Billionaire Paul Harris’s message to South Africans who live overseas
Paul Harris, one of South Africa’s most respected businessmen, said the grass in other places like the US, UK, and Europe is not as green as it may have been perceived to be.
Harris is widely celebrated as one of South Africa’s great entrepreneurs, behind some of the country’s most successful businesses.
He co-founded Rand Consolidated Investments in 1977, which acquired control of Rand Merchant Bank in 1985. In 1992, he became its chief executive officer.
He was appointed chief executive of FirstRand Bank Holdings in 1999, a position he held until December 2005 when he was appointed CEO of FirstRand.
While at RMB, he oversaw the development of several private game reserves, including Ingwelala, Mabula, Welgevonden, and Thorny Bush.
He was a founder shareholder of the safari company Great Plains, with lodges in Botswana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.
He served on the board of Cricket South Africa and is on the board of the Sunshine Tour, the most prominent golf tour in Africa.
He is also the largest shareholder in Rain, one of South Africa’s largest broadband and 5G providers.
His other business interests include the award-winning luxury boutique hotel Ellerman House and Everard Read Gallery.
In 2012, he sent a message to a ‘concerned friend’ from Australia who was worried about South Africa’s future (read the full message here).
He said he regularly received e-mails from people concerned about them and the country. However, he said there was no reason for them to worry.
“Some worrying things have happened, but we have been through and survived much worse in much more volatile environments,” he said.
He cited the Boer War, two World Wars, apartheid, the financial crisis without a bank bailout, the Rindapest, Ge Korsten and Die Antwoord.
“For as long as I can remember, there have always been people who think SA has five years left before we go over the cliff,” he said.
“There has been no change from when I was at school in the sixties. The five years went down to a few months at times in the eighties.”

His message to these concerned friends was that they should not stress about the people in South Africa.
“We are fine. We are cool. We know we live in the most beautiful country in the world with warm and vibrant people,” he said.
He added that there are more people with smiles on their faces in South Africa than in any country he has ever been to.
Harris highlighted many positives about South Africa, including people pulling up their sleeves and fixing what is broken.
It raises the question of whether Harris still feels the same 24 years after he