Thoughts of my childhood
Ever since I was a young boy - I have been mildly obsessed and intrigued by business, all forms of enterprise still excite me today, from the vendor at the taxi rank, to the Somali national who owns the neighbourhood shop, to the Spar franchisee and every other business in between. These are all the unsung heroes that keep South Africa afloat, growing, strong and full of prospects. Mind you my understanding of business back then was made up of the various general dealer shops, bottle stores, funeral parlours and taxi operators I saw all around me; not forgetting all the butcheries as well – all buzzing in my little township on a Karoo 'dorpie' (small town). Back in Apartheid South Africa, the township seemed to be a blaze with enterprises and developing entrepreneurs ( a term I would only fully understand at University ). These men and woman, yes woman were also prominent as shebeen queens and what can be best described today as micro-financiers, lovingly referred t...