RYAN SANDES

Ryan Sandes has blazed his way into the trail running record books and the hearts of most sport-loving South Africans. Our talented, yet humble ultra-marathon runner has broken records, and challenged the boundaries of long distance trail running.

As one of the top endurance athletes in the world, one would expect that Sandes, also know as “Hedgie” (short for hedgehog, after a short hair cut went unexpectedly spiky), excelled in athletics at school – but that is not the case. The Cape-based South Africa College Schools’ pupil played cricket, rugby and water polo, but never really bothered with athletics. 

In 2006, in his final year at the University of Cape Town, Sandes stumbled upon distance running, or perhaps it’s more appropriate to say that distance running found Sandes.

On a whim, Sandes, then a self-admitted party animal, signed up to run a full marathon. The only way he could get a trip to Knysna to party with his mates was to join them on a run. The half marathon was already full, so Sandes signed up for the full marathon without giving it much thought.

With minimal training in the preceding month Hedgie finished the 42km race in the top 20 with a time of 3 hours 20 minutes. The running bug bit, and soon the Sandes was spending weekends trail running instead of partying.

During an Internet search on trail runs and endurance races, Sandes chanced upon the 4Deserts.com website. Deciding it looked like a cool challenge, he signed up for the 250km seven-day Gobi Desert race, known as the Gobi March - one of the toughest endurance races on the planet.

In 2008, aged 26, with just a couple of year’s running experience, Sandes took his first self-supported ultra-marathon in China’s harsh desert by storm. He not only won the race, but he won every stage over the seven-day race.

Remarkably, still employed full time as a quantity surveyor at Faircape Property Developers, Sandes repeated this feat again in 2008, in the 250km Sahara Race in Egypt’s formidable desert, once again winning all six stages as well as the overall race title, in his second rough-country endurance foot race which is billed to challenge competitors to go beyond their physical and mental limits.

Sandes, also known fondly as the Sandman, took a break from the 4Desert challenge in 2009, to enter the Namibia Desert Race where he placed second and the 2009 Jungle Marathon, which he won in record-breaking time.

In 2010, Sandes, Runners World South Africa’s hero for 2008, 2009 and 2010, entered the third of the challenging 4Deserts series, the Atacama Crossing in Chile. He again won all six stages and the final leg of the seven-day 250km race and smashed all time records to become the first person to complete a 4Desert race in less than 24 hours, finishing almost 6 hours ahead of the person who placed second.

With a strategy of breaking long races into small, more achievable mini-goals Sandes also won every stage and the overall race of The Last Desert race in Antarctica becoming the first person to place first in all four 4Desert Races and to win every stage of all four races.

2010 was a busy and successful year for Sandes. He also won third place in the mixed pairs, with running partner Linda Dorke, in the eight-day Gore-Tex TransAlps race in Europe.

Now 29, Sandes, says he is just a regular guy with a passion for what he does – running. He’s currently focusing on one-day 100km and 100-mile (160km) races, with his main focus-race for this year being the Leadville 100-mile ultra-marathon in the US.

In March 2011 Sandes called off a Fish River Canyon record attempt the due to high water volumes, and he’s still flying South Africa’s flag proudly, placing third in the North Face Ultra Trail Race through the Blue Mountains down under in Australia.

He was disappointed with his a podium near-miss of fourth in the Zugspruit Ultra in Germany recently, and says he still has a lot to learn about European running conditions.

He’ll be running the body-pounding Leadville Trail, also known as The Race Across The Sky, through (and over) the heart of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado on 20 and 21 August as well as The Planet – Nepal series later this year, and has his sights sets on some of the most gruelling distance trail running courses, including his ultimate challenge, the 217km Bad Water ultra-marathon in Death Valley in the US, recognised as the most demanding and extreme running race offered on the planet.

With Sandes’s incredible mental strength and fine running form, he’s likely to take his awe-inspiring, extreme running success to even greater heights as he moves from running through deserts to perfecting his form in races with elevations of over 3000m.

DEON MEYER

Having penned eight thrillers, seven of which have been translated into up to 25 languages, top South African crime novelist Deon Meyer is attracting local and international attention, rave reviews with comparisons to John le Carre, and a growing string of awards including the prestigious Barry Prize for Best Thriller of 2011 in the US.

Born in Paarl in the Western Cape, Meyer (now 53) grew up in the Klerksdorp in the gold mining region of Northwest Province. The middle child, growing up with two brothers, Meyer dreamed of being a cowboy, a private eye, a detective, a fire fighter, and a heroic soldier. It was the example of his parents that encouraged Meyer to consider writing as a career – and combine several of these dreams into a stellar literary career.

“My mother and paternal grandmother were always reading when they had a spare moment. My late father loved books equally, but as the breadwinner, did not have the time to indulge. He did, however, always make time to take his three young sons to the town library, sometimes three times a week,” said Meyer.

Meyer wrote his first attempt at a novel at the age of 14 and reportedly blackmailed his brothers into reading it. Although Meyer can’t remember the title, it’s housed in the literary museum in Bloemfontein, and Meyer jokingly says he took his siblings advice and didn’t write fiction again until he was in his 30s.

After matriculating from Schoonspruit High School in Klerksdorp, Meyer went on complete a Bachelor of Arts at Potchefstroom University with majors in English and History.  

A Mozart and rock ‘n roll fan, Meyer started his career as a journalist for Die Volksblad, a daily newspaper based in Bloemfontein. His career includes public relations at the University of the Free State, as well as advertising copy writing and internal communications for Sanlam.

Meyer also completed his honours in history and masters in creative writing and went on to combine his love of motorcycles and writing as manager of special projects at BMW, before concentrating on novel writing as a full time career.

Writing in Afrikaans, Meyer’s first novel, Wie met vuur speel, was published in 1994 and is the only one of his works not to be translated (because it wasn’t good enough for an international audience according to Meyer). Since then Meyer has written seven more novels and two books of short stories, with a new thriller, Sewe Dae or Seven Days, due to be released in November.

A prolific writer, Meyer produced a book every 18 months for the first few years, but since writing full-time from 1998 he’s averaged one book a year – “including time for research, weighing up story options and worrying that it will work”.

