Patricia de Lille has spent the vast majority of her almost four decade career in South African politics. The guiding principle of her working life has been to never use her position as a female leader to ask for special treatment.
De Lille famously exposed corruption related to the multibillion-rand arms deal in government in the year 2000, took part in the drafting of South Africa’s progressive constitution in the early 1990s and currently serves as mayor of the country’s second largest city – Cape Town.
“Women are their own worst enemies. I don’t believe in this quota stuff and asking for special dispensations just because of your gender. In politics you have to learn to play by the rules, then you assume power and once you are in, you start changing the rules,” she says. De Lille was born in Beaufort West, a small town located approximately an hour’s drive from Cape Town. Dreams of studying law were shelved after a teenage De Lille fell pregnant and she entered the workforce at a paint factory located outside her hometown. The trade union movement underway on the factory floor became an outlet of political expression and de Lille worked her way up from being a shop steward to becoming the regional secretary of the South African Chemical Workers Union.
“During this time, I embarked on a program to get more women leaders within our trade union, starting out from the shop steward position. I wanted to find out why women don’t put themselves up for elections. Everyone knows men vote for men but what I realized is that the women vote for the men as well…The first thing I had to make women realize is that we don’t need to ask for permission to take on leadership positions.”
De Lille moved on from the trade unions to join the Pan Africanist Movement in 1989 before heading up the group responsible for the constitutional negotiations ahead of South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. She went on to join Parliament in various portfolios before founding the Independent Democratic Party in 2003 (which later merged with the Democratic Alliance in 2010).
“I set myself the target of becoming the first woman to establish a political party, contest the elections and win seats in Parliament. I did that and I hope I have opened the road for other women in the future,” she says.
De Lille’s current role of leading development in the City of Cape Town comes with challenges largely as a result of the apartheid era’s spatial planning where suburbs populated by black people were built far from the business hubs of the city – resulting in a long and expensive commute for their residents.
Cape Town’s population has expanded by 30% in the past 10 years and current data estimates residents will grow by 100,000 each year for the foreseeable future.
The swell of populace coupled with divisive city planning is placing considerable strain on existing infrastructure and this will be one of De Lille’s major tasks as she moves into her fifth year of mayoral office.
Further challenges include breaking down the common misconception that Cape Town is all about style and little substance.
“We are not just a tourist destination. We are open for business and we want the world to invest here with us,” she says.
On her leadership style, De Lille says that a career in politics is dependent on the ability to empathize, and humility – admittedly both female-biased characteristics although De Lille refuses to play the gender game when it comes to her value system.
“I have always looked up to principles and values which resonate with me. They are completely gender neutral.”
De Lille is fiercely nationalistic but also admits that the South Africa has lost its way through the 20-year transition period from the post-apartheid regime to the democratic state.
“I hope we get the leadership we deserve,” she says.
De Lille lives with her husband and children, who she credits for giving her the support she needed to pursue her political career.
“I remember someone asking my little boy many years ago whether he minded the fact that his mommy is away from home so much. He said he didn’t mind sharing his mom with the country.”
Her spare time is minimal but any weekends she has off are spent on the golf course with family and friends, as well as listening to jazz and R&amp;B music.

Nelson Mandela Commemorative Concert

‘Women Are Their Own Worst Enemies’

It was in 1966 in Dahomey, old Benin. A little girl is standing under the glare of heavy spotlights at the Palais des Congrès de Cotonou, the majestic parliament building in the heart of the tiny West African country’s largest city.
She is only six and her slender legs sway and shake. Moments earlier, her mother, the theatre company director, had hurried her on to the stage. Her daughter was the only one who could fit into the sick soloist’s costume.
On stage, still shaking, the little girl forces the audience into laughter – they think it’s part of the program. She reads this as approval, she is the comedienne at home, and finds the courage to begin the song Atcha Houn. Her audience responds with shock and awe, the first of many apt reactions Angélique Kidjo’s voice would receive in her long and illustrious career.
Today, the 54-year-old songstress is radiant with confidence. After the death of her father, a photographer with progressive ideas, she began to return to her memories of the days before her award-winning music career. The memories, put to paper, became her seminal autobiography, Spirit Rising, released early last year. She  remembers her childhood as particularly happy and adventurous.
“I was a little girl, always running and jumping around our courtyard on skinny legs,” she says.
Kidjo grew up with music all around her. Her mother’s first love, traditional Beninoise musical theatre, ended when she was nine. However, soon after, the family took on another musical project investing in a number of Western style musical instruments in an ambitious plan to groom their seven sons into a homegrown version of the Jackson 5.
She, brimming with curiosity, wanted to be a part of this new sound.
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“After school instead of homework, I would stand in front of the kick-drum with my arms crossed and listen in awe as they rehearsed Get Ready by the Temptations in our little lounge.”
Soon, she was joining her brothers performing at a little bungalow bar on the Cotonou lagoon while still a schoolgirl. Her father would only let her perform two songs but it was something Kidjo looked forward to each time.
“Around midnight, my father would come to my bedroom I shared with my sister Mireille, to wake me. I was too excited to sleep, but I would pretend, holding my songbook and lying very still so I wouldn’t wrinkle my dress. I wore the same purple dress every time. My mother made it from fabric she used to sell&#8230;my father put his hand on my shoulder and gently shook me, telling me it was time to go.”
Decades passed, and Kidjo’s passion for music and performance did not wane. Instead, it took her to the bustling streets of Paris. Speaking to FORBES WOMAN AFRICA on the phone from London, Kidjo says that she was unwilling to compromise as an artist if she chose to stay in her country.
“In Benin, before the coup d’etat, it was a very easy-going country&#8230;and then the communist regime arrived and everything changed. The good teachers fled the country and education began decaying and music was hit because it was not possible to write your own music if you weren’t talking about the communist regime and the people in power. It was one thing I didn’t want to do. So the only option I had was to leave, otherwise I was going to end up in jail.”
On September 11, 1983, a 23-year-old Kidjo arrived in France. It was a chilly introduction to the odd European climate.
“I learned very quickly that when the sun is shining in Europe, it doesn’t mean heat like in Africa, sometimes the sun is out and you freeze your butt, for real!” she laughs about those early days in Paris.
Those days, unlike her childhood, were a challenge. She was living with her older brother, who was also a student in the city. Both of them had very little to survive and she often did odd jobs to make ends meet. But Kidjo says her mind was made up, she was going to be the musician she wanted to be on her own terms at all costs.
“It was not easy&#8230;my parents were not rich enough to send us money. It was very hard, I had to find work. I did babysitting, I did hotel room cleaning, I did hair-braiding, I was a back-up singer in a band. It was a matter of survival but I was free and that freedom had no price for me. As long as the work didn’t compromise my body or my brain, I didn’t mind working endless hours&#8230;”
The life of a musician came easily to her. She worked endless hours to make tuition to the prestigious Parisian jazz school, CIM. It was 1985 and she had just left a fledgling singing school in a hilly suburb of the city. The jazz school was in the 18th arrondissement and home to a burgeoning immigrant population. She took to learning, in earnest, the genre that would form the basis of the sound she is now famous for.
“I loved jazz because it helped me understand the connections between classical music, pop and African rhythms. I studied the way the musical notes flowed together,” she says.
Through a series of connections, Kidjo was introduced to Jasper van’t Hof, a celebrated Dutch pianist who was experimenting with traditional African beats. She joined his band Pili Pili soon after as a vocalist.
“Pili Pili was modern jazz with African lyrics and rhythms, and Jasper was a genius at improvisation&#8230;later on this music also had a great influence on my own jazz rhythms&#8230;the sound can be so complex and entrancing. It was my first glimpse of how to create something new out of the magic of traditional African music.”
Her time with van’t Hof’s band was a crucial step in her career. With them, she performed at the renowned Montreux Jazz Festival and often spent winters touring Germany where the band had a prominent following.
While still at CIM, Kidjo met her husband, jazz bassist Jean Hébrail. Together they composed a majority of her repertoire. As she grew more popular in the Parisian jazz circles, she met another key character in her history, a blue-eyed man named Chris Blackwell. She met him at the Island Records office in Paris.
“He was dressed very simply, just in a casual shirt, jeans, and sandals. If you passed him on the street, you would have no idea how rich and powerful he was.”
Blackwell gave Kidjo her big break in 1991, the record deal she had been working towards since she had landed, young and naive, from her home in Benin. She remembers having one stern condition.
“I told him, ‘I need to have the artistic freedom to sing what I want to sing and make the music I want to make’.”
Blackwell was true to his word. In 1992, her first mainstream album Logozo went to number one on the Billboard World Music Charts. She headlined at the Olympia Hall in Paris that year to rave reviews.
She recorded four more albums with Island Records, gaining her first Grammy award nomination in 1995 for the hit single, Agolo.
Two decades later, the determined girl from Benin has made her dreams happen and more. The Grammy award-winner is mother to a daughter currently at Yale University in Connecticut. At the same time, she is a UN Goodwill Ambassador, fighting for the rights of women of her continent.
Her heart remains rooted on African soil as her latest release, Eve, dedicated to the women of Africa, shows. Outside her music, Kidjo is also known for her cooking. Her book was initially imagined as a cookbook and she shares a few of her favorite recipes in the epilogue of her memoirs.
Despite her success, she still holds her beliefs on making it in the music business dear. Compromising on her artistic freedom is something she cannot fathom.
“One thing I learned as a young girl singing was always to be true to my inspiration, never ever give that up in order to please other people. If you cannot sing your song alone without instrumentation and be happy, don’t put it out there! You cannot be an artist thinking that you want to be somebody else. You need to know what kind of artist you want to be and why you want to be that,” she says.
Judging from the sheer scope and success of her career, these are words from the truly wise.

