On the 5^th of August 2012, the SAWIP Team attended a presentation by Ruenda Loots who is a project coordinator in the sustainability department of the Stellenbosch School of Public Leadership, and who has a deep passion for conserving our natural environment. The presentation title was “One Plant: Many Futures”.

In Ruenda’s presentation, a part that interested me a lot was the discussion on the global polycrisis. The way in which I understand it is that the global polycrisis is a combination of key challenges that the earth faces in the 21^st century. These challenges are global warming, oil peak, material flows, inequality, urban poverty, food security and ecosystem degradation. A sentence that Ruenda said during the presentation and that got many of us thinking was that “We only have one earth…if we don’t take care of it; we will destroy ourselves and other organisms”. This was quite a scary thought to think about, and the reality is that more damage to the earth, than any other time in history, has been done in the last forty years and humans have been the cause.

Looking at all the global polycrisis challenges, one can notice that money is the root of the majority of problem: Global warming- large factories release dangerous fumes into the air during production of goods to be sold for profit, Material flows- we abstract natural resources and plants from the earth to manufacture products to sell to growing consumer demand, Inequality- our countries have capitalist economies which benefit the rich and systematically excludes the poor, Urban poverty- many people are moving to cities to find employment in order to make an income to support their families, and Ecosystem degradation- land is becoming non-farmable due to being contaminated by chemicals and waste released into nature by mines and factories during their production processes.

In the world we are living in, we all need money to survive, but it seems that we human beings have become so money hungry (greedy) that we aim to make maximum profit at whatever the cost is to nature and to our fellow human beings. Thinking about the recent incident at Marikana, Lonmin mine, here in South Africa; perceived inequality was one of the major contributing factors that encouraged the workers to strike for better wages. In a book I am currently reading, The Spirit Level- Why Equality is Better for Everyone by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Picket, it is said that ”Almost all problems which are more common at the bottom of the social ladder are common in more unequal societies.” These problems include violence and poor health.

Solutions to the global polycrisis challenges are complex and can never be easy to formulate, and overcoming them will require cooperation between governments, private sector, and most importantly, civil society. No country on earth is immune to the global polycrisis problems; therefore this means that we as the human race need to collectively start thinking of innovations for increased environmental sustainability and work towards creating economic structures that are more inclusive of everyone. In Ruenda’s words, “We only have one earth…if we don’t take care of it; we will destroy ourselves and other organisms”.

In one of our early dialogue session after returning from Washington, we were fortunate to meet Janine, one of South Africa’s soulful and inspirational singers.

Born on the Cape Flats, Janine has grown up being exposed to many challenges and has experienced many of them herself. Janine has been raised in an area that is filled with crime, gangsterism, and drug abuse. Lucky for her, she was born by principled and deeply loving parents, who strived to provide all they could for Janine and her brother.

From a very young age, Janine noticed all the wrong and the difficult circumstances that people in her community were living in. At the age of 12, she started to experience frustration as many people around her never seemed to understand her when she tried to explain the dire living conditions in her society. With a dream and vision of a better living environment, Janine then turned to poetry to try and tell the story of her community, her family and her own personal issues.

Because of a musical influence at home- parents liking blues music and her brother a hip hop lover, Janine soon started to express her thoughts about the challenges faced by the Cape Flats community through music. Being home trained and without any formal study of music, Janine began using music for social change and has joined and supported many local NGO’s, to encourage young people to have a positive attitude in life, and to express themselves in any art form they are passionate about.

Today, Janine’s stage name is Blaq Pearl. What makes this phenomenal musician special is how she has come to realize and has established her true identity as a Khoisan and not a coloured. This resulted in her shaving all her hair and dressing in authentic African wear.

Showing us her wisdom, during the dialogue session, Janine shared a story of how one is viewed a ‘better class’ when the person speaks English to the teller at her local supermarket; when one speaks Afrikaans (home language), they are viewed as ‘lower class’. Janine urged us not to look down on our culture and language, and to be proud of who we are and where we come from, no matter where we are. Janine Van Rooy is truly an phenomenal African woman and an inspiration for a

As a continent, Europe currently is the largest economy on Earth and the richest region as measured by assets. And as for Africa, with its 54 fully recognized sovereign states, it is one of the world’s most populous continents, with more than 1 billion people. The continents economy is forecasted to grow by more than 10% yearly for the next 10 years.

