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.