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Once Upon A Legend

Miss South Africa 1996 Peggy-Sue Khumalo started her life cleaning houses before training to be a beauty queen, and finally ending up as an investment banker in Johannesburg.
How so? For this, we will need to rewind to her past.
Born to a single mother in the northern region of KwaZulu-Natal, Khumalo grew up on the farm where her mother toiled as a domestic worker. Her greatest desire was to be educated and be able to turn around her fortune one day.
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While she was still a young child, her mother moved to Johannesburg leaving her in the care of her grandmother, and in search of greener pastures to finance her only child’s schooling.
“It was not a private school education but it was a good education,” says Khumalo today.
After primary school, she was sent to boarding school, where for the first time she experienced running water, electricity, tar roads and the city life. But the family was still poor. After high school, Khumalo joined her mother in Johannesburg, to help clean houses with her.
“I hated every moment of that and I think I was reminded every day that life can’t repeat itself. And every day my mum kept telling me ‘don’t mess this up, take it as an opportunity, because if you mess this up, where do you think we are going to live’?”
After two years of this drudgery, Khumalo headed to town to find a ‘proper’ job. She started out washing hair at a salon. Atleast that provided an entry point to other more glamorous endeavors. She soon found herself doing small modeling jobs and finally, taking part in – and winning – local beauty contests.
“At that moment I thought to myself ‘life can’t get any worse, it can only get better’.” Not long after, she enrolled for the Miss South Africa pageant.
“I didn’t think I had a chance, I met the most amazing young ladies, some well-known, I thought there is no way nobody knows who I am,” says Khumalo.
She was wrong. She made it to the finals and won Miss South Africa that year.
It was a joyous, tearful moment.
“I didn’t even know how to present myself, I just cried and ran on to the stage.” The very next day, she received a call that changed her life.
“The following morning, Doreen Morris [former owner of Miss SA] said to me, ‘Mr Mandela has called and would like to see you for tea at his house’. I thought no way!” President Mandela opened doors she didn’t know existed.
“I got a call from Zelda [his assistant] saying ‘Tata would like to see you’. It was a Sunday, when I got there, he said to me, ‘Sue, we are waiting for our guest’. I thought Tata was trying to marry me off. And in walked Stephen Koseff, the Chief Executive Officer of Investec.”
Mandela persuaded Koseff to send Khumalo to the UK for higher studies., which he did. On completing her studies in finance abroad, Khumalo started her career with Investec as a credit analyst. Today, she sits on the executive board for South African businesses and manages some of the top names in corporate South Africa. From cleaning houses to donning tiaras to running the boardroom, Khumalo couldn’t have asked for more.