As we have seen over the past few years, the 2008 financial crisis in the U.S lead to an economic crisis within the European Union (EU). In December 2008, EU leaders met and agreed on a €200bn- stimulus plan to help boost European growth following the global financial crisis but this did not help since Spain, Italy, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland and Greece could not reduce their budget deficits. After these countries reported a sovereign-debt crisis, and sending shock waves throughout the Eurozone, the continents leadership stood apart about best solution and a way forward. Looking at the European Union, what lessons can Africa learn from it about forming an economic union, building strong economies and forming unified leadership?

Having struggled to free itself from colonialism, Africa is seeking to create a new image: grow the African economy through global trade, and most importantly, through intra-Africa trade, with Africa’s trading blocs playing a key role.

The Eurozone debt crisis can teach Africa significant lessons about increasing trade with Africa itself. The European integration model can be used by Africa in establishing a one currency continent. Currently there are great speculations on formation within Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries to allow access and usage of the same currency. The South African Rand in Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia is an example of this type of slow currency integration.

Some of the significant things that have made the European integration a success are the treaties, laws and regulations that govern the economic union. For Africa to create laws and regulations that promote free trade between its countries, key trading blocs like the African Union, SADC, Community of West African States, Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa, and Southern African Customs Union will have to constructively collaborate with each other to review and establish new rules and regulations that will encourage increased trading within Africa. Cooperation between these trading blocs must also ensure that African countries minimizes raising household and government debt levels, trade imbalances, structural systems problem, and monetary policy inflexibility, which were the major causes of the current EU economic meltdown.

To ensure that intra-regional trade is beneficial, African countries will have to focus on exporting products that gives comparative advantage. For example, countries such as Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo are principle exporters of copper and diamonds, and thus can increase the export of these goods to other countries.

Africa is still a large exporter of agricultural products and imports many of its manufactured products. The growth of the continent can be better achieved through diversified economic structures. Though it is in a recession, the European economy is still strong, diversified and have competitive industrial structures its manufacturing sector represents 1 out of every 4 private-sector jobs

To increase trade between African countries, for primarily economic and social development, regional economic integration of free trade must be established between the countries. The African Union, working with all the continents six key trading blocs, must spearhead Africa’s development and integration. Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa is playing a crucial role in interconnecting, integrating and transforming Africa’s infrastructure in transport, energy, ICT, and transboundary water networks. The programme will spend close to $80 billion by 2020 in developing Africa’s infrastructure. Just like within the Eurozone, African leaders are struggling with regional integration for supporting the continents economic development.

With great lessons that can be learnt from the success and mistakes of the EU, to unleash intra-African trade and for Africa to take its rightful place in the global arena, the continent needs strong political leadership and policies. Africa is the least integrated continent in the world, with low levels of intraregional economic exchanges and the smallest share of global trade. Africa’s governments and heads of state need to serve as champions. They must set the tone, keep the momentum alive and provide critical national leadership by working together and showing an unwavering commitment to integrated policies, projects and goals that will take Africa to the next level.

A life story is a story filled with both happy and sad or painful memories. It gives one a wonderful feeling remembering all the good moments of the past; the painful memories are never pleasant to think about though and often bring tears to one’s eyes. Well, with the good and the bad, here is my life story.

My name is Thamsanqa Tembani. I was born 9 December 1989, at Red Cross hospital, in Cape Town. I am the only child of my mother, Nosipho Gladys Tembani. For the first two and a half years of my life, I grew up with an aunt of my father, at NY 150 Gugulethu (in Cape Town). When I was three years old, my mother took me to Transkei, in the Eastern Cape (E.C), to live with my grandmother in a village in Cofimvaba, named Qitsi.

I spent two years living in the small and rural village of eQitsi. Though I can’t remember much from this period of my life, things that I do remember is the love and care I always received from grandmother, and how she always made my favourite meal, mpokoqo. One thing she always shouted me for was that I always came back home dirty, after playing with other children. Growing up in Transkei, a boy has to take out cattle, sheep and goats for grazing in the field and bring them back home in the evening for milking. Though I cannot clearly remember doing this, with my love for animals and farming, I am sure I accompanied my elder cousins when they did this chore. When I was five years old, I moved to a small town in E.C named Tarkastad, where my mother worked as a teacher.

