-for-profit foundation, was seeking to establish human life on the red planet. Probe her further and the real reason emerges. Retirement. And the death of a loved one.
“I lost my husband [in an armed robbery attack in Johannesburg] seven years ago, I have no children and although I have five siblings, I realized that post-retirement, you really need to find a support system of your own. I have led a full life. Nobody depends on me, nobody’s life will stop when I am gone.”
Mende confesses she withdrew from the world for several years after her husband’s demise. Signing up to be a part of the Mars mission added a new purpose to her life – and death.
Mende brushes off any negative speculation about the possibility of humans on Mars with the conviction in her voice. “There is a lot not known. Things can also wrong along the way, but I am sure there will at least be one settlement there for scientific purposes,” she says.
At the moment, Mende is preparing for the next round of interviews. While the first tested her mental strength, the next two will determine her physical agility to withstand the rigorous eight-year training that will ensue. If selected, she will be one of only 24 to 40 candidates training in teams of four. The team with the greatest chance of survival will be the first to undertake the seven-month journey – without a return ticket – to Mars.
If Mende is one of them, she will be 78 at the time.
Mende, who ended her career implementing IT projects for Eskom in Johannesburg, says she has always tread off the beaten track. A classical singer, she has also sung on national radio, TV, and performed at operas across South Africa.
Singing is something she will miss on the red planet, as the atmosphere is not conducive for sound. And what if she does not qualify?
“I hope with every fiber in my body that I will. I am trying not to be fixated, but I believe my sense of humor will get me up there.”
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A total of 1,058 global candidates have cleared the first round of Mars One’s mission to the red planet of which 586 are male and 472 are female. In this group, 54 are from Africa, with more men (42) from the continent than women. On the Mars One website, the project’s co-founder Bas Lansdorp describes the 1,058 candidates as the first tangible glimpse into what the new human settlement will look like. “We anticipate our candidates to become celebrities in their towns, cities, and in many cases, countries. It’s about to get very interesting,” he says. FORBES WOMAN AFRICA connected with some of the future female astronauts who are from or have origins in Africa.
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Alexandra Doyle, 28
Law student, South Africa
Specializing in international law and criminology, Doyle worked full-time as a dental nurse in order to support herself through college, also at times dabbling in acting and modeling. “I know in my heart I am right for the Mars mission and have this funny feeling that everything I have done in life until now has been in preparation for it,” she says. Least expecting to be chosen, Doyle says she was overcome with shock when she first heard of her selection. “I am looking forward to proving myself in the next rounds. The ultimate dream of sustaining human life on another planet is my dream too. And I think that a life spent in the pursuit of a dream is better than any other, whatever the outcome.” And what would she take with her if she were chosen? “My sense of adventure, and a hot water bottle!”
Adriana Marais, 30
Research student, South Africa
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Completing her PhD in the University of KwaZulu-Natal, her abiding interest is astrophysics. “Research in the field of quantum biology contributes to the development of renewable energy technologies essential for our continued existence on this planet, and perhaps others,” she says. Having decided as a child that she wanted to be an astronaut, she became fascinated with quantum mechanics, and the eternal question about life. “In my opinion, if life can exist on earth, it must also exist or have existed elsewhere. I will be prepared to sacrifice my joys, sorrows and day-to-day life for this idea, this adventure, this achievement, that would not be my own, but of all humanity.” She is keen to know more about her fellow Martians, and thinks they will be some of the most interesting people on earth. “The first Martians will need to be multi-talented and quick-learning. What sets me apart is my dream of being part of the discovery of evidence of extra-terrestrial life: a goal which becomes a more realistic when Mars is my backyard,” she says.
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Kristy Flower, 20
Nursing student, Zimbabwe
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A first year nursing degree student, Flower has adventure in her genes. Her family has moved to New Zealand, and the rest have ventured from Zimbabwe to Australia and England. “My parents and grandparents are incredibly strong-willed. Both my grandparents served in the Rhodesian war and in World War II when my grandmother worked as a registered nurse.” Flower’s keenness on the Mars mission is to be at the forefront of knowledge and exploration. “I want to be able to contribute not only to my community but also to mankind and leave a mark on future discoveries that will benefit us all. This is an amazing opportunity to make a difference and I will do anything to ensure I am the best candidate and most capable person for the job,” she says.