The Magic Wand Named Mandela

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has recently released their survey Women in Business and Management Gaining Momentum which notes that globally whilst women have increased their share of management jobs and as entrepreneurs over the last two decades, all data sources and analyses report a continuing dearth of women in top decision-making positions, as CEOs and board members. In coming up with their findings, they extend on the terminology used to describe the problems women face. We all know about ‘glass ceilings’ and many have heard of the ‘slippery ladder’ where women do not even get to the glass ceiling as they have fallen off the career ladder for whatever reason before they even get a chance to come up against the glass ceiling. The ILO now talks about ‘glass walls’ which they define as segregation by gender within management occupations.
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Whilst it may not be their original quote, it notes that “one of the reasons why it can be more difficult for women to be selected for top management jobs is their management experience is not sufficiently diverse. They have not been exposed to all types of company operations during their careers and thus have not gained sufficient experience in general management across several functional areas”.
So in addition to having glass above our heads, we now have glass on our sides as well. We allow ourselves to be placed in career silos. We need to stop doing this and realize that a well-rounded career is vital to get to the top. At least metaphorically, we are surrounded by glass, so we are still able to see where we are going. Whether we are able to use our other senses to navigate is open for debate. The survey revealed 34% of the companies responding indicated that retention of women was a problem. Is this surprising when women are placed into these silos, or rather allow themselves to be, as much as they are?
Interestingly, with regards to women in management positions, some African countries do quite well. Of the 124 countries surveyed globally, Ghana is placed 26th with 39% of all managers being women.  Botswana is 28th and Namibia 37th with 38.6% and 36% respectively. Interestingly, Botswana was one of the countries noted that achieved a 7% or more increase in the share of women in management between 2000 and 2012. That is very encouraging.
Like many surveys of this nature, the implementation of company policy measures on how to solve the problems features prominently. The results this time around though are quite interesting and go away from the norm. About 84% of companies indicate they have maternity leave as part of policy. Why are we even discussing this in this day and age? In contrast, parental leave, i.e., no gender connotation, is practised by 51% of the responders.
It is worth noting what the ILO suggests companies do in order to advance women: Explain and provide evidence on the business case for more women in management; network with other companies on good practices; provide good practice examples of measures and strategies to promote women in management; develop a strategy to promote more women in management; design an equal opportunity policy; network with women’s business associations; provide guidelines on gender sensitive human resource management systems; develop guides on measures and strategies to promote women in management; introduce a mentoring scheme; design a sexual harassment policy; and introduce a sponsorship scheme.
It is significant the first item is the need to explain and provide evidence on the business case. There are pockets of areas globally where the business case has been proven and accepted. In these areas they have moved onto the next step of implementation by those who have been convinced. Sadly, Africa to date is not one of those pockets.

Glass Ceilings,  Glass Walls?

If a new survey is to be believed, more educated young women are leaving the workplace on account of male-dominated environments that do not cater to their needs.
According to the survey conducted by Harvard Business School, personal choices are not alone responsible for a woman’s perpetual struggle to strike a work-life balance. The study showed that women who chose to leave the workplace after having children did so because they felt they had little chance of advancing in their careers.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that the number of women aged 20 and older not in the labour pool has soared from 40 million in 2000 to nearly 49 million in 2013. The participation of women in the workplace has dropped from a high of 60.7% in 1999 to 58.8% in 2013.
Speaking at the first Annual Women in Justice Conference in Johannesburg, Tanya Woker, a professor of law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said that a current worldwide trend is that there is not enough support given to women in the working world.
“Highly intelligent and well-trained women between the ages of 30 and 40 are starting to give up,” says Woker.
She explained that most career trajectories are based on male models, where there is a lack of support and understanding of the issues that women face. Due to this, the system does not retain young talented women.
“A lot of money and time spent on training young women for the workplace is being wasted. We’re losing a lot of talented women because we’re not addressing these challenges,” says Woker.
“A key to understanding this is not formal education, but speaking to men in our environment and explaining the situation to them. Women don’t tell them about the challenges we’re facing, we just assume that they know.”
However, Woker believes that the female mind-set needs to change first.
“Often, we are the lone voice in the boardroom among men so it’s easier to buy into a man’s mind-set and assume that they will do a better job. But we need to change this mind-set and adapt it so we can bring in a woman’s values.
“We have to change ourselves, the world out there is not just going to evolve and change. It is up to us to make those changes and explain why we want those changes. Don’t sit back and expect men to lead.”
Another issue is that women in senior roles are often isolated and given no opportunities to have values and norms validated through interaction with other women. This needs to change.
“If we want change, we have to educate men and point out that there’s an alternative way of doing things,” says Woker.
Yet another challenge is that in the workplace, women tend to gravitate towards administrative and social responsibility duties whilst men focus on advancing their careers.
“When extra duties crop up in the office that makes the workplace more collegial such as pro bono work, training interns or planning social functions, women tend to organize these things while men are very good at doing things that matter for their career,” she explains.
Woker advises that women should focus less on social responsibilities because it is often overlooked when companies promote employees to higher positions.
She therefore proposes that in order to change the workplace, women should establish networks and support systems where they can share their experiences as well as learn and inspire each other.
“You need to source out the people in your life who can further your career, whether it be a man or a woman. Your career doesn’t just happen, know what your goals are and plan for them.
“It’s not easy, it’s going to be hard and you’re going to knock heads with some people but at least you’re getting ahead.”

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Where Are All The  Talented Women?

Connie Mdladla learnt early on in life that one can either be disheartened by life or encouraged by it. There was a time when as a young girl she thought the odds were unreasonably stacked against her. Her father died when she was nine and she had four siblings, raised by a single mother who worked as a clerk. What was worse was she was born epileptic, and was prone to frequent attacks.
“I was living with epilepsy. It’s one of the most misunderstood conditions in medical science. It’s a neurological condition, but not mental retardation. People living with epilepsy can be productive and contributing members of society,” says Mdladla, who is today founder and Managing Director of Khaas Logistics, a freight-forwarding agency based in Johannesburg.
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Whatever Mdladla embarked on – marriage, motherhood and career, she refused to let her medical condition define who she was. In fact, it catalyzed her to strive for excellence.
“I have defied all the odds before me and gone on to successfully navigate some of the most challenging institutions of life,” she says. She derived strength from another woman: her mother.
“As a young girl, circumstances led me to believe that being a woman was a demerit. However, I was fortunate enough to have been raised by a wonderful mother who always reminded me that my strength lay within me and I should not be discouraged by things people say,” she says.
Her mother managed to raise capital to enrol her at Vista University for a BCom degree, but she had to drop out in her third year on account of her medical condition. Her mother was disappointed, but she maintains that this adversity actually marked the beginning of her logistics career.
“As women, we tend to feel like we need to be perfect before we can make a move. Instead, it is our imperfections and our willingness to take risks that allow us to grow and succeed,” she says.
She started out as a receptionist and later, worked as an inspections co-ordinator at logistics company ITS. She partnered with Imperial logistics to set up Mudeko Consultancy, going on to later found Khaas Logistics in 2008.
She had to garner capital and work from home as a director, receptionist, salesperson and errand-girl. To make matters worse, throughout this period, she faced increasing scepticism in a male-dominated industry.
“You also have to take risks, I’m taking risks every day of my life and I will do that moving forward,” she says.
Her first assignment was a 100-kilogram package she delivered from Edenvale to the airport in her Fiat Palio. Khaas Logistics has since grown to become a reputable company with  presence in major international cities. To upskill herself, she also enrolled for a Management Advancement Programme at Wits Business School in Johannesburg.
“Seventy percent of Khaas Logistics’ staff is women. This is a result of deliberate planning and implementation of a number of policies that not only place women in sustainable positions but also empower the organization. Women are more prudent than men. So it is the company’s empowerment policy to put women in important project management positions or to employ young women who will be trained for those positions.” Between 2011 and 2013, the company grew by 75%. Her success has brought many offers of consolidation that are now presenting other challenges.
“The biggest industry trends currently are mergers or small firms being swallowed up by big ones. The next five years will be critical in ensuring I am able to reject [those offers] so I can continue on this growth trajectory I am happy to be on,” she says.
Her logistics company is perhaps a metaphor for her own life: moving on, despite the odds.

