Monster catch for our webmaster and my nostalgic return to Maritzburg; we really do tap dance to work

Spent an absorbing day in Maritzburg after being invited to give the keynote in an event hosted by the Trade & Investment KZN. My talk, Tap Dancing in a Warp Speed World, seemed to resonate with the roughly hundred people – including passionate Mayor Yunus Bhamjee – who came out to the Royal Agricultural Show Grounds this morning.  Apart from the normal economic insights like the way global megatrends affect SA, the talk also draws on advice from my three wise men – Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs and Neil Gaiman. They remind us life is too short to work with people who churn your stomach. And advise us to do what we love, to follow our hearts, to do good art. And doing so means we get to tap dance to work every day. Have been doing my best to follow their advice. So too, as you can see from the pic, is our webmaster/nephew/marine biologist Justin Blake.   

The man responsible for keeping Biznews.com running is in Mozambique at the moment tagging his beloved bull sharks. He’s got quite a schedule, getting up at the crack of dawn to fulfil his Biznews duties, then on with his marine biologist life before back to working on the site late afternoon. When we chatted on Skype yesterday, our usually bright eyed nephew looked like he’d just run the Comrades. In an aquatic sense, he had. As you can see from the pic we insisted he send through, Justin had spent much of his day being tagged along behind this monster fish he had the misfortune of picking out for dinner. Fortunately, none of the sharks joined in. Then again, by now they know better. Get too close to Justin and you’re likely to have a tag sewed into you. 

Back to my day, Maritzburg  is where I spent three years from seven to nine years old  as a boarder at Merchiston Prep. It’s where I learnt how to play soccer, sang solos at speech day as a boy soprano and got my winning relay team disqualified for jumping into the pool a fraction early. Funny what you remember from pre-adolescence. Like the whole day used to take for the train to get home from PMB to Newcastle, now an easy two and half car drive. Memories came flooding back long before taking the podium in the beautifully bedecked Hall 4 today. 

It’s the little things that leave the biggest impression. I was distracted after arriving so only really took in the city’s newly revamped airport on my way out. It’s a serious improvement. And has already attracted the desired response. Until now, SA Airlink has had the Jozi – Maritzburg link to itself. SA Express stablemate is now also flying the route, or so I was shown by one of its marketing agents who put a flyer in to my hands and suggested I take advantage of their R300 special (a fifth of what the current sole supplier charges). Don’t you just love competition?

As often happens with occasions like this, with so many speeches to get through there was no opportunity to engage with the local business community. But did have the privilege of sitting next to Mike Tarr, a director of T&IKZN and agricultural consultant by profession who went into politics in the PFP then run by the late Van Zyl Slabbert. Tarr, today a proud member of the ANC, told me he got into politics back in 1981 when encouraged to stand against the Nats. To his surprise he won the election and has been involved ever since, including a spell helping out during the uMgungundlovu District Council’s darkest (bankrupt) days. Tarr is one of many high quality individuals the province is blessed with. Always a pleasure to visit.  – AH