Meyer lives in Melkbosstrand on the West Coast with his wife Anita and four children: Lida, Liam, Johan and Konstanz. He works an average of 12 hours a day, but “only six to eight of creative writing. Admin, meetings, signings take up the rest,” said a quick-humoured Meyer.

Meyer spends considerable time studying life in South Africa, setting scenes, creating believable characters, driving masterful plots and passing social comment on our life and times – and this professionalism has earned him growing popularity as a crime thriller writer list of awards and accolades. 

Devil’s Peak won the Martin Beck award from the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers and the French translation won the Readers’ Award from CritiquesLibres.com for Best Crime Novel or Thriller in 2010 and Thirteen Hours won the prestigious American Barry Prize for Best Thriller of 2011 was well as the Boeke Prize Fanatics Choice Award.

His latest book, Trackers, was the best selling novel in South Africa for eight weeks running and reviewers say Meyer has “moved into John le Carre’s class” and that the book, which has recently been released in the UK, US and Canada, is “mesmerising”. However, when asked which book he thought was his best, Meyer answered that none of his novels are perfect.

Extremely humble, Meyer attributes a lot of his success to the “incredible people who have made it all possible: my wife Anita, my agent Isobel Dixon, every publisher who have risked the substantial investment of publishing me…”

“As wonderful as it is to receive recognition, it has never been a challenge or a motivator. But every book is a unique and substantial challenge.” Perhaps the key to Meyer’s success is the fact that he enjoys what he does and believes that writing should be fun.

CHILIBOY RALEPELLE

At the age of 25, with more than five years playing at Springbok level, popular South African rugby player Mahlatse Ralepelle, more commonly known as Chiliboy, has already had the sports career and leadership opportunities that most people dream of, including the honour of being the youngest person, and the first black player, to captain our green-and-gold national rugby team.

Born in Tzaneen, a small town in the Mopani district of Limpopo province, Mahlatse (which means the blessed one, in Sotho) leant to play rugby at a young age under the guidance of his grandfather, also a rugby player in his youth.

His athletic ability gained Chiliboy a place at Pretoria Boys High School, a school with a proud rugby tradition. He was a member of the school’s Under 15s squad in 2001, and went on to play for the South African schools team in 2002 and 2003 and played for the South African Under 19s in 2004 and quickly built a reputation for himself as one of South Africa’s most promising junior players.

In 2005 he made his international debut for South Africa’s Under 19 side before playing his first professional senior level game for the Bulls in the same year. In 2006 Chiliboy captained the Under 21 Springbok squad in France at the 2006 Under 21 Rugby World Championships, taking his team through to the finals before they were defeated by the host nation.

This fast forwarded the muscular hooker’s career and earned him a place on the Springbok senior squad with a selection for the 2006 Tri Nations Series. He made his international debut for the Springboks on 26 August 2006 against the All Blacks, playing at his home grounds at Loftus Versfeld during the 2006 Six Nations Tournament and got to achieve the dream of captaining the Springbok team for one game in the same year.

He’s played consistently at provincial level for the Blue Bulls since 2006, represented the Bulls in the international Super 14s since 2005 and been part of the Springbok squad since 2006 but Chiliboy has had a bit of a stop-start career that has been plagued by injury and the need to share field time between strong players, allowing him only about 20 caps in five years. But he’s currently in fine form and appears to be about to live up to the promise and potential he showed in the junior ranks.

2011 looks set to be the year Chiliboy is proves his ability. After the dark cloud of knee injuries and testing positive for a banned substance in the UK in 2010 (from which he and South African winger, Bjorn Basson, were cleared –the banned substance was part of a nutritional supplement provided to the Springbok team), the powerful player has emerged with determination to prove he’s more than South Africa’s third-choice hooker.

The drug scandal, and troubles he was exposed to as a result, proved to be an important, if uncomfortable, learning curve for Chiliboy. “What I learned was that you need to focus on the present and do as much as you can in the moment, because once it's taken away from you, you can never get it back,” he said in a recent interview with the Sunday Times.

He’s dropped from 108 or 109kgs to 105 – which he calls his fighting weight, giving him more speed and agility and has changed his game plan. His new philosophy is that you have to throw the first punch – that first hit can carry you through and give you the confidence you need says Chiliboy.

Chiliboy has just signed up for another two years, playing hooker in the Bulls pack, putting his muscle and a good throwing arm behind his Loftus Versfeld team, at least until October 2013.

 He’s currently playing exceptionally well and turned on a burning performance against the Sharks in Durban in June, winning the team prize for the most tackles of the match (15 in 55 minutes). His hot performance has continued, with Chiliboy scoring his maiden Test try against the All Blacks in Wellington as part of the Tri Nations games in July.

Chili as his team mates call him, is currently playing brilliantly according to Blue Bulls coach Pine Pienaar and performed well in recent tests against Australia and New Zealand – and is believed to be a strong contender for selection for the South Africa’s Rugby World Cup squad in New Zealand in September, where his regained form and confidence could help boost the Springbok’s performance and add zest to Chiliboy’s career as one of South Africa’s bright rugby stars and ambassadors.

---

CAMERON VAN DER BURGH

As a one of the top short distance swimmers in the world, specialising in 50m and 100m breaststroke events, Pretoria-born Cameron van der Burgh has had his name splashed across the sports headlines many times. He’s won titles at the World Championships, the Commonwealth Championships, and holds the world record title for 50m breaststroke short course and long course as well as the 100m breaststroke title. He has held double world cup titles but perhaps his proudest claim to fame is that he is South Africa’s first home-trained swimming celebrity and record holder.

Van der Burgh began his swimming career late by general champion standards. At the age of eleven, having done very little swimming, Van der Burgh took part in his first inter-house championship at school and won. Building on his natural talent for swimming he went on to represent the Northern Transvaal B team in 1998, and moved up to the A team the following year.

In 2000 he was selected for the South Africa team for the first time, and in 2007 the former Pretoria Crawford College student grabbed the attention of the international swimming community, at the age of 18, when he won his first major international medal – bronze in the World Championship in Melbourne, Australia in the 50m breaststroke.