The Risk-Taker Who Is Fighting Fit

Now that the travel world has truly shaken off the recession, hoteliers are no longer playing it safe. In 2015, big-name brands are branching out from what they do so famously: Mandarin Oriental, known for its outstanding city hotels, is opening a resort just outside Marrakech, while Aman Resorts, whose signature is peaceful sanctuaries in remote places, is coming to Tokyo.
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The indies are shaking things up, too, as with a pair of former &amp;Beyond executives opening their own private camp in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, and with Alan Faena, who is exporting his audacious namesake hotel in Buenos Aires to Miami. For travelers, the new luxury frontiers are in South America, which is safer than ever, easily reached and ideal for soft adventure: Hacienda Bambusa is bringing elegance to Colombia’s Coffee Triangle, and AlexVik is expanding his empire to Chile. Here’s what to check out when you check in in 2015.
Aman Tokyo
Aman junkies don’t ever need to be sold on the brand, but the opening of the first urban hotel promises to offer the faithful – and Aman virgins – a new take on that signature style. Atop a new tower in the posh Ginza district, the Aman Tokyo, which opened in December, has 360 views over the megalopolis and Mount Fuji, a 100-foot-high lobby atrium modeled on a paper lantern, traditional rock gardens and 84 of the largest rooms and suites in the city (starting at more than 700 square feet). There’s also a two-story spa, a 1,200-bottle wine cellar and a private-label sake.
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FAenA hoTel, miAmi BeAch
Ten years ago, when Argentinean fashion designer-turned-real-estate-developer Alan Faena opened his namesake hotel in abandoned
Buenos Aires docklands, his creative risks more than paid off – the Faena District is now the city’s most valuable real estate. In September 2015, that cheeky spirit is migrating north, with the opening of a new hotel in what was once the historic Saxony. Faena enlisted the masters of cinematic whimsy Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin to design the 169 rooms and suites, private screening room, theater for live cabaret shows and spa. And in his United States’ debut, much-lauded Argentinean grill master Francis Mallmann is consulting on the restaurant.
SiX SenSeS doUro VAlley, PorTUGAl
Its fans may not be quite as rabid as Aman’s, but Six Senses has developed a cult following among guests who admire its brand of eco-friendly bare foot (high) luxury in far-flung locations. Opening in mid-2015, the Douro Valley hideaway will finally bring Six Senses’ sensibility beyond Asia.
Fitted into a 19th-century manor house in the oldest wine-producing region in the world, the resort has 57 rooms, suites and villas, an extensive
spa with locally inspired grape-and olivebased treatments, a large yoga pavilion and the de rigueur local-seasonal-organic restaurant menu, much of it grown on-site, served in the restaurant and at “pop-up” tables set by the Douro River.
BAhiA Vik, UrUGUAy, And ViÑA Vik, millAhUe, chile
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29939 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_239238295-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_239238295-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_239238295-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_239238295-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_239238295.jpg 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
With his first small luxury hotels in Uruguay, billionaire entrepreneur/art collector Alex Vik put the boho beach town of José Ignacio on the map. As with Vik’s earlier resorts, his much-anticipated Bahia Vik, which opened in January, has a focus on art and architecture throughout the 11 uniquely designed bungalows (most have two or three bedrooms) and the 10 suites in the main building. And November saw the debut of Viña Vik Millahue in Chile’s Alpaca  wine valley. The Frank Gehry- and Richard Serra-inspired retreat overlooks 11,000 acres of vineyards with the Andes rising in the distance, and offers tastings of Vik’s world-class wines and vinotherapy treatments in the spa.
Mandarin Oriental,
Marrakech
It’s the best of both worlds in the Red City: all the services of a leading international luxury brand but in an intimate environment with only 54 private-walled villas (with pools, sundecks and alfresco dining areas) and seven suites (some with rooftop plunge pools), and the olive-grove exoticism of the desert Palmeraie region combined with proximity to the historic medina. When it opens in the first quarter of 2015, Mandarin Oriental’s Moroccan outpost – the only resort in its current portfolio – will have the brand’s signature spa, a traditional hammam, lush gardens and five restaurants and bars serving Moroccan and international fare.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29942 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_206253460-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_206253460-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_206253460-600x399.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_206253460-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_206253460.jpg 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
hAciendA BAmBUSA, colomBiA
High-end operators like Blue Parallel, Butterfield &amp; Robinson and Absolute Travel are expanding their Colombia offerings for good reason: The charismatic country is finally getting its due, thanks to a stable government, improved safety, investment in luxury travel and convenient JetBlue flights from New York to Cartagena. And there’s now good reason to go beyond the colonial fantasyland of Cartagena into the “real” Colombia with the reopening in December of Hacienda Bambusa, an eight-room hotel overlooking a working hacienda with 500 acres of cacao, plantains, tangerines and pineapples, now managed by a Relais &amp; Châteaux vet. Long a favorite of in-the-know travelers, it’s an ideal base for visiting local coffee growers, hiking in Valle de Cocora National Park and touring nearby rural villages.

