Businesspeople From South Africa

"When I was at Transnet, I said South Africa must stop buying trains everywhere. We must manufacture our locomotives"

"This is what we do in Knysna, which must be seen as an offshoot of what the Presidential Operation Vulindlela seeks to achieve — to fix the infrastructure. We need to all, as South Africans, consistent with the offerings of the Freedom Charter, to debunk this rubbish spread by some organisations, peddling untruths about our country"

"More importantly it points to the fundamental flaw in the operating model of Eskom"

"Eskom should not be a price taker in the coal industry but rather it should be a price maker. In reality, the opposite is true as Eskom officials rarely stand up to the bullying by rich mining companies who do not hesitate to use political and other methods of pressure to force exorbitant prices down the throat of Eskom officials"

"despite solar and wind technology becoming more affordable because of the technological innovation happening in the value chains linked to green energy, it primarily benefits households instead of the energy grid, as Eskom must prioritise supplying power to charge inverters during peak hours"

"We need to work together, work hard, all the people of this country, to fix our country, to get it where it should be, and to encourage as many people to do the same, in little and big ways, and this by each doing little things in our localities"

"There were logistic companies and one which had a big metre warehouse and there was no lease agreement between them and Transnet and Transnet was not getting money into its accounts. There were others there who were running events management companies. The management including the then-chief executive Mr Siyabonga Gama pretended that they did not know that the land is occupied illegally"

"This approach is crucial for ensuring grid stability, as relying solely on wind, solar and batteries might not be sufficient"

"We asked ourselves that these people must have been paying money and they were reassured that you can build a factory here and nothing is going to happen to you. That factory was probably built for close to R15 million and nobody would spend that much money if there is uncertainty"

"In South Africa, we don’t have courts of justice. We have courts of law. People don’t go to court to get justice. They go to court for a judge to apply the law, whatever the case may be"

"Solar is becoming cheaper and must be used for distributed generation. In other words"

"if Eskom’s financial situation improved, it would proceed with its initiative to install 11 synchronous generators across all its power stations as an alternative baseload solution"

"If you are an ordinary person, a worker, working a menial job and the most vile deed is committed, just the cost of getting an application going, a notice of motion or founding affidavit, can run into thousands of rand"

"It is a fundamental error in estimation and points to a fundamental flaw in the revenue estimation model of Nersa"

"Talk to these guys, and hear for yourself what kind of commitment they have to mobilise community work to ensure that Knysna becomes a functioning council, and attends to infrastructural defects for the good of the ratepayers"

"We are committed to fix broken roads, closing potholes and fixing bursting sewer pipes, which spill human waste in the streets, with the potential of spreading diseases among communities"

"It is not an exaggeration to say that the board was astonished by the widespread corruption and disregard of the rules which pertain to policy on procurement and processes that must be followed by various procurement and supply chain management structures"

"We go further to say that the situation of disregard for systems and rules suggests that there is a state of paralysis that has set in. The way in which money was syphoned off and nothing being done to stop it could be described in what I call a horror show, a movie or a theatre and the managers of this corruption were the protagonists"

"Now the new struggle is to spruce up our towns, to remove grime and collaboratively work together with members of the Knysna community to fix potholes"

"although the renewable sector has a vital role in the country’s energy future, it is essential to address concerns surrounding the lack of baseload in renewables — the amount of energy available at a certain time"

"the generators could be unaffordable for the utility, which announced a staggering loss of R23.9 billion for the financial year ending in March 2023, caused in part by a significant increase in load-shedding, a growing municipal debt burden and soaring losses attributed to criminal activities"

"We could not get information and no employee could simply talk to directors. It made it difficult for us as the board"

"This includes taking all power stations as they are to use the current turbine for the synchronous generation to keep the grid stable. So, the whole story of shutting down everything to build green and solar, it’s a political thing. It’s not an engineering thing"

"households and commercial entities must use solar, not because it’s going to keep the system stable, but because it’s cheaper now"