In Tarkastad I lived with mother and three cousins, in Zola Township. I started crèche in 1995 and in 1997 I went to Tarkastad High School (has classes from grade 1 to grade 12), where I started grade one. I studied at the school up to grade 2 and then I moved to Cape Town and studied grade 3 and 4 at Chapel in Woodstock. After two years of living without mother, I missed her, and I went back to Tarkastad and finished the rest of my schooling there.

Though Tarkastad is a small town, divided into a town and a township, it exposed me to many of life’s realities. Because I went to a ‘white’ crèche and a model c school in town, I had many white friends. As I visited many of my white friend’s homes in town, I realised how they had everything and how people living in the township were struggling to survive. One thing I also realised from my friends homes is that they lived with both their parents; many of the homes in the township were headed by single mothers, and this was the case in my home.

Seeing that my friends had fathers in their homes, I started to wonder where was mine. I remember asking mother and her reply was simply that he is not here and he does not care about us. At the time, mother said this in a light-hearted manner, and it never really bothered or hurt me. As I grew up and matured, the words stuck with me and they started to hurt. Time passed and I got to know that my father lives in Cape Town and is a manager at Edgars (clothing) store. Growing up I thought he could not live with us because he was struggling financially, but after I got to know what work he does, I realised that he is just a man who could not take responsibility for his own actions and that he had fathered many kids before and after I was born. Till today, I have never received a call or had any visit from the man who is my father.

Growing up in Tarkastad with mother and many cousins, it was always difficult to make ends meet on a small teacher’s salary. Mother was the only provider for everything and she always strived to ensure that we had everything we needed. Because she wanted to see our family educated, mother took the children of other family members who were struggling and educated them.

Though we never had everything, growing up with many people at home, there was never a dull moment. The house was always filled with fun, laughter and love. Mother has been and still is the backbone of our family.

There is a song I love by Josh Groban which is “Thankful”. The first time I listened to this great artist was on a plane last year, and I just loved his music. Skimming through his album Noel, I came across this song Thankful and after listening to it, I felt moved inside. I am quite a thankful person for everything I have in my life, but listening to the song reinforced how much I value being thankful. The song also made me think about all the things (including family) I am fortunate to have in my life, and made me also think about those who are less fortunate and what I can do to make a difference in their life.

Below is the first part of the song I love, and also a link to the entire lyrics and video of this wonderful melody:

“Some days we forget to look around us

Some days we can't see the joy that surrounds us

So caught up inside ourselves

We take when we should give”

Lyrics Link- http://www.metrolyrics.com/thankful-lyrics-josh-groban.html#ixzz20Rn85onm

Video Link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBEI1F22uqE&feature=related

The title of this blog is an acronym for my personal quote and philosophy in life. Before I say what the acronym stands for, let me tell a short story of how I started writing quotes.

Starting varsity in Cape Town in 2009, I made a commitment to start reading books more often than I did in matric (last year in high school). So upon arriving in Western Cape, I took time and went to the local library to open a library card. Once I had received the card, I was very excited and took books out immediately. Through reading many books, both fiction and non-fiction, I started to think of how I can get more value from the books I read, and that’s when I came up with an idea of writing quotes.

The above acronym OICLIMY (Oy-kli-me) stands for “Only I Can LImit MYself”. And in essence, it means that I am the only person that can set limits in my mind as to what I can achieve in life, both academic and personal. To remember this every day, I have put up the quote on the wall of my room.

Every year, each SAWIP team member gets to live with a host family and this year I have been fortunate to be placed with a great family, the Cantrel’s. I still remember how excited I was meeting my host family for the first time at the airport when I arrived on the 14th of June; my excitement was also mixed with wonder of how the family is and if I will gel well with everyone. And I must say that now, not only have I gelled well but I truly feel part of the family. Frank, Anne, Madeleine, Joe and Katherine has welcomed me into their home and treated me like a son and brother. The one thing I have learnt staying with the Cantrel family in the past four weeks is that love and respect is important in building a family.

Upon reading the above topic, you probably immediately asked yourself, how? How can healthy citizens contribute to their country’s economic growth? Well, in the next paragraphs, I will explain, in a snapshot, how having healthy citizens can lead to a country’s economic advancement.

Before discussing how having citizens with a healthy lifestyle can be an economic advantage to any country, let me first give you a short background on major health issues facing the world. I will also briefly name some of the main health challenges facing South Africa.