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Where To Stay In 2015

It is 16 years since Nigeria drew back from the abyss in the former colonial town of Kaduna. In February 1999, 5,000 Christians took to the streets in an anti-Sharia march to protest the introduction of the strict Islamic penal code. Their contention was that Nigeria’s constitution did not allow federation, or state, to adopt any religion.
The march sparked a deadly confrontation between Christians and Muslims. Three days of street fighting left at least 2,000 dead. President Olusegun Obasanjo dispatched troops to restore order as conflict threatened to spread. He managed to head off conflict, but the rumpus around Sharia law did not go away.
Obasanjo tried to persuade northern governors to hold off on Sharia law; days before, Kano in the north west, signed a Sharia bill. Weeks later, Zamfara State amputated the right hand of Buba Jangebe after a Sharia court convicted him of stealing a cow. Four northern states: Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi and Kano have adopted Sharia law since 1999.
Many northern politicians felt marginalized by the new republic under Obasanjo. They complained of a southern and Christian bias and latched onto the rigors of Sharia law to boost waning support. It was seen by the rest of the country as a political compromise.
Fast forward to 2015, as the six-year Boko Haram insurgency continues to rage. Boko Haram has condemned northern governors who have adopted Sharia law. The militants believe the brand of Sharia law practiced in the country is not true Islam and have vowed to wage war until the entire country falls under their brand of Sharia. In this struggle, Boko Haram has captured around 20 small towns along Nigeria’s border with Chad and Cameroon. Militants have also taken larger towns like Mubi in the north eastern state of Adamawa.
Boko Haram renamed Mubi ‘Madinatul Islam’ or the City of Islam. Tens of thousands fled as the invaders hoisted their flag in the deserted emir’s palace and warned that ‘true’ Sharia law was now in force. A market thief was convicted by a Sharia court and his hand amputated to make the point.
Seventeen-year-old Aisha Ibrahim recalls the day Boko Haram rolled into town in with armored cars, trucks and motorcycles. She was still in school when the town was rocked by the sound of gunfire. She ran home to find her parents had fled, leaving her grandmother behind. In the fraught weeks that followed, she says, her best friend, Umma, was forced into a marriage with one of the militants. She feared the same fate and fled to Yola in the hope of finding her parents and four siblings. Her father has not been found, his whereabouts unknown. She is now back in Mubi after the Nigerian army took back the second-largest commercial center in Adamawa State after Yola.
Mubi is also the largest cattle trading center in Nigeria. The cattle rearing northerners use the Mubi cattle market as an important trade post to sell livestock to traders from as far as Lagos.
These days the southern businessmen fear to travel north and the insurgency appears to be killing the meat trade, which has yet to recover from a recent truck drivers’ strike.
On the other side of the city, Pastor Titi Adewumi, leader of one of the many churches that dot the landscape of the Adamawa State capital, says residents are depressed by all the security checks. All movement between 12AM and 5AM is prohibited as part of a state of emergency. Interestingly, worshippers are searched before they enter their local mosque or church. But while Yola residents complain about the quality of life, they know things could be worse; Boko Haram at the time of writing were engaged in a fight to the death for the control of the Borno State capital, Maiduguri, where a total ban on all movement has been imposed.
In Mubi, there is hope. Retired Colonel, Taboyi Elam Dong, says the recapture of Mubi shows that the Nigerian military is winning the war against Boko Haram. Other towns recaptured include Gwoza in Borno State and Potiskum in Yobe State.
Most people here feel the government is not doing enough as hell lurks around the corner.

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The People For Whom  Hell Lurks  Around The Corner

Ethiopia boasts a kaleidoscope of cultures, from animistic tribes in the southern Rift Valley to its orthodox Christian heritage in the northern highlands. This ancient land offers both the intrepid traveler and religious pilgrim an opportunity to sample the variants of Abrahamic religions practised with unique zeal.
The Kingdom of Axum in what is present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea was one of the first Christian countries in the world, having officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the fourth century. Ethiopia is mentioned over 37 times in King James’ version of the Bible. Today, Ethiopia continues to predominantly be Christian (63%) and the majority of Christians are Tewahedo Christians, who belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
I could feel the deep influence of Christianity traveling around the country. Both Islam and Christianity have flourished here side by side for centuries.
Lalibela, a remote town located at an altitude of 2,800 meters, is known around the world for its churches carved from living rock. The 13 rock-cut structures dating back to the 12th century are said to represent Jerusalem. The rock churches are connected to one another by labyrinthine tunnels with a small river in the middle, which the Ethiopians named the Jordan, in keeping with the idea of Jerusalem.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29935 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/DSC07721-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC07721-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC07721-600x450.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC07721-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC07721.jpg 800w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
The churches were not constructed in a traditional way but rather were hewn from the living rock of monolithic blocks. These blocks were further chiseled out, forming doors, windows, columns, various floors, roofs etc. In addition, several passages, drainage trenches, catacombs and hermit residences were also carved out. Proclaimed as an UNESCO World Heritage site, the churches of Lalibela are also a significant engineering feat, given that they are built atop artesian well formations that bring the water up to the top of the mountain ridge on which the city sits.
Arriving at the Church of Bet Madane, the largest monolithic church in the world (carved out of live rock), I found throngs of pilgrims occupying the many niches in deep prayer. The church is cut 15 meters down, its roof forming the shape of a Greek cross. The roof of this church is leveled with the ground and reached by stairs descending into narrow trenches. Worshippers were crouched, seated and often times standing, in deep individual prayer, following passages from the Bible.
Pursuing one’s religious beliefs in deep silence and quietitude in an amazing setting is something I will never forget.
In one particular church, I found the remains of thousands of Coptic pilgrims. There is a huge pit of strewn bones, skulls and shockingly well-preserved bodies of people who walked from Egypt and Syria to be buried in the church 1,500 years ago.
Upon visiting other churches, I noticed many pilgrims were slumbering in various nooks of these dark churches, tired from fasting and listening to chants all day. There were numerous nuns in traditional head covering. The scene was surreal and I could feel myself transported back in time.
It is said that there are a 1,000 monks in Lalibela amongst a population of 10,000. The priests of many temples were proud to display the treasures of the temples, stored in huge wooden cabinets hidden behind silk curtains. They include beautifully-illustrated Bibles written in Aramaic, and icons, silver crosses and ritual silver vessels used for worship.
Next stop was Axum, considered to be the holiest city. The city was the original capital of the Kingdom of Axum (1st-6th AD). Axumites developed a distinctive architecture exemplified by giant obelisks, the oldest of which date from 5000–2000 BC.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29934 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/IMGP5318-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMGP5318-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMGP5318-600x399.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMGP5318-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMGP5318.jpg 912w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims that the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum houses the Biblical Ark of the Covenant in which lie the Tablets of Law upon which the Ten Commandments are inscribed. Fascinated by such a possibility, I entered the church and sat down with the large gathering of pilgrims, enjoying and appreciating the beautiful paintings inside this male-only enclave.
A religious land and a deeply religious people in a very ancient landscape is what I mainly observed traveling over 1,000 km inside the country. The beautiful smiles of the children and the elegantly-draped women who were glad to talk and be photographed were an added bonus. Ethiopia is still an unexplored gem. Boasting nine World Heritage sites, amazing religious traditions, world-class archeological sites and a host of beautiful people, Ethiopia is an ideal stopover, especially during Easter.

