Business Executives

"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"

"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"

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

"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"

"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"

"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"

"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"

"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"

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

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

"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"

"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"

"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"

"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"

"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"

"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"

"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"

"One should have the business acumen and patience to build a sustainable business, rather than looking to make a quick buck"

"From a young age, I was taught to wake up early, work hard, never give up and never doubt mysel"

"I think many women suffer from self-doubt and this is not because of their own doing"

"Appoint more female professionals to increase gender equality and build trust"

"Have and own your voice as a young, ambitious woman, and do the work you need to, to be able to take your seat at the top table."

"I’m driven by my love for life and by always striving to do the best in all I do"

"In my field, I’m passionate about how we ‘show up’ when people are at their most vulnerable and how we can ease the burdens of some of the most difficult realities of life."

"we must embrace greater diversity in our workplaces. In our thinking. In our levels of representation in gender, religion, race, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation and education"

"Women should be coached to put themselves out there, to have and own their voices, and to take up their seats at the table"

"Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there!"

"For me, resilience is not about how you fall, but how you get up"

"The move towards digitisation, both on the side of insurers and advisers, is playing a major role in driving down the costs of doing business while delivering better client experiences"

"Right now, our world and our people need a resilience revolution. And we, as women, are perfectly placed to lead it"

"everybody assumes that because I am black, I must speak isiZulu! I’m of South African descent, but the bulk of my experience has been in a totally different environment, culture and work ethic entirely."

"I embrace change and adapt easily"

"Financial advice has traditionally been a paper-heavy, face-to-face business"

"The only way we’re going to meet these challenges is to transform – and that transformation must start with driving greater diversity and inclusion across the industry"

"We have said it over and over again that let us vote for women. For women to be in Parliament, someone must vote for them. Means have been made to increase women representation in Parliament, including adding the four women Regional MPs but that is not enough"

"Voting should not have short term considerations. Vote for someone you know will add value to your community and the Nation. Take into consideration how involved that person is in community activities. Don’t vote for lifestyle – just because someone sings or plays soccer should not be a determining factor for voting for that person"

"We are happy that up to this time, the registration process has been going well. The Minister of Justice updates us from time to time. When you register, you should know why you are registering and be sure of the calibre of people you want to vote for"

"We work really hard to make sure these products are designed the most environmentally friendly manner. They're arsenic free display glass, mercury free displays, BFR free, PBC free and yes, Android free."

"That is exactly what power means to me - getting things done"

"When I get whatever I've set my heart on - whether it is a mandate we must win or a person I wish to hire"

"They have the philanthropic model of 1-1-1, which is giving away 1% of your time, 1% of your products and 1% of your profit or equity to philanthropic initiatives"

"I used to tell them that in your time, you will have many careers. And one of the things you should be passionate about is learning, unlearning and relearning, and that’s what the new world is going to be like. When this position was offered to me, I thought of walking the talk"

"I’m always a little bit of a sucker for a challenge"

"Everyone I talk to say there is now a different way of doing business. And that cannot really be done unless you are empowered with data, empowered with digital platforms and applications. Depending upon how we are in that journey, what are the resources required, the organisation will decide. But we did want to destress our people by saying that in this entire crisis period, you don’t have to keep worrying about that (layoffs). Just worry about keeping yourself and your family safe."

"Every function earlier used to report to Marc (Marc Benioff, founder & CEO of Salesforce). There was no India head. Going forward, the functional reporting will remain, but there will also be an India-reporting structure. India’s scale is unprecedented; if you have solved for the scale in India, you’ve solved a lot of problems globally.These are the synergies we want to bring about"

"I have done a few things with Fortune 500 firms, and those have gone well. I have led the digital initiatives in SBI and I realise the value of digital. By bringing me in, they want to display the fact that they are serious about India. It indicates a commitment from the Salesforce management that we are here for good and we want to scale this"

"So, you have to really go out of your way to determine what other than monetary incentive you can hand out, what are the right buttons [to push] in order to motivate and inspire people. In the private sector, the simple solution is to throw more money at the problem. Now, that is not always fruitful as you are not really ensuring that the person is developing in the right way"

"And in many cases, where I have to file, for instance, reports, etc., the statute has to come up to show that I have the powers to do this... They said either you go for a change of the Act, but till the change comes through you will be known as Chairman. So I scrapped the cards thinking I had far larger battles to fight at that point. I accepted the term Chairman and went on with it"