Prevalent global diseases today are heart disease, HIV/AIDS and diabetes mellitus (high blood sugar). Heart diseases include stroke and other cerebrovascular disease. An estimated 17.3 million people died from cardiovascular disease (CVD’s) in 2008, Over 80% of CVD deaths take place in low- and middle-income countries and by 2030, almost 23.6 million people will die from CVD’s. A more shocking fact is that 1.8 million people died of HIV/AIDS in the year 2008, that’s 15.5 million people less than CVD deaths. This fact should serve as a warning on the danger of CVD’s and their potential negative impact on a country’s economy.

Just like many other nations, South Africa (S.A) today is faced with HIV/AIDS and non-communicable diseases (NCD’s- i.e. a medical condition that is non-infectious and non-transmissible between persons). NCD’S in South Africa include obesity, diabetes, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, alcohol abuse and heart diseases. In a study done by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in 2010, it was found that 49% of South Africans do not exercise, 71% have never dieted and 17% of children under nine are overweight. Even though it might not seem as an issue to take seriously, but S.A. government, including governments of other nations who have similar health problems, should start to consider the direct and negative economic effects of such health issues as they can affect a nation’s productivity and economic performance.

The burden of disease attributed to NCD’s has been estimated at 85% in industrialized nations, 70% in middle income nations, and nearly 50% in countries with the lowest national incomes. Looking at the global population, nearly 80% of deaths due to chronic NCDs worldwide now occur in low and middle income countries. Due to significantly higher income, citizens in developed nations are able to access high quality health facilities, as compared to citizens in middle and low national income countries who have very little income to access high quality health facilities and are forced to use poor public health facilities, which results in middle and low income nations having more deaths from NCD’s compared to developed nations.

Economies worldwide are reportedly suffering huge losses because of premature deaths or inability to work resulting from heart disease, stroke and diabetes. For example, China is expected to lose roughly $558 billion in national income between 2005 and 2015 due to early deaths. In 2005, heart disease, stroke and diabetes caused an estimated loss in international dollars of national income of 9 billion in India and 3 billion in Brazil.

Mental health conditions is also felt in workplaces around the world, notably due to higher levels of absenteeism from work because of illness, and presenteeism, or productivity lost from staff coming to work and performing below normal standards due to poor health. For example, the United Kingdom experienced a loss of about 175 million days in 2006 to absence from illness among a working population of 37.7 million people. The estimated cost of absences due to illness was over 20 billion pounds in the same year.

There is hope though for a healthier world and nations. Consumers today are increasingly looking for foods to counter poor health caused by busy lifestyles, insufficient exercise and fast foods. Healthier meals, lighter snacks and exercise are what consumers are seeking to have healthier lifestyles and longer lives. One of the significant ways governments around the globe can contribute to the long term health and economic development of their nations is by establishing laws that regulate how food is marketed and prepared by fast-food stores and restaurants. For example, a regulation in New York City is that trans-fats are banned, and in 2008, the city began requiring fast-food restaurants to post calorie information on their menu. To ensure health of children, a government can have regulations for standards of food in schools and expect schools to comply with a range of nutritional regulations.

Having a healthy lifestyle is not only beneficial to the individual but also to the nation. Healthy citizens contribute to economic growth because they live and work longer, have higher energy levels and are more present at work, which contributes to increased productivity. A healthy lifestyle is preventative healthcare and disease prevention that help prevent heart diseases and save both citizen and government money on healthcare expenditure. Having a healthy population can be a great competitive advantage for economic advancement over other nations, for both developed and developing countries.

“You won’t change the whole world, but you can make a difference, in your lifetime” ~ Thamsanqa

HIV/AIDS

ALCOHOLISM

UNEMPLOYMENT

MUD SCHOOL

CRIME AND GANGSTERISM

HOMELESS

POVERTY

ABUSE

CHILD-RAPE

CORRECTIVE RAPE

INEQUALITY

“You won’t change the whole world, but you can make a difference, in your lifetime” ~ Thamsanqa

The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) is an independent federal government agency that provides grants to marginalized individuals and groups in Africa. The organization operates in 21 Sub-Saharan Africa countries, and gives grants to develop and grow cooperatives at grassroot level. USADF’s primary aim is economic development that will create livelihood in African communities. Marginalized individuals or groups refers to people that are excluded or have very little access to economic advancement opportunities in their country. USADF particularly places strong focus on conflict and post-conflict communities, and especially women, youth and the disabled people within these communities.