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Where History And Faith Meet

Director Olivier Dahan’s 2014 film Grace of Monaco, put the late Princess Grace of Monaco – and her jewelry – firmly in the spotlight. The film sparked controversy over its depiction of the late princess but the role played by her Cartier jewels received rave reviews.
One of the most stylish women of her era, actress Grace Kelly was regarded American royalty, and even more so when she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
Such flawless beauty was created for magnificent jewelry and what better house to grace her than the jeweler of kings and the king of jewelers, Cartier?
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<div id="attachment_29930" style="width: 242px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-29930" class="size-medium wp-image-29930" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/©-Time-Magazine--Getty.jpg" alt="" width="232" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/©-Time-Magazine--Getty.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/©-Time-Magazine--Getty-300x388.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/©-Time-Magazine--Getty-600x776.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/©-Time-Magazine--Getty-232x300.jpg 232w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px" />Princess Grace of Monaco wearing hair in elaborate bun &amp; adorned w. stunning diamond necklace, at party.</div>
Princess Grace had a loyal relationship with Cartier both in Paris and in Monaco and throughout her life received a string of elegant pieces specially commissioned for her, including a diamond and ruby tiara, a necklace made up of three strands of diamonds and many beloved brooches and bracelets.
With the consent of the Sovereign House of Monaco, the ateliers of the Maison opened their archives and worked tirelessly to reproduce five faithful reproductions of the vintage Cartier collection of Monaco, including the 10.47-carat emerald-cut diamond engagement ring which Princess Grace was given by Prince Rainier in 1956, eight months after they met.
A key scene in the film shows Grace – played by Nicole Kidman – dazzling in her signature Cartier pieces as she announces to the world’s press, against the backdrop of the legendary Cartier boutique at 13 Rue de la Paix in Paris, that she is giving up movies and acting and dedicating herself to being a royal wife and mother.
Most movie-goers will enjoy seeing the reproduction pieces in the movie but enthusiasts could view the real deal at the Cartier: Style and History exhibition at the opulent Grand Palais in Paris.
Among many other beautiful and famous objects, including Wallis Simpson’s jewelry, was a prestigious ensemble of around 20 pieces, some official and others more personal, from the Prince of Monaco’s collection.
While other famous diamond-studded Cartier tiaras sparkled and spun on the revolving carousel which greeted visitors at the entrance to the exhibition, a pearl and diamond tiara featuring hanging pear-shaped pearls set in platinum and white gold, which was given to Princess Charlotte of Monaco as a wedding present, was given pride of place in the Monaco exhibition area.
Grace’s various tiaras have previously been showcased on exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and at Sotheby&#8217;s in New York and her dresses went on a Grace Kelly: Style Icon tour in Australia with the Victoria &amp; Albert Collection.
Her daughters, Princesses Caroline and Stephanie, have often borrowed both their mother&#8217;s and grandmother’s tiaras, with Caroline, in particular, often wearing them to state occasions. Her mother’s famous diamond and ruby tiara separates into three brooches and a necklace which makes them versatile.
The Grand Palais exhibition also showed a cover of French magazine, Paris Match, from 1959 of Princess Grace in her official state costume, including the diamond and ruby tiara, the three-tiered diamond necklace and a diamond and ruby bracelet.
Cartier was famous for their animal depictions and created a signature brooch for Princess Grace, a diamond brooch in the shape of a poodle, as she always loved the dogs and was frequently photographed carrying one.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29929 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/34662-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/34662-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/34662-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/34662-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/34662.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Another favorite was her hen brooch in repoussé gold, platinum and diamonds with a cabochon emerald for the eye, which Cartier created for her in 1957.
In addition to the famous pieces featured at the exhibition in Paris, Cartier also played a role in the Grace of Monaco movie. In addition to their historical reproductions, Cartier loaned the production team a number of high jewelry pieces. These included a gorgeous emerald necklace worn by Spanish actress Paz Vega, who plays Maria Callas in the film, as well as Cartier watches and accessories which are worn by the male leads, Tim Roth as Prince Rainier III and Robert Lindsay in the role of Aristotle Onassis.
Both the movie and the exhibition placed Cartier in the spotlight and the Oscar could go to the legendary atelier for best jewelry, or at least best reproduction of a vintage piece.

© Gerard UferasCartier 19_02_14

Gold And  Diamonds On The Silver Screen

Fran Hilton-Smith developed a love for football in the dusty alleys of her neighborhood, where as a child, she played with the boys, her only friends at the time.
“In the neighborhood I grew up in, there were more boys than girls, so all the boys were playing football. In the beginning, I had to be the goalkeeper because nobody wanted to be the goalkeeper and then finally I got to become a really good left-footed left wing,” says Hilton-Smith.
She played for South Africa’s national team but because of the political turmoil in the country at the time, she wasn’t able to play anywhere. Soon after that, and not venturing far from the sport she so loved, she became the national women’s team’s coach in 2000. Today, Hilton-Smith is the technical director of men’s and women’s football in the South African Football Association (SAFA).
When she first started, professional women’s football was practically non-existent.
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“In the first team I ran, I worked out of the boot of my car, I had to buy the kit myself and buy the soccer balls myself.” She noticed that the racial integration between female football players happened much quicker than that of the men; this was because the government and football officials didn’t pay much attention to the women’s league.
Her presence in women’s football has changed the game, although there is much that needs to be done. She has not stopped lobbying for women in football.
Not only passionate about South African football, Hilton-Smith is also a crusader for women’s empowerment. She has worked tirelessly to bring acknowledgement to young women interested in and passionate about the sport. To encourage young girls in South Africa to take to football, she founded South Africa’s High Performance Centre for Girls, hosted by the University of Pretoria, focusing on the development of girls through sport and incorporating aspects of leadership.
“I realized our women are much more skilful than most of the women in the world, hence I thought if I put a lot of effort into women’s football in South Africa, with our skilful players, we will be able to make a mark on world football,” she says.
‘Doing It For Love’
Hilton-Smith became a role model for many of the youngsters in the women’s league, in particular Portia Modise, the South African who plays for the country’s national team Banyana Banyana.
“I grew up in front of Fran, I saw her struggle. It’s not easy. I don’t want to be in her shoes. We need people like Fran to stay longer in this game,” says Modise.
She started playing from the age of six, in White City Soweto, where she grew up. Her first serious entry point into the game was when she joined Cosmos Ladies. From there, she moved around to other local women’s teams. When she was a teenager, Hilton-Smith had spotted her at a game and recruited her to Banyana Banyana’s under-19 division.
From there, Modise moved her way up and joined the first team. She was signed to play overseas in a professional league despite Banyana Banyana never playing at any international leagues.
Although according to Hilton-Smith, football is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, it does not do justice to the women’s league.
“Women’s football was struggling, it’s still struggling. There is a long way to go, we have just one league, the Sasol league and that’s struggling,” says Hilton-Smith.
“A lot of women I started playing with are not playing anymore, there was nothing to invest, and women’s football doesn’t pay. You needed to find a job to look after your family,” says Modise.
Female players like Modise, who are their families’ sole bread winners, and have been playing for years, don’t even own homes or vehicles. Only female players who play for the national team get paid a salary of R400 ($34) a day when on duty. A played game or bonus game earns the women a once-off R5,000 ($432). After the tournament, there are no funds coming in.
Modise stays because of her love for the game.
“It does not pay my bills, I am doing it out of love, I do manage but it’s difficult.”
She admits that she believes her club is much better than the national men’s league, however, much of this may be true. Funds in the men’s league outweigh that of what the women’s league has to work with.
“The history of football is that sponsors always came in to sponsor men’s football and it has just become a massive sport that attracts a lot of sponsorship. There is a future but I don’t think in my life time or Portia’s, we will ever see women earn the same as men,” says Hilton-Smith.
“Even when I used to play for Denmark, we got the same attention as the men got, but the salaries were not the same,” says Modise.
According to both women, sponsors are the biggest problem in funding the women’s league.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29924 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/IMG_1400-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_1400-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_1400-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_1400-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_1400-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_1400.jpg 682w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
“It is a marketing problem as far as I am concerned. All the companies that make women’s products should be sourced to come and sponsor. Not just for women’s football, but for women’s sports.”
“As far as work options, women will never earn the same as men. Not even in my situation, I think that’s a women’s loss in life, you going to be earning less no matter how qualified you are or how competent and football is no different. Having a sponsorship where players get a good salary every month is massive,” says Hilton-Smith.
Despite all the challenges in the football industry for women, the ladies continue to fight for a more sustainable women’s league.
“My dream is to see women’s football have a proper professional league, I believe we have a lot of talent but there is no platform,” says Modise.
In the interest of women’s football, let’s hope she reaches her goal.