In 2008, at the age of 20, Van der Burgh took part in his first Olympics and went on to became Africa’s youngest world record holder, breaking several world records in short succession. In Moscow in November 2008 the Northern Tigers swimmer beat Oleg Lisagor’s 50m breaststroke record of 26.17 seconds, clocking in at 26.08 seconds. The very next day Van der Burgh beat Ed Moses’ 2002 record of 57.47 seconds for the 100m breaststroke with a time of 56.88 seconds.

A few days later, in Stockholm, Van der Burgh clocked in under 26 seconds in the 50m breaststroke, becoming the first person the in the world to break the 26-second barrier with a time of 25.94 seconds. His stellar performance won him the award for Best Male Swimmer Overall in the FINA-Arena World Cup (short course).

He also won a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke and a bronze in the 50m breaststroke at the World Championships in Manchester in the UK in 2008.

Driven to perfect his natural swimming talent and achieve 100% efficiency, Van der Burgh returned in 2009 to win the coveted gold medal in the 50m breaststroke race in the World Championships in Rome, setting a new world record; and also won a bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke event.

An avid golfer and amateur photographer, Van der Burgh put in another strong performance in the 2010 season winning two gold medals (50m and 100m breaststroke) at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, as well as a gold in the 100m and a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke events at the 2010 World Championships in Dubai.

2010 was also the year the Audi A1 ambassador made his modelling debut, his ready smile, friendly personality and toned swimming physique capturing more hearts as Mr February in Cosmopolitan’s Sexiest South African Men Calendar.

Van der Burgh won gold in the 50m and broke the championship record in Barcelona, Spain in June this year, before winning two bronze medals for the 50m and 100m breaststroke at the World Championships in Shanghai. He also brought home two gold medals from the All Africa games held in Maputo, Mozambique recently.

Unlike previous South African swimming champions, Van der Burgh is the first champion-material swimmer not to head to the US or elsewhere overseas to train. Although he has been training recently under Tokyo-based Norimasa Harai, Van der Burgh does most of his swimming training at the Olympic-size pool in Hillcrest, Pretoria.

An avid coffee lover who professes to hate training, but thrive on the enjoyment of racing, Van der Burgh, at the age of 23, has already ticked off most of his major swimming goals – breaking a world record and winning gold at the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. He now has his sights firmly set on the 100m breaststroke event at the Olympics in 2012 – the shortest swimming course recognised at the Olympic Games. He has been training hard to improve his stroke and endurance.

The amiable Van der Burgh is also focused on giving back to the community and the sport. He’s helping mentor up-coming younger swimmers such as Chad le Clos and Charl van Zyl and sharing the tricks of the trade to speed them on their way to medals in the 2016 Olympics.

PROF JONATHAN JANSEN

Internationally renowned education academic, Professor Jonathan David Jansen, is one of South Africa’s leading intellectual experts. He has a solid academic grounding, is a captivating speaker, a master story teller and is known for his insightful and forthright comments on education issues… but it is in his more recent leadership roles at Universities that his true wisdom and leadership colours shine through with compassion, humility and deep understanding.

Much like his counterpart Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Jansen has been flown against conventions and risen above the challenges of being classified as a Coloured under the Apartheid era, and as part of his own growth is helping South Africa rise above the barriers of racism.

But let’s start at the beginning: Jansen was born on 29 September 1956 in the picturesque town of Montagu in the Western Cape between the Robertson wine district and the semi-desert area of the Little Karoo. He grew up here and in a township in the Cape Flats, and his youthful outlook was shaped by upheavals and the loss of family land and property due to forced removals.

Jansen, who attended Sullivan Primary School, then Steenberg High School, describes himself as an average student in the lower grades of high school – more interested in playing soccer, swimming at Muizenberg and cycling around with his mates.

Encouragement from Paul Gallant, Jansen’s high school Latin teacher and middle-distance running coach, changed his life. The high expectations Gallant set for his students made the young teenage Jansen believe he could achieve things despite the tough environment of the Cape Flats – and he has risen to great heights as a result.

Jansen graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of the Western Cape, completed his teaching qualifications through UNISA, and went on to obtain his masters from Cornell University in the US and his doctorate from Stanford University and is internationally regarded as one of the top researchers in the field of education.

A former biology teacher, Jansen served as Dean of Education at the University of Pretoria from 2001 to 2007, and was a Fulbright Scholar to Stanford in 2007 to 2008. He is an Honorary Professor of Education at the University of the Witwatersrand, and has received an honorary Doctor of Education from the University of Edinburgh and the Cleveland State University.

His keen interest in academic education has seen Jansen undertake more than twenty international commissioned research and evaluation projects including curriculum support to the Namibian Government and an assessment of curriculum change in Zimbabwe after independence.

He has also worked as an editor or on the editorial board for numerous journals published locally and internationally and boasts publications on education policy and curriculum change in academic and scientific journals and books, and has presented numerous research papers at local and international conferences.

In 2008 Jansen co-authored a book with Saloshna Vandeyar, called Diversity High: Class, Colour, Character and Culture in a South African High School and in 2009 he published Knowledge in the Blood which is a heartfelt and effective approach to achieving understanding and transformation in a divided society, based on Jansen’s experiences at the University of Pretoria.

The book considers why young Afrikaners, born at the time of Mandela’s release from prison, hold firm views about a past they never lived, rigid ideas about black people and fatalistic thoughts about the future. Jansen had planned to convey a story of how white students change under the leadership of a diverse group of senior academics, but Knowledge in the Blood ultimately became an unexpected and moving account of how these students in turn helped changed him – and helped him start to overcome his own racial hurt and fears.

On 1 July 2009 Jansen took up his appointment Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (UOFS) at a time when racial tension was at its highest. The campus had been rocked by the infamous Reitz Four video and the students were polarized into clear racial camps. But in a fairly short space of time this remarkable man, armed with the lessons he’s learnt and the courage of his convictions, has been able to encourage students to meet each other half way – to the point that the UOFS, a former bastion of Afrikaner learning, is fast becoming a living model of genuine integration worth replicating across the country.

