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.