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The Girls Have Grown Up, But Has Their Game?

The girl with the big dreams and bright eyes looks confident as she poses in front of the dusty Soweto street in which she grew up. This is no ordinary street. It’s the Vilakazi Street in Johannesburg’s black township of Soweto, where the late Nelson Mandela once lived. His house, 8115, is now a museum, and Thembi Mahlangu’s café, Thrive, occupies a pride of place on the same historic street, once also home to yet another Nobel peace prize laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
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For 31-year-old Mahlangu, her café is a dream come true.
She had embarked on a career in the hospitality industry more out of necessity than passion, starting as a sculler at Nescafé straight after high school. She worked at several coffee shops thereafter, which fostered in her an enormous love for coffee – and people.
Her turning point came when she met businessman and entrepreneur Ross Paton at the Hyde Park Corner mall, where she worked in Culinary’s Café 41.
“Ross would come in for coffee every morning at the same time and I opened up for him even when the shop was closed,” says Mahlangu.
They had a mutual love for brewed beans and he was curious about her dreams and ambitions. She spoke about Soweto and how she wanted to introduce the neighborhood to good coffee.
“I often went to the street on my off days to see what was missing – coffee!” she says.
She dreamt of having a coffee trolley, but lacked funds. Luckily for her, Paton saw her drive and determination. He agreed to go with her to Vilakazi Street.
“At first I was terrified,” says Paton. “The first person I met on the street was a very friendly hawker and I thought, well, if all hawkers are this nice, this might not be such a bad idea.”
It was a Saturday and on Monday, he gave Mahlangu the go-ahead. He invested in a small piece of land and a year later, Thrive Café was born. He made Mahlangu his business partner and co-owner.
Growing up, Mahlangu had no idea the street would become so famous. Now, she gets to spend every day in the heartland of history. What was meant to be a coffee trolley turned into a vibey restaurant attracting locals and people from the (northern) suburbs alike, not to mention celebrities and tourists who “want to see Soweto but don’t want to compromise their palates”.
“Sometimes it is quite overwhelming,” says Mahlangu. It is a happy problem.
The Café has since turned into a bistro and bar. People come back for the food, service, ambience and to meet the young entrepreneur. Some of Mahlangu’s former customers from Sandton are regular patrons here too.
Thrive Café brought to the fore Mahlangu’s true ability to succeed under tremendous pressure in a highly competitive industry.  She is grateful the eatery is popular.
“Sometimes we don’t put chairs outside because it is just too busy. People queue up like they do at Tasha’s,” she says. Her team is her greatest support when things get tough and there is a true sense of camaraderie between them.
Mahlangu dedicated her time to what she truly loved, and was willing to learn and dream big.
Her life began in Soweto, and she chose to return to make it a better place.

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Full of Beans

You can speak volumes without saying a word. It’s true of artist Faith47 whose murals in unexpected urban landscapes the world over shift conversations without a syllable being uttered.
The Cape Town artist has broken through the local art barrier with her murals like Taming of the Beast in Wuhan, China, to Rhapsody in New York and Capax Infiniti in Portland.
She has exhibited and worked around the globe including in Sweden, Miami, Montreal, Puerto Rico, Vienna, Malaga and in London where her most recent Aqua Regalia exhibition was held. The exhibition will be in Rome this year and the USA in 2016.
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Her works jump out of walls, ethereal, dreamlike and intuitive. They’re also statements and mirrors on a world of potential, promise and also of failings, hubris and darkness.
She says: “It’s the feeling and reflection brewing under the surface, infiltrating my dreams and waking space. Dark energies, sad visions, ecstatic revelation, mythical aspirations…
“I don’t subscribe to the belief in good and evil; the complexities of our situation are so intricate. I stand in awe of the fact that we exist at all. Anything I create is just a speck of dust.”
Street art after all is surrender. Each piece must be released to the certainty of impermanence. It’s a canvas Faith47 likes precisely because it can’t be tamed or curated as she says: “When I die it’ll all disappear and paper will turn to dust.”
It’s why she doesn’t buy into the notion that public art or street art is cleaning up spaces. More like it adds layers and texture to contested urban spaces and places where one person’s ugly, grimy or nuisance can be someone else’s livelihood, home, heart and beauty.
“I reflect on these things but they’re not my main objective. I’m more interested in visions etched in stone that can possibly touch hearts,” she says.
It’s not whimsy or chance though that has made her a global success. She has maximised global networks, built connections and collaborated where she has felt the greatest resonance with her work.
“I find the world very networked and accessible, this was an intentional discovery. The Internet has a great way of creasing out annoying borders drawn on maps. Plus, I work harder than almost everyone I know,” she says.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29912 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2015/02/Faith2-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Faith2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Faith2-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Faith2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Faith2.jpg 820w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Still street art has a mystique and anonymity. For Faith47, it’s “being anti the cult of celebrity”. It puts the artwork center stage and removes filters of nationality, class, race
and gender.
Faith47 reveals that she loves pine nuts and Murakami. She’s a mom and is married to fellow street artist DALeast. More than this, her art speaks for her. As she says: “I investigate the wisdom of old. I don’t listen to things that don’t matter. I listen to the void.”