Maggie Wernich, 51
Personal assistant, South Africa
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A divorcee with two children, ages 20 and 25, Wernich says her family structure is one of support and respect for another’s dreams, and that she has always harbored the wish to travel to space. When she first saw the Mars One website 10 months ago it was a dream come true. “We need to realize orthodox structures and outdated belief systems have no place in the future of our children and the continuation of a healthy environment on earth,” she says. “It is every individual’s right to decide how and where they choose to live their lives.” The reason she chose to be a part of the Mars experiment was to explore different ways to live. “This opportunity will be a breakthrough for women, especially in Africa. It is my belief that older people needn’t retire to await death in a facility or system that is socially acceptable. It will be an honor to spend the remainder of my life as a colonist on Mars, to plant the seeds of life for my children’s children.”
Esther Kabuchi Kanyiri, 42 Dentist/pharmacist, Kenya
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Kanyiri is a mother to two teenaged children, and yet, has chosen to go to Mars. Her reason? “To explore the outside world and better the human race. I like being a pioneer and believe I have skills and the knowledge necessary for this process. The selection process requires individuals with different talents who are able to live away from family and in seclusion and maintain sanity. The individual will also need to be able to make decisions individually and trust the decisions made by others for them. I believe I have demonstrated this in my life as I have lived away from family and friends and still focused on my goals. I like spontaneity and embarking on missions most people think are impossible. I have an open mind and am ready to learn, even for survival,” she says.

‘Mars Will Be  The Ideal Way Of  Ending My Life’

In working with thousands of career women who also have children, and being a parent myself, I’ve experienced just how challenging it is to balance contributing as we wish to in the professional world, with how we want to mother, parent and care give in a present and loving way. Personally speaking, when I was forging my corporate career years ago, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I didn’t want the CEO track. My top priority in my life was to be in the fabric of my children’s lives in a meaningful, enriching way when they were young. I didn’t want to blow that or have serious regrets later in life. “Calling in” on the phone from another state (or coast) each night to read them a bedtime story or hear the highlights of their day (because I was traveling for work) was not how I wanted those years to pass.
To be clear, I’m not judging anyone who has different priorities – we all must choose our own. What’s key to your success, I believe, is to identify your own unique life priorities, and live from that knowledge each day. (Learn more about how to honor your own life priorities while balancing the needs of others.)
Most women I know want, and need, to build a fulfilling career and an enriching life outside of work. They want both, not the either/or that we’ve been told are our only options. But to do that, research has shown that women, as a first step, must adjust their mindsets, their limiting beliefs and their openness to committing to working and balancing outside life. That’s not all that’s required to modify our current competitive career model that doesn’t find a majority of women, but it’s an essential step in women taking charge of their lives. This requires women doing the inner work of overcoming key obstacles in what they believe is possible, and revising five hidden, limiting assumptions they’ve come to make. To learn more about this need to reframe the possibilities and shift away from these constraining assumptions, I connected with Jodi Detjen, co-author of The Orange Line: A Woman’s Guide to Integrating Career, Family and Life. A professor of management at Suffolk University, Jodi teaches management at MBA, undergraduate and corporate education levels, and writes and trains about the skills required, and organizational aspects related to living an integrated life. She is also a principal partner of a boutique consulting firm, the InTrinsic Group, delivering outcome-focused leadership development and coaching to foster effective performance.
Jodi explains: “In our research of 118 women (college educated, middle class), women who were successful at integrating career, family and life, had reframed five key assumptions about what it means to work and participate in family life with the highest degree of success, fulfillment and happiness.”
Jodi shares the five hidden assumptions that keep women from balancing work and home more successfully.
“I am solely responsible for home and family.”
When women in dual-parent households believe this, they feel overly-pressured and burdened to own it all: children’s development and the domestic responsibilities including the laundry, food preparation, shopping, cleaning, home repairs, etc. They may delegate some chores (e.g. garbage) but they tend to grow weary from the conflict that emerges around delegation and are often more comfortable just doing it themselves to get it done more quickly. For women with a partner at home, reframing this assumption to “we are both responsible for home and family” opens up all sorts of important possibilities. Now, we can say: “My career is important and so is yours. How do we figure out how to get the necessary chores done together?” Jodi’s interviewees hired help, shared care, switched off chores, held their kids more responsible and accountable, or gave up doing school projects. The key is to stop over-functioning and involve everyone in the family in a healthier, more appropriate way that builds self-reliance and independence.