"We have come a long way since we started with this project. We shall not falter. The people of Gwanda have been good to us, and we owe it to them to succeed"

"South Africans must stop consuming only. We need to get into the habit of making things as a country"

"To put it crudely, Eskom and Nersa are just conduits that extract money from poor South African citizens, who are surviving with minimum starvation wages to give to the rich called mining companies"

"About 85% of energy comes from coal, by the amount of energy that is produced however by value, in rand terms coal is about 90% in Nersa’s revenue determination model so if you tamper with any of the other things you are not doing anything and you have to go to the source, being coal"

"The outcome of this is that the resultant high price of electricity is in fact a transfer via Eskom and Nersa of money from the clients of Eskom especially the poor to the rich coal mining companies that feed their insatiable appetite for profit"

"As long as you are black and poor, forget about justice"

"[I’ve connected with] women’s networks and learned that for women to succeed in the industry, we must not be afraid to take risks"

"Most mining companies, government and big businesses do not procure from local women-owned businesses. Yet, I resigned from a well-paying job to create a private business in steel and metal manufacturing. I’ve hired four women in my company so far and I want to create more jobs for rural youth and women"

"See, the way I feel about it is, for example, if Messi (touch wood) were to pass away, Cristiano Rolando would possibly feel a certain way… he’d probably stop playing soccer"

"You know, the people you actually compete with are the reason why you go a little bit harder because they keep raising the bar but in the same breath, you’re not aware that you’re positioning yourself to be great or elevated as an artist"

"Whenever AKA would drop something, I’d be like, ‘Man, how do I come up with something stronger?’ Kiernan [AKA’s birth name] would always keep you on your toes. So, when such starts diminishing, whether by an unfortunate passing of a rapper or rapper’s tenacity to keep going, it makes it hard for one to keep the bar high"

"Living your best life doesn't mean splashing out, yes we all love nice things but there is more than the price tag"

"Music itself seeks to collaborate. Every song has collaboration—every instrument collaborates with another to make a song. Drums collaborate with a bass, with a voice, with strings, to make a song. I love collaborating; you can’t make music without collaborating instruments and minds"

"I end up being questioned a lot about my knowledge of wine … I have to try to build that trust"

"It takes a village to raise a business that can be sustainable"

"I always say that a song really makes itself; you have to allow a song to speak to you and just follow its calling. An idea will come to you as just an idea"

"I think what sets South Africa apart is that we really are a dancing nation, so when it comes to dance music, it just makes sense. Just go onto TikTok, and you will see South Africans straight up running the TikTok dance challenges. We love dancing in South Africa, so it makes sense for us when it comes to dominating dance stages"

"We need to learn the trade of diamonds, the business of diamonds, and we need to challenge the status quo"

"I think it’s still fresh in our minds, just the fact that he’s gone and the way that he left. So Hip-Hop is not in its best state right now. But as far as us getting together and making music, I think it’s in a good place sonically"

"The reason I decided to enrol at the business of entertainment, media and sport at Harvard Business School was because we just launched a new company that represents athletes and entertainers."

"You cannot work as if you are an island; you will not get the best results. You will get the best music when you open yourself up to learn and to teach, which is what I have done, and it has worked"

"That spirit lives in every street, in every story. That spirit lives in this album"

"This song is a hustler's prayer and is very close to my heart,” he said. “I'm basically pleading with God to spare me because I still have so much that I need to do. The year [2022] has been hard on the hip hop community, and it's hard not to be conscious of how heavy the energy is around all of us. 'Emoyeni' is also a reminder that, even in trying times, we should not be ruled by fear and take a moment to celebrate"

"Phara City is our reality, the scars we carry, the victories we earn, the hope we hold onto"

"You don't want to be called a one-hit-wonder and fall out on any business you've embarked on because of no educational background of understanding what it is that you're doing"

"I am a result of coming from a poverty stricken background, to where I am today. So my life is a motivation. If you were to look into my life or watch my interviews, with that I don't even have to motivate you. My life itself is a clear indication that if you dream, you become what you want to be."