Street Sm(Art)

Susan Napier’s sprawling office in Johannesburg is every inch the colorful and creative space it should be, with a large wooden desk, a collage of photographs, mostly of her two young daughters, and a balcony that boasts a panoramic view of the Wanderers Golf Club. In a white lace dress, this 41-year-old Marketing Director of Ireland/Davenport, one of South Africa’s biggest advertising agencies within the global WPP network, fits seamlessly into this setting. It’s easy to see she is in love: with her family and this job that is her world.
“I consider myself to be ridiculously fortunate,” says Napier. Growing up in Durban, she was taught the importance of values, ethics and hard work.
“Advertising is not for the faint-hearted. You need to have a tough skin…You have to have that ability to manage a million balls at the same time.” Ireland/Davenport works with high-profile brands such as BMW, Investec and Brand South Africa. Napier lets us peek into her world:
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29910 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2015/02/IMG_0953-227x300.jpg" alt="" width="227" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_0953-227x300.jpg 227w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_0953-300x397.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_0953-600x795.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_0953.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 227px) 100vw, 227px" />
What thoughts have occupied your mind today?
We are in a strategic phase at Ireland/Davenport at the moment – it’s our 10th year of a business and while we have been incredibly fortunate to enjoy some wonderful success over the past decade, we want the next 10 years to be even more successful. So my thoughts are currently occupied with defining goals and objectives for the business for the immediate year ahead which will feed into a long-term strategy for the company. One that I hope will ensure Ireland/Davenport remains relevant, fresh and insightful both to our current and future clients. It’s all about future-proofing the agency and continuing to build on the solid foundations that have been laid over the past decade.
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What would utopia be to you?
Finding the ever-elusive balance between my work and my personal life, where I am completely fulfilled as a working woman and in myself, while having the quality time with my beautiful daughters and husband.
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Are women more creative than men?
Not at all! Creativity is innate and it manifests in so many different ways. I do however think women are more intuitive in general though which I believe does contribute enormously to exploring the many facets of creativity.
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Your most lavish holiday?
Benguerra Island in Mozambique in 2008 [for my honeymoon]; total luxury and privacy, magnificent food and the man I love.
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What do you fear?
Dying young and not being able to watch and help bring up my children.
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If you were given only one day to live, what would you do?
Without doubt I would spend it with my husband and children. The day would be simple, but we would eat the best food, drink the perfect wine, truly talk to one another and we would love&#8230;a lot!

Lucky And In Love

A tour of the eye-catching bespoke building that is The Creative Counsel (TCC) on Corlett Drive is highly recommended before you meet its 39-year-old co-founder and co-CEO Gil Oved. Past the lime green foyer and candy-colored boardrooms, we come up to the ‘thinking’ floor, where creative-types, mostly women, mull over next-generation marketing concepts.
This is an activations company, South Africa’s biggest, with a Rs600 million ($52 million) turnover this year; the office spaces engage the senses and activate the mind. It’s a fitting prelude for any business meeting.
Oved is running late; his make-up artist has arrived before he has. Attested by GQ magazine as one of South Africa’s best-dressed men, he arrives in a natty shirt and trousers, speaking as he gets made up. His thoughts come thick and fast, but nothing, not even the story of his humble beginnings, which he says he is now tired of relating, can compare with his studied interpretation of the future. Oved’s marketing mind has already raced ahead, occupying that space in time when robots and drones will be both medium and message.
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Past perfect
But before that, we will dwell on Oved’s beginnings. His parents immigrated to South Africa from Israel when he was six. Brought up in a conservative home, he became a TV actor at age 15, and found himself in a setting with people of all hues and hobbies. “Really, the arts is a melting pot of society, and to be flung from one side of society to another where you are intimately involved with this cast of characters, it opens up your mind and breaks prejudices,” says Oved.
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‘Act as if and you become’
He soon stumbled upon an important life lesson. “Act as if and eventually you will become…I doctored it at a fairly young age,” he says of handling difficult situations. “To be honest, I do that even today. Just before I walk into a meeting, with all these scary people in suits and ties, I ask myself, what I am going to do, I am only a little kid. Eventually, I put my game face on, and act as if and I become.”
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First sale
While still in school, Oved, dressed in his father’s oversized jacket, and with his classmate and current business partner Ran Neu-Ner, knocked on the doors of hair salons and pharmacies to sell vanity make-up cases – “the burgundy ones with the little mirrors”. That’s when they realized their penchant for business.
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‘The director of my life’
At age 19, Oved started a TV production company. He was tired of taking directions, now he wanted to be the one giving them, behind the camera.
“I wanted to be the master of my destiny, I wanted to be the director of my life,” he says. “It’s very similar to being an entrepreneur, you have a vision, and it’s about inspiring the actors and the crew. I used all those lessons in running my business.”  How much capital did he have? “Think of the number zero and then look down,” he laughs.
After three years of dabbling with TV, in 1998, he decided to start a financial portal for online day traders, spending over two years with Neu-Ner kick-starting the business. But with the dotcom bust, they lost everything: time, energy, confidence and reputation. “I was 25 and depressed. I had nothing on my CV but two failed businesses. Daunting as it was, after the failures, we were looking for something to do.” And TCC was born, in a 12sqm office in Parktown.
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Leading women
More than 80% of TCC staff is women; Oved is a great advocate of women in business. “It’s difficult in our industry for men to succeed. And I say this with great humility that we will never be able to do the kind of things women do. I really do believe women are more advanced than men…[but] there still is incredible sexism. And the irony is there is a trick waiting to happen for everyone who hasn’t tried [promoting women] yet. Do it and get a better bang for your buck,” says Oved. Part of TCC’s transformational strategies for 2015 is to source what the economy calls “unemployable” black women, upskill them and offer opportunities.
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Digital trends
The topic makes him sit up. “The term ‘digital in advertising’ needs to cease to exist,” he begins. “We have intrinsically accepted that digital is the oxygen that drives every part of our business, both behind the scenes and in front of it. Because of technological advancements, we are capable of thinking out of the box…It also means that you can no longer afford to have a monologue with your consumer. It’s a dialogue. Technological advancements have also meant that now, every day, you discover new mediums. All the old mediums can be used in a completely new way. For us as an activation agency, it’s a very exciting time to be in advertising…I get all fired up talking about it.”
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The future
“I can tell you some of the trends I have been exposed to in terms of artificial intelligence, drones, robotics and 3D printing. It’s predicted that a third of all employment in this world will be replaced by one of these technologies by 2025. So let us understand, 10 years from now, every single one of us will be replaced by a list of [the following]: drone technology, robotics, mass energy storage, robotics, contour printing…It is unfathomable where technology is going. We have access to things going on, we are already living in a semi-virtual environment and that’s exciting for me as an agency involved in activations.”
It is clear Oved has set his sights firmly on technology that will drive future marketing. He can’t wait.

Tag: February 2015

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