This gifted orator, facilitator and leader has, through listening and introspection, found the key to real transformation. He’s encouraging his students, and each of us, to step forward and be part of the transformation journey; part of the solution – and he’s leading by example.

LEWIS PUGH

Born in the UK in on 5 December 1969, a young Lewis Pugh, who would go on to become a world renowned pioneer swimmer and conservationist, moved to South Africa with his parents, Gordon and Margery Pugh, at the age of 10.  South African became his second home for the next 17 years.

At the age of 17 he embarked on the first of his swimming feats by completing the swim from Robben Island to Cape Town in three hours. Pugh, more recently known as the human polar bear for his numerous extreme cold water swims, followed this by completing the first swim across Lake Malawi with Otto Thaning covering the 25km in 9 hours and 50 minutes, and swimming across the English Channel in 14 hours and 50 minutes at the age to 22 while studying for his Law degree at the University to Cape Town.

A St Andrews College and Camps Bay High School scholar, Pugh went on to become a maritime lawyer in London, and a reservist in the elite British Special Air Service before deciding to follow his dreams and push the boundaries of what is considered possible.

He abandoned his career which included reading international law at Jesus College in Cambridge to became a swimming pioneer, achieving feats similar to his childhood heroes of Scott and Hillary, except in water rather than on land.

Pugh achieved an impressive selection of world firsts in the swimming world. He became the first person to swim around the North Cape, the most northern point in Europe and the first to swim the length of Sognefjord in Norway, the longest fjord in the world.

He was also the first person to swim around the Cape of Good Hope and to swim around the entire Cape Peninsula.

In 2005 Pugh broke the world record for the most northern long distance swim, deep in the Arctic Ocean and undertook the longest polar swim - one mile across Whalers Bay in the South Shetland Islands.

He went on to win a gold medal in the 500-metre freestyle event at the World Winter Games in Finland in 2006. The same year he became the first person to achieve what is considered the Holy Grail of swimming having completed a long distance swim in every ocean in the world.

But Pugh is probably best known for his one kilometre swim in an open patch of sea at the North Pole in July 2007 wearing only his trademark Speedo, swimming cap and goggles.  He plunged into the minus 1.7 degree Celsius water to draw attention to the impact of global warming, the melting of the Arctic sea ice and the plight of his favourite animal, the polar bear. That swim in freezing waters that few would survive took 18 minutes and 50 seconds to complete.

An accomplished and compelling motivational speaker, Pugh was awarded a fellowship at the New York Explorers Club, Rotary International’s Paul Harris Fellowship and Sports Adventurer of the Year Award by the French Sports Academy in 2007.

In 2008 he founded the Polar Defence Project which went on to win the Best Project for the Environment at the inaugural Beyond Sports Awards in 2009.

2009 was also the year Pugh received the highest honour in South Africa – the gold cross, or Order of Ikhamanga – for his exceptional sporting triumphs, humanitarian feats and creating consciousness about the negative effects of global warming.

Pugh learnt the importance of a well-prepared support team on his early expeditions. He included renowned South African sports scientist, Tim Noakes, on both his arctic and Antarctic expeditions. It was Prof Noakes from the University of Cape Town who first recorded Pugh’s unique ability to raise his core body temperature by two degrees Celsius before diving into cold water – and called it anticipatory thermo-genesis.

In 2010, Pugh was appointed a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and went on to complete his hardest challenge yet – a 22 minute and 51 second swim across Lake Pumori, a glacial lake on Mount Everest at an altitude of 5,300 metres. Pugh succeeded on his second attempt after realising his usual tactic of pushing determinedly and fast through a cold-water swim could not work at high altitude.

Now a sought-after speaker, Pugh, who describes himself as an explorer, athlete and polar protector, has just published his first book. Achieving the Impossible is a riveting and inspirational account of Pugh’s life, and how he came to believe in his passions and dreams and dared to achieve the impossible.

It is reassuring to know that Pugh, with his first hand experience of goal-setting teamwork and leadership, thinks that saving our planet is not impossible. He’s complete a number of other firsts, like swimming the entire length of the River Thames to raise awareness and hopefully the World Economic Forum is right in believing he has “the potential to shape the future of the world through his inspiring leadership”.

LAWRENCE ANTHONY

Internationally renowned South African conservationist, Lawrence Anthony, shot into fame for his daring (and by his own admission, foolhardy), rescue of zoo animals in the capital city of Baghdad in war stricken Iraq in 2003 – earning himself the United Nation’s Earth Day award in 2004.

A tall, genial and disarmingly humble man, Anthony comes across as deeply concerned about humanitarian issues, animal welfare and the degradation of our planet.

Born in 1950, Anthony is the eldest of three children, and grew up in the African bush, moving to Zambia, Malawi and then Zululand in South Africa according to the dictates of his father’s job in insurance sales.

Although he has no formal conservation training, a youth filled with exploring the African bush cemented a deep and abiding love for the natural world and honed the skills that Anthony needed to turn from estate agent to property developer to a respected conservationist.

With his elegant Parisian wife, Francoise, Anthony has established Thula Thula, a luxury private game lodge just inland from Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal which finances his considerable conservation efforts and serves as a base for his conservation work.

For twelve years Anthony has been campaigning to win the trust and support of previously rival clans, encouraging them to work together for the greater benefit of both communities and wildlife, in an ambitious community eco-tourism project.

His perseverance over literally hundreds of meetings is about to pay off.

Fences are will soon be dropped between Thula Thula and neighbouring community land in a joint venture that will ultimately see the local communities owning and operating their own game reserves with the requisite training and transfer of skills. The added benefit will be an extended conservation area of 15,000 hectares that will eventually join up the Hluhluwe-Imofolozi reserve.

Anthony believes that education is the key to future conservation efforts, and this is where Thula Thula plays a part, encouraging visitors to become better acquainted with nature through game drives and guided bush walks where one can feel the thrill of watching and appreciating wildlife up close.

He has also founded the Earth Organization, an independent non-profit international conservation and environmental organisation. Borrowing the franchise principle an applying it to a non-profit scenario, the Earth Organisation encourages members to adopt conservation projects that hold a personal interest for them, giving a constructive outlet to areas of conservation passion.