“I’m afraid to negotiate if I don’t have permission.”
Everyone tells women to negotiate more and so many women don’t. Research has found, however, that when women have permission, they do negotiate – and often out-negotiate men. For example, if a job has been advertised that “salary is negotiable,” three times as many women will apply for the posting than they do when there’s no mention that wages are negotiable. When women believe they are invited to negotiate, they do so much more readily than when they fear they will be seen as “pushy” or “demanding” to get what they want. (Sadly, there’s some justification to their fears – research has shown that success and likability are positively correlated in men and negatively correlated in women).
Jodi’s tip: Forget permission. Women need to reframe this assumption toward, “I will be paid what my skills and contributions are worth and not less.” Tell the world what you deserve. Do this based on data you compile from a thorough evaluation of compensation trends in your field. Send a strong signal that you value yourself, and understand the importance of the contributions you’ve made, and will continue to bring to the table.
“I’m afraid to negotiate if I don’t have permission.”
Everyone tells women to negotiate more and so many women don’t. Research has found, however, that when women have permission, they do negotiate – and often out-negotiate men. For example, if a job has been advertised that “salary is negotiable,” three times as many women will apply for the posting than they do when there’s no mention that wages are negotiable. When women believe they are invited to negotiate, they do so much more readily than when they fear they will be seen as “pushy” or “demanding” to get what they want. (Sadly, there’s some justification to their fears – research has shown that success and likability are positively correlated in men and negatively correlated in women).
Jodi’s tip: Forget permission. Women need to reframe this assumption toward, “I will be paid what my skills and contributions are worth and not less.” Tell the world what you deserve. Do this based on data you compile from a thorough evaluation of compensation trends in your field. Send a strong signal that you value yourself, and understand the importance of the contributions you’ve made, and will continue to bring to the table.
“I must be perfect in all I do and I am not good enough.”
These two assumptions combined together keep women from seeking advancement, promotions, raises and embracing growth. Jodi has experienced many women sharing their beliefs that they simply were not ready for the next level or that they preferred to stay as an individual contributor. But in looking beneath these statements, Jodi found a need to be perfect and a prevalent feeling that these women weren’t living up to their perfectionistic ideals. Reframing this assumption of “I’m not good enough” to “I am a work in progress, and I am ready for growth” allows for new pathways to open and new opportunities to be embraced. Rather than berating herself for having a messy home, one woman declared that her messy home was an emblem (that she was proud of) of her commitment to her work. She believed her house was perfectly fine, mess and all, and didn’t feel “less-than” because of it.
Another woman, when asked to take on a new role, at first thought “I’m not ready for that” but then reframed her assumption. She looked around at her male peers doing similar roles and realized that she indeed had all the qualifications and experience she needed to succeed and thrive in the role. She negotiated a new title, a raise, and took the job.
“If I follow the rules, good things will happen.”
Women have learned from their school days that when they follow the rules, teachers will like them and reward them. But in business, the rules are quite different. Following these school-based rules – keeping your head down, doing all your work and doing just what’s asked of you – won’t get women promoted. Instead, they must take responsibility for themselves and their careers, and ask for what they need, want, and deserve. Create a regular forum to share with your managers what you’ve accomplished and contributed, and the value you’ve provided. Talk about your accomplishments, not in a bragging way, but as a way to let managers and teams know how the enterprise is moving forward, and how you’ve facilitated that growth. (Check out Peggy Klaus’s book Brag: The Art of Tooting Your Horn Without Blowing It, for tips.) You’re in the driver’s seat of your career. Expecting good things to occur without actively facilitating these positive outcomes is a recipe for disappointment, or worse, failure.
Reframing these five assumptions is a powerful strategy that frees women up to see and embrace growth and new possibilities. Don’t let your mistaken assumptions perpetuate self-limiting behavior. Realize that what you believe is what you will create. Don’t wait for anyone else to offer you opportunity and growth – reach out and grab it.

Category: Woman

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