USADF primarily works with marginalized grassroot communities in Africa, who own and run registered cooperatives. The organization has key stakeholders which it works with to create relevant growth and development structures for businesses. The stakeholders are partner organizations and Country Programme Coordinators (CPC’s). The partner organizations include governments, auditing and business consulting firms, and other non-governmental organizations. Country Programme Coordinators (CPC’s) are employees located at the 21 countries USADF operates in, and their main responsibilities are to assess the performance of grantees cooperatives, report performance to program directors, and to continuously monitor internal and external changes in local business environment.

There are many organizations offering development opportunities to African countries, but what make USADF unique is that it grows, develops and empowers the communities it operates in. To empower marginalized individuals and groups, USADF implements a pioneered participatory development model which fosters leadership and solutions made by Africans for their own businesses. This directly results in the grantees learning skills and obtaining knowledge to operate and manage their own cooperatives.

During grant development, projection targets are made and must be met by the organization awarded a grant. To measure results and performance, USADF requires that grantees report their business operations and performance quarterly. To help grantees with their performance report, USADF provides access to assistants who help compile this report. USADF also holds biannual meetings and also has Annual Performance Index (API) to monitor cooperatives ability in meeting projected targets.

Even though the USADF has a unique model which has contributed to its success, there are some key challenges of funding, bureaucracy, and performance measurement, it faces. The organization receives its funding from U.S Government, and in the past years USADF has been experiencing budget constraints, which is fueled by the global economic crises facing America and other countries. A probable solution to this challenge is that the organization could start to consider diversifying its funding sources, have a combination of public and private sector organization funders. Dealing with marginalized individuals and groups in remote areas, USADF still experiences challenges in measuring the socio-economic impact of the cooperatives it assists with grants. Performance measurement is important to know whether USADF is accomplishing its sets objectives. Improving the organizations performance analysis and measurement tools can result in better extraction of information and the USADF can be able to better measure its success in each country and in its overall African operations.

USADF’s biggest success is the empowerment and capacity building of the African people, through working with strategic partners. The model of capacity building and empowerment focuses on effectively engaging more grassroot level development of African cooperatives, and leaves a legacy of business development in Africa.

This past Saturday on Youth Day, I had the honor of presenting a speech on youth at the residence of South Africa's ambassador to the United States, Mr Ebrahim Rasool. Also present at the wonderful gathering was professionals from around Washington D.C. The theme for this years speech was youth uniting for economic freedom.

Greetings to the ambassador Mr Ebrahim Rasool, his wife Mrs. Rasool, all professionals present and the SAWIP team.

My topic for today is Youth leadership and economic empowerment. Before i start discussing this topic, I would like to first define what leadership and empowerment means to me. Leadership to me is the ability to influence for positive change. And empowerment is creating space or platform or entity that will enable people to obtain knowledge and skills to better their lives. So throughout this speech, please keep these definitions in mind. I will be discussing this topic from a personal point of view and share my stories related to youth empowerment and leadership.

The meaning of this Youth Day is that in 16 June 1976, South African students from Soweto protested against the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in local schools.

South African youth today are faced with different kinds of challenges such as access to opportunities for growth and development, unemployment and lack of good youth leadership.

While studying for exams one night these past weeks, I took a short break and I happened to listen to a song by Youssou N'Dour, "Seven Seconds". Inspired by the song, I came up with a quote that says," You won't change the whole world, but you can make a difference in your lifetime." Growing up in the township, I have always been exposed to different struggles of people and I have always felt and wished i could help everyone with their problems. But now, I have come to realize that I cannot help and change everyone's life, but I can make a difference in some people's lives, not matter how small the difference may be.

Involvements and contributions I have made to youth empowerment is that I am part of an organization named Umakhi which focuses on youth development. The organization seeks to create an entity and space where youth can be stimulated and engaged in a positive way. The organization is run by youth and focuses on creating after-school programs that will keep young people from the township out of the streets and engaged in activities that positively contribute to building their lives.

Another contribution I make to empower businesses from the townships is that I assist them in their growth and development. Many business owners and young entrepreneurs in the township do not have knowledge and skills to competitively manage and grow their businesses, and many of them also lack access to information about government agencies that can assist in their development. In 2010, I then decided to start assisting these businesses with business registration, business plan writing and consulting. I was and am still assisting these businesses free of charge. What motivated me to do this is that I want to use my education to contribute to the growth and sustainability of township businesses.