With cutting insightfulness Anthony says he has never understood the saying to “think outside the box”. “Why would anyone sit inside a box and try to think outside of it. Why not get out the box?” questions Anthony who is a strong believer in questioning societal conventions and the accepted way of doing things.

He certainly did that when settling a herd of rogue elephants on Thula Thula, learning to trust his instinct over textbook knowledge to save the lumbering but powerful pachyderms from certain death as troublesome animals.

Traumatised by the culling of older herd members, the herd Anthony inherited had become escape artists and as custodian of the herd Anthony unwittingly embarked on a personally transforming odyssey as protector and finally as a trusted friend of the herd.

The moving tale is recounted in Anthony’s book, jointly authored with Graham Spence, The Elephant Whisperer, which is already reaching bestseller status in the UK.

Anthony’s 2003 wartime zoo rescue in Baghdad is retold in the exciting book Babylon’s Ark and a film recounting Anthony’s epic rescue is currently under negotiation.

Flowing out of the Baghdad rescue, Anthony is successfully campaigning for the United Nations to give wildlife areas including game reserves, zoos and marine parks the same status as schools and hospitals during times of conflict; and veterinarians and game rangers the same status as doctors and nurses.

“There are so many critically endangered species that a war could prompt the extinction of a species. For many species zoos and game reserves are little Noah’s arks – the last refuge for critically endangered species – and they need to be protected,” says Anthony.

The current draft resolution with the UN seeks to declare an attack on such places as a war crime, and Anthony believes it has a good chance of being adopted.

The father of two adult sons, Anthony, has also won acclaim for his work persuading rebel troops fighting in Uganda to protect the white rhinoceros.

Having a purpose or focus is one of Anthony’s secrets of success. He says the Baghdad zoo rescue succeeded was a result of a heavy focus on purpose. “If you have a purpose, you find a way to achieve it, no matter the odds,” says Anthony.

AARON MOKOENA

The captain of South Africa’s national soccer team, Bafana Bafana, and well-known premier league player, Aaron Mokoena, needs little introduction. Known as “mbazo” (which means “the axe”) the twenty-eight-year-old has cut a successful sporting career and cleaved his way into the hearts of our sport-loving nation, not only as a sports hero, but also as someone who is determined to invest the future of South Africa.

As a youngster growing up in the Boipatong Township, south of Johannesburg, Mokoena began to hone his balls skills from the tender age of four on the grass-poor and dusty Township pitches.
A lover of ball sports, Mokoena made a choice in his early teens between the dream of a career in basketball or a career in soccer and decided to focus on soccer.

His good form when playing for Jomo Cosmos and Ajax Cape Town saw him selected in 1999 as the youngest player ever to represent South Africa in an international soccer match, at the age of 17- playing in the 2000 Sydney summer Olympics qualifiers.

Known as a versatile and athletic mid-fielder and centre-back Mokoena replaced Lucas Rabebe as captain of the South African national side in 2002 and has become a role model for soccer loving youngsters in South Africa.

Mokoena lead South Africa’s squad for the first time just before the 2002 World Cup and by the time he was 24 had made more than 25 international appearances wearing the green and gold jersey.

In June last year he overtook Shaun Bartlett to take the honour of being South Africa’s most capped soccer player.

Mokoena also played in Europe for Bayer Leverkusen, Ajax Amsterdam and Genk before moving the to the English Premier League in 2005 playing for Blackburn Rovers.

He recently signed a three-year contract with Portsmouth FC and will be playing for them from August this year.

Mokoena, together with other popular African soccer players, joined the Confederation of African Football and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund in a campaign to promote the right to quality education and raise money for children in Africa.

Inspired by the desire to improve opportunities for children in South Africa, as well as promote soccer in the country, Mokoena launched the Aaron Mokoena Foundation at the end of May this year as a charitable organisation in both South Africa and the UK.

Mokoena, who started from very humble beginnings, says he had dreamt of giving back something to the roots that helped him develop his skills as a soccer player ever since he turned professional.

Our Bafana Bafana captain believes that soccer coaching would not only improve the standard of the game in South Africa, but will also play a boarder role in society by bringing communities together and fostering better habits for South Africa’s youth.

Through the Foundation Mokoena hopes to improve the quality of soccer coaching, develop local soccer leagues and focus on developing young players through the provision of a robust coaching programme and integrating it with training in health and fitness, self esteem, confidence building and social etiquette.
While Mokoena believes he is fortunate to get to where he is today, he also readily acknowledges that it took a lot of hard work and a number of sacrifices.

Mokoena’s foundation, a way of giving back to his country, was launched on May 28th 2010 in the neighbourhood where Mokoena first learnt to kick a ball: Boipatong; which falls within the Sedibeng District Municipality. He sees it as a tangible legacy and the chance to make a real difference in people’s lives.

The launch tournament for kids aged between five and 16 in Boipatong, involved the local primary and high schools and had players like Lucas Radebe, Phil Masinga, Shaun Bartlett and Mark Fish lending support.

Mokoena plans to embark on a number of road shows both in South Africa and in the UK to raise awareness of the Foundation’s programmes and will be looking for support from local government as well as corporate sponsors.

Although he is very busy with premier league and aware of the heady responsibility of leading South Africa’s challenge for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup, Mokoena believes that the timing for the launch of the Aaron Mokoena Foundation could not be better. The eyes of the world are on South Africa, and everyone is alive to the fact that soccer as a sport can shape lives, and that soccer heroes can play a big part as role models.

Mokoena is a shining example of how soccer can really change lives and he hopes to touch the lives of kids in South Africa and aid the development of soccer and soccer players in his home country.

RAY CHAPLIN

If you’re looking for inspiration to get you to dream bigger and bolder in 2011, then you need look no further than South African adventurer, Ray Chaplin. On 15 May, Chaplin (30) will set off on what can only be described as the holy grail of expeditions – a self-powered circumnavigation of the world, via the north and south poles, crossing 31 countries and covering 66,000km.

Going from a boy who dreamed about being everything from an airline pilot to a radio presenter and a nightclub DJ, Chaplin a recognised adventurer and gear tester for outdoor magazines, now plans to become the first person to vertically circumnavigate the world using only human power – a journey that is expected to take six years to complete.

Around the world in 6 years


Setting off from Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa, Chaplin plans to cycle 9,450km to Djibouti. Followed by 3,350km by boat across the Red Sea, and via the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean landing in Turkey, the starting point of Chaplin’s 7,270km cycle across Europe to Norway.

The former IT professional who matriculated from SA College High School, before going on to complete his Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MSCE) course, will then power 1,000km across the Barents Sea in his specially designed combination pedal and paddle boat, and ski 4,250km across the Arctic via the North Pole to Iqaluit in Canada. From there, it’s back into the boat for 3,500km to Ottawa, followed by a mind-numbing 20,775km cycle from Canada to Argentina.

Then it’s back to self-propelled boat power to cross to the Arctic Peninsula, and a return ski journey of 6,600km to the South Pole and back before tackling mental and physical fatigue across the Drake Passage, passing through the Falkland Islands and crossing the Southern Atlantic to return back home.

Chaplin, the younger of two brothers, is no stranger to endurance adventures. In 2007 he cycled 2, 450km from between two major South African cities and has completed several stationary cycle marathons for charity, the longest being 57,5 hours non-stop for a fundraiser.

Last year he walked solo across South Africa, from Cape Point to Beit Bridge, pushing a cart with his equipment and food, and then immediately cycled from Johannesburg to Cape Town along the N1 using an old single-speed bike with back-pedal brakes.

Raising awareness


Chaplin also plans to use his trip to campaign for several important causes. His trip incorporates 100 UNESCO World Heritage Sites through which he hopes to showcase conservation and preservation initiatives and needs.

He also plans to distribute educational material to those in need across Africa, concentrating on the provision of self-sustainable computer centres powered by solar and wind. Through the use of sustainable transport Chaplin also hopes to create awareness of climate change, road congestions and health issues caused by our modern forms of transport.

From IT to adventurer


Chaplin’s move from IT to adventurer was more by chance than by design.

“I started feeling like a glorified babysitter or firefighter – always battling against the world of hackers and viruses, and end users. The general lifestyle was also getting to me. I was unfit, unhealthy and more often than not chasing my own tail,” explains Chaplin.

When he was selected to represent South Africa on an international youth expedition, Chaplin resigned. The expedition was called off, but Chaplin decided to do his own adventuring. “Putting my diverse knowledge and skills to better use seemed like a far better plan,” he says.

The intrepid adventurer is currently taking a break from training and fattening himself up while supporting stroke survivor, George Scola, walk the reverse of Chaplin’s 2010 trip across South Africa. Chaplin plans to climb back into the saddle at the end of January to prepare for the lengthy days in the saddle to come.

Looking ahead, Chaplin admits he is nervous.

“Staying healthy and strong enough to continue will be a constant worry, and choosing the north and south poles as my antipodal points adds complications – vast areas of extreme weather that can quickly become lethal, and little logistical support.”

“Then the Drake Passage back to South African is going to take every bit of luck, skill and prayer that one can muster. The ocean is big and my boat is small,” says Chaplin.

Chaplin's IT expertise has been invaluable in his preparations – from thinking big, being bale to plan all the required elements, to problem solving and communication.

“I’m also always on the lookout for new technology to bring to my adventures… like live GPS tracking with heart-rate data on my website,” says Chaplin who is rated as one of the most technologically advanced and best connected adventurers.

KGALEMA MOTLANTHE

2008 is likely to go down in history as a tumultuous year for South Africa. A year that started with a power crisis and was followed by the global economic crisis and an active political arena back home that saw the ruling African National Congress (ANC) decide to recall Thabo Mbeki as country president, voting in Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe, the ANC’s deputy president and former secretary general, as interim president of South Africa until the next elections, expected to take place in April 2009.

The 59-year-old Motlanthe became South Africa’s interim or caretaker president on September 25, 2008, and later assumed the role of deputy president after the election of Jacob Zuma as South Africa’s president.

Affectionately known as Mkulu, a term of veneration that means ‘elder’ or  ‘leader’, he is seen as a left-leaning intellectual who is not afraid to speak his mind, and gained public support for urging the ANC Youth League to respect the rule of law when ANCYL leader Julius Malema said he was prepared to kill for ANC president Jacob Zuma.

Motlanthe is seen both as a voice of reason and a unifying force within the ANC and was the only person to feature on both the Zuma and Mbeki top lists at the succession battle at the party conference in Polokwane in December last year.

Born in Alexandra Township, close to the centre of Johannesburg, on July 19, 1949, he attended an Anglican missionary school in Alex now known as Pholos Primary before moving to Meadowlands, Soweto in 1959. The church played a major role in his formative years and the Tswana speaking youngster served as an altar boy for many years and even considered becoming a priest.

After matriculating from Orlando High School Motlanthe went to work for the Johannesburg City Council for several years during the 1970s as a supervisor in the commercial department overseeing bottle-stores and agricultural marketing in the townships. It was during this period that the avid soccer player and jazz lover was recruited to the military wing of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe (meaning spear of the nation).

Motlanthe’s unit was initially tasked with recruiting new members for military training, but later became involved in sabotage. Motlanthe was arrested by the security police on April 14, 1976, just months before the Soweto uprising, and detained until his trial in February 1977 where he was found guilty on three counts of terrorism and was sent to Robben Island for ten years.

In various reports, Motlanthe describes his time of incarceration on the island as and enriching period filled with camaraderie, sharing and learning; although it is bound to have also been hard and exceedingly tough.

Shortly after his release in April 1987 he joined the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) first as an education officer and rising to secretary general of the mining union in January 1992 succeeding Cyril Ramaphosa. It was here that Motlanthe began to hone his political skills.

When the ANC was unbanned Motlanthe became the chairman of the party’s Gauteng region but stepped down in September 1991 to devote more time to NUM.

The father of two daughters and one son followed in Ramaphosa’s footsteps again and became secretary general of the ANC in December 1997, a position he held until his appointment as the deputy president of the ANC in December 2007.