This year I am also writing a grade 12 motivational speech program for the high school I went too. The program aims to do something quite simple but one which is powerful, and that is to teach a person how to dream. The grade 12 students will be encouraged to dream big and to reach their full potential. Having went to the high school myself, I have realized how little we were encouraged to dream big. With this program, I seek to create an opportunity where young people will be motivated to reach for their dreams.

In both Umakhi and the businesses I assist, I need to influence for positive change, stay true to my values and empower the youth I work with and the entrepreneurs I assist. The South African government has recently launched Youth Parliament to empower youth and offer them a space to debate & discuss issues that directly affect them.

In conclusion, we as the youth need a voice and need to be heard. To be empowered, youth can become part of already existing organizations that empower and build youth leadership, or we as the youth can create our own space and entities to address the challenges we face. We must not always wait for government or other organizations to create platforms for us. As South African youth, we can unite and create entities and platforms that will enable constructive discussion & debate of issues that directly affect us. We need to believe that we can make a significant difference to our lives and our country.

Thank You

On 28 May I attended a dialogue on The Role of Education and Entrepreneurship in Advancing Social Transformation, hosted by The Community of Mandela Rhodes Scholars. After doing some readings, I feel this topic is too complex for me to look at from all angles, due to time and space constraints. Based on that, I decided to write about this topic from a generic and simple angle of the role education plays in advancing social transformation. I have also touched on some South African examples. Though a non-South African reader of this blog might seek more of a local context; this blog is aimed at making all of us reflect deeply about the educational role homes, institutions and the community- something we often take for granted, can and should play in advancing social transformation.

It is said that education is the key to success, and today I would like to also say that education is the key to advancing social transformation. My definition of education is “the teaching or passing on of values, knowledge and skills to others”. To many of us, the first thing that probably came to mind when reading the word “education” in the topic of the above-mentioned dialogue, was schools and universities. Nowadays, it seems that we have forgotten that education not only happens at school or in university but also at home, at church, in the community and in the organisations we work in. Home, school, community, university, church and the organisations we work in, all have a significant role to play in the education of people to advance social transformation.

To me, the most important place to start social transformation is at home. Here is where we spend most of our time and where we supposed to be taught values such as respect, integrity, and appreciation, just to mention a few. Also, the one interesting thing about values is that we do not need any money to teach or to know them.

The role of schools in social transformation is that they are supposed to teach learners life skills, work skills and reinforce the values taught to learners at home. The case in many South African schools is that they are still battling with curriculum challenges and caught up in political activities, that the working skills taught to learners are poor and a subject such as life orientation which teaches life skills, is seen by learners as unecessary and a 'waste of time'. Faced with these challenges, many schools in our country have very little or no chance at all to reinforce values learnt by some learners at home.

To contribute to advancing social transformation, students at school and university level should be taught and encouraged to not only use their skills to make a living and better themselves, but also use them to contribute to developing their communities. Students must be made aware of that by doing so, they will be contributing to building a better country.

Even though many of us might not give much thought of a community as an institution, but quite interestingly, many of the things we learn, particularly when growing up as kids, come from observing and hearing things in our surrounding or community. Communities are made up by the people that live in them, and the communities we grow up in have a strong influence on our value system and our outlook on life. In the past in South Africa, particularly in the Xhosa culture, any parent could reprimand a child which was misbehaving. But nowadays, all of that has changed. Children in our communities seem to have less and less respect for elderly people, and have a ‘can’t tell me anything’ attitude.

For a community to have positive influence on the people that live in it, homes, schools, universities, churches and the organisations we work in, need to teach skills and good values that will create people that can positively influence others.This will contribute to advancing social transformation and creating a better country.

One thing which is quite important once we have learnt good values is that we do not lose them as we grow older, and that we do not use our learnt skills for unethical purposes, as all of this does not contribute to positively advancing social transformation.

TIME

Time has never felt so minute

Every second counts and hours brisk by

Oh, how I wish I was not losing grip

Until now, I have always been spoilt with time

It has always been mine

But now, the time sun does not seem to shine

And I wonder if I will pass the line

Whenever I speak to mother, she says I will be fine

Until now, I have always been sure

Things have never felt so obscure

If time was money, I would be poor

After all I endure

At the end I hope to mature

Oh, Mother Africa

Won't you please come to my rescue

Your son is running out of time

If you can't though, I will understand

For time is also not on your side

Time and again, they have torn you apart

But now you are at the start

You may not top the chart

But one thing we know, is that you are smart

And no longer will they say you can't

Even though we do not have time

And the hardship felt straight down our spine

I know that we will be fine

And soon, we will shine.

When I first heard about Brand South Africa, I asked myself, what brand? Is South Africa a brand? Whose brand is it- who is responsible for this brand?

With an excellent speaker, Leo Makgamathe, who is a Program manager of Civil Society of Brand South Africa, the 2012 SAWIP Team yesterday had a dialogue about South Africa as a brand. And through the questions above, I will share my thoughts on the dialogue. But before I do so, let me tell a bit about Brand South Africa: Brand South Africa is an organisation established in 2002 and one whose sole purpose is to create a positive and compelling brand image of South Africa. Two key focus areas of the organization are tourism and investment, which are two of the key drivers of gross domestic product of the country.

As tradition, before any SAWIP dialogue or workshop, us SAWIPers have to do some readings on the topic of the day in order to have deeper knowledge about the topic and to participate effectively in the talks. With great love for reading and knowledge, I dug deep into the web to find as much information about Brand South Africa as i possibly could. While reading through many websites and reports, I was surprised and embarrassed at the same time, when I realized how little I know about the great things about South Africa. At the dialogue, I was even more surprised to hear other great successes of our country, such as that we are rated 36 by Anholt-GFK Roper Nation Brand Index and that we are rated 1st in the world for regulation of securities exchanges. The reason for my surprise was that many times we only hear about the negative stories about South Africa and we tend to think of it as not being a great country.

In sharing my thoughts about the brand South Africa, I would like to first look at the meaning of a brand. According to Phillip Kotler, a brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of these that distinguishes and differentiates a product or service from other sellers. In South Africa’s case, our brand that differentiates us from other countries is our beautiful flag, which by the way is the third most recognised flag in the world! And also Brand South Africa’s (new) slogan “South Africa: Inspiring New Ways”. Also significant to a brand are the people that represent it i.e. the citizens of the country.

On the question now of whether South Africa is a brand? I know that the answer is a straight “yes”. But a concern I have is that I wonder how many people in our country know and perceive South Africa as a brand? For Brand South Africa to effectively promote our country internationally and to promote it with full confidence, we as South Africans need to perceive our country as a valuable brand, be patriots and be aware that our individual actions make up the image that international markets have of our country. Brand South Africa cannot sell our country to other people, if we South Africans do not ‘buy-in’ to our own story. And in my opinion, a brand can never achieve great success, unless the people who represent it perceive it as valuable.

As mentioned before, Brand South Africa is responsible for strategically marketing our country to the international market. But quite importantly, we as the people of South Africa need to fully recognize our responsibility in promoting our country. Representing a population of more than 50 million, Brand South Africa cannot do the job of promoting our country all on its own. We as the people need to take some responsibility in promoting a positive and honest South African image to the rest of the world. This may sound like a difficult task, but it actually is not. Each of us, whether from rural or urban area, have a beautiful story to tell about our country, and at every chance, we should share this beautiful story with visitors who come to South Africa.

In thinking that every one of us has a role to play in marketing our country, I am also aware of some of the great challenges of poverty, unemployment, inequality and crime facing the country. A person who is unemployed, living in poverty and who perceive the country to have great inequality might have very little motivation to speak about South Africa in a positive light. Crime on the other hand contributes negatively to promoting a good South Africa image, and this may be a difficult hurdle to overcome, for both Brand South Africa and ordinary people, when promoting and sharing the South African story.

Also, what we as the people should all be aware of is that in promoting South Africa, we are not only contributing to an international positive image of our country, but we are also contributing to attracting investment, which in turn can help overcome some of the country’s key challenges.

Let us all contribute to marketing South Africa to the international market by sharing our positive and honest South African story. No one can tell the South African story better than its people. By doing a simple but yet powerful thing such as sharing our story, we will be taking an active role in promoting our country to the rest of the world. Having spoken about the South African story, now I would like to end with a question, what is your positive and honest South African story?