The ANC conference in Polokwane in December 2007 saw Mbeki losing the presidency of the ANC to Zuma, and the new ANC leadership applied pressure on Mbeki to appoint Motlanthe, widely believed to be the brains behind Zuma’s campaign, to the cabinet.

Described as a committed socialist and 120% ANC, Motlanthe became a member of parliament in May 2008, and in a move to facilitate a smooth transition of government after the 2009 elections was appointed to the cabinet as a minister without portfolio in July 2008.

Motlanthe went on to become the third post-apartheid president winning 269 of a possible 351 parliamentary votes in September and now fills the role of deputy president under Jacob Zuma after the 2009 polls.

As president he proved more popular than Mbeki and gained approval for the appointment of Barbara Hogan as minister of health and facilitating a conventional scientific approach to HIV, as well as his assurances that he will stick to former president Mbeki’s pro-business financial policies.

Motlanthe, who has studiously avoided any limelight, appears to put the ANC before himself, and is respected by all for his studious regard for process and consultation.

ELON MUSK

Boldly going where no South African has gone before…

Mark Shuttleworth became a household name when the successful South African entrepreneur, now resident in London, became the second self-funded space tourist and the first South African in space on a flight aboard the Russian Soyuz TM-34 in April 2002, but few of us realise that another South African, now resident in Bel-Air, California, is persistently pioneering space and other frontiers and boldly going where no South Africa has gone before.

Elon Musk, best known for co-founding PayPal, the leading internet payment system, was born in Pretoria two years before Shuttleworth and has gone on to develop an affordable revolutionary electric sports car, the Tesla Roadster, and as CEO and chief technician of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is developing rockets to take satellites and people into orbit around Earth and beyond.

Musk’s penchant for thinking big and achieving the seemingly impossible began early. At age 10 he bought his first computer and taught himself how to program. By age 12 the Thomas Edison fan had designed his own computer game, a variation on Space Invaders called Blaster which he sold to a computer magazine for USD 500.

At age 17 the Pretoria Boys High School matriculant left South Africa against the wishes of his parents largely to avoid military conscription in support of the Apartheid government and headed for North America. There he self-funded his studies, earning Bachelors degrees in both Economics and Physics from the University of Pennsylvania.

By the age of 27 the over 6 foot tall Musk had sold his four-year-old online publishing software company Zip2 to Compaq for USD 307mn plus USD 34mn in stock options.

The South African national then went on to co-found PayPal which was sold to eBay shortly after Shuttleworth’s trip into space for USD 1.5bn. At the time Musk was PayPal’s largest shareholder with 11.7% and earned enough to start his third company SpaceX and pursue his dreams of human colonisation of space.

Now at 39, Musk is aiming high – in fact 250 miles up, at the International Space Station – and beyond that to a human oasis on Mars, and could just be the very person to shrug off what we consider the impossible and change the world as we know it.

Prior to October this year California-based SpaceX had launched the Falcon 1 (F1) rocket 180 miles above Earth, further than any privately developed rocket, and on Oct 7, on only its fourth launch attempt, the F1 became the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to reach orbit around Earth. The next flight, carrying a Malaysian primary satellite and US government secondary satellite is schedule for March 2009 and the private rocket company aims to start shuttling people to the International Space Station by 2011.

SpaceX’s focus on affordable technology has seen the 525 employees develop a competitive launch vehicle in less time and for less money than would seem possible and is likely to provide stiff competition for the 150,000 employees at the USD 61.5bn Boeing plant. The company already boasts that it will launch satellites into space for a quarter of the cost of its competitors.

In addition to the space programme, Musk’s concern for the environment resulted in a USD 6.3mn investment which sees him as principal owner and chairman of the board at Tesla Motors which has built the first truly viable electric motor car.

Although Tesla initially focused on a sports car which sells for around USD 98,000 they also have plans to produce a family sedan in the region of USD 50,000 and a third model as more of a city run-around at USD 30,000.

In recent years Musk’s desire to combat global warming sees him also the primary investor and chairman of the successful solar panel installation company SolarCity.

Musk was awarded the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics George Low Space Transportation Award in September this year for his contribution to the development of commercial space transportation systems using innovative low-cost approaches.

He might not be a household name, yet, but he ought to be. This maverick South African-born entrepreneur has a penchant for turning innovation into success and is boldly exploring frontiers that could revolutionise our world.

Musk has indicated that after the successful launch of the F1, the next goal is to launch the cargo carrying Falcon 9 (F9), as well as the F9 with crew Dragon and the F9 heavy… and then Musk’s sights are set, as they have been since his 2001, on a Mars landing. Musk had initially put plans to land an experimental greenhouse on the hot red planet on hold in order to reduce prohibitive launch costs – something he has recently achieved.

GLORIA SEROBE

Renowned for her contribution to the empowerment of black women in South Africa and described as a torchbearer of our times, Gloria Tomatoe Serobe is a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Committee and the Presidential Working Group for Women, as well as a member of various boards.

Married to Gaur Serobe, the feisty Gloria is mother to two adult sons, Zani and Thato. At just 1.52 metres, she proves the adage that dynamite comes in small packages, and is widely regarded as an entrepreneur who makes her presence felt – but who can still enjoy a good joke or the odd prank or two.

At just 1.52 metres, she proves the adage that dynamite comes in small packages.

Best known for her role as one of four co-founders of Women Investment Portfolio Holdings (Wiphold) - the first women’s group established post-1994 to list on the JSE (listed in 1999, although it de-listed in 2003) - and for her current role as CEO of Wipcapital, a subsidiary of Wiphold focusing on operational financial services, Gloria ascribes her success to hard work and a driving ambition. And this, she says, is at least in part attributable to the high expectations of her held by her maternal grandfather, Rev John Zamile Ndaliso, who played a formative role in her life.

Although born in Cape Town, this competent and tough corporate businesswoman was sent to St John’s High School in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, where schooling was of a higher quality. She was amongst the first group of five girls to attend the boys’ high school.

After matriculating, Gloria, who is one of 10 siblings and hails from a large family of successful entrepreneurs, obtained her Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of the Transkei. She then went on to complete her MBA at the University of Rutgers State in the US on a Fulbright scholarship.

Her first job was for Exxon Corporation in the US as a trainee accountant, after which she returned to South Africa to work in various positions for the Premier Group’s Epic Oils and then Munich Reinsurance. She opted for a cut in salary to escape the routine of accounting and moved into investment and merchant banking with Standard Corporate & Merchant Bank.

Gloria, who turns 52 on September 20 this year, moved to state transport utility Transnet as group financial director in 1996 and stayed there until 2001, serving as a member of the board as well as on the boards of subsidiaries at the time, including Spoornet, Portnet, Petronet and South African Airways.

Wiphold was founded in 1994 as a dedicated broad-based black empowerment company focused on the empowerment of women. The company listed on the JSE in 1999 and survived some turbulent years leading up to a delisting in 2003 as one of the few surviving BBBEE companies that established soon after the 1994 democratic elections. Wiphold’s shareholding is majority owned (in excess of 60%) by women, also majority black-owned (50.3%) and has 1 200 direct beneficiaries and 18 000 indirect beneficiaries through the Wiphold Investment Trust. A further 200 000 women benefit through the Wiphold Non-Governmental Organisation Trust, making an economic impact in each of South Africa’s nine provinces.

In 2005 Gloria was instrumental in brokering a R7.2 billion empowerment deal for a 12.75% stake in the London-listed Old Mutual Group, of which Wiphold and other BEE consortiums were beneficiaries. Critics say she is haughty and used to getting her own way, but her admirers say she’s just driven.

Her hard work has been rewarded with a number of accolades, including the Impumeleleo Top 300 Award in 2003 for her contribution to transformation, job creation, the economy and as a BEE role model. In 2004 she received the ABSIP Pioneer of Empowerment Award and was winner of the Business category of the 2005 Top Women in Business and Government, and twas the 2006 winner of Businesswoman of the Year Award in the corporate category.

Gloria remains a much-loved pioneer in the field of economic empowerment for women and a well-respected businesswoman.

In 2006 she also won the African Woman Chartered Accountants Woman of Substance Award and was a finalist, together with Wiphold CEO Louisa Mojela, in the SA chapter of the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Award. She has also been awarded the president’s award by the Institute of People Management, and recognised by the Black Management Forum for championing the empowerment of women. Although she received some negative press for controversy surrounding her nomination onto the SABC board, Gloria remains a much-loved pioneer in the field of economic empowerment for women and a well-respected businesswoman.

ROELOF BOTHA

South African-born actuarial scientist, Roelof Frederik Botha, has switched careers and successfully made a name for himself as one of the leading venture capitalists in the cutting-edge high-tech hub of Silicon Valley in the US.

He was CFO of PayPal when the secure payment system was sold to Ebay for USD 1.5bn in 2003 and was the first to back the video-sharing site YouTube as venture capitalist at Sequoia Capital. YouTube was sold to Google for USD 1.65bn in 2006 effectively turning a USD 12mn investment by Sequoia into a USD 450mn profit.

Botha is currently ranked 26^th on the Forbes Midas List of the top 100 influential Internet investors, and was ranked 23^rd and 22^nd in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Born in 1973, Botha spent six years in Pretoria before moving to Hout Bay in Cape Town with his family, which includes three brothers and a sister.

Botha, who has not had his favourite kudu biltong “for a long time”, attended Jan van Riebeeck High School in Tamboerskloof and actively participated in both rugby and chess. He excelled in academics and was the top student in the Cape Province for his matriculation year in 1990.

With his obvious flair for mathematics and figures, Botha went on to be the top actuarial science student at the University of Cape Town where he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Science with majors in actuarial science, economics and statistics in 1994, at the age of 22. He was the youngest person to qualify as an actuary in South Africa.

Botha became a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries in 1996 and worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company in Johannesburg for two years before leaving for the US in 1998 to study for his MBA at Stanford University.

He graduated from Stanford Business School in 2000, walking off with three MBA awards, including the Henry Ford Award as valedictorian of his year.

While still completing his MBA, Botha was recruited by fellow South African and co-founder of PayPal, Elon Musk, and joined PayPal as its CFO in 2000.

He also met his Singaporean wife at Stanford. They were classmates.

When PayPal was sold in 2003, Botha, joined Sequoia Capital and embarked on a remarkably successful venture capital career.

Botha says Michael Moritz, a partner at Sequoia Capital has had the biggest impact on his business life. “He led Sequoia’s investments in Yahoo, Google and PayPal. He supported me as a young CFO at PayPal and then invited me to interview at Sequoia Capital. I never thought I would be in this career given that I don’t have an electrical engineering or computer science background,” said Botha.

Focusing on services and software investments, Botha has invested in instant messaging start-up Meebo, global money transfer site Xoom, local business review site Insider Pages, and lighting and technology firm Luxim, amongst others.

For Botha, who lives by the motto: “You’re only as good as your next investment”, the biggest thrill in his daily work is meeting an interesting new company and hearing a compelling idea from an entrepreneur.

In contrast, the hardest part is calling a business back to let them know that Sequoia has decided not to invest in their idea.

“With investment being tighter since the global financial crisis this means that companies need to demonstrate a stronger edge in their value proposition. The return on investment and payback periods also need to be more compelling before a company can win capital support,” said Botha.

With the long-term goal to leave the world a better place, Botha aims to help Sequoia invest in market-leading companies that will transform the world and leave a legacy.

“I helped build PayPal into a global force. The company serves almost 100-million users around the world and has an annual turnover to USD 2bn just ten years after it started.

“YouTube is used by more than 350-million people around the globe every month. Both these companies have had a worldwide impact and I want to replicate those experiences. The natural consequence of this goal is that we generate handsome financial returns for our investors,” said Botha.

When not working, Botha likes to indulge in soccer, watching rugby, and little things that keep him close to his Afrikaner heritage (he is the grandson of former South Africa foreign affairs minister, Pik Botha), such as making biltong.

Although he has little time for reading anything other than science journals, Botha says his all time favourite read is Duiwelskloof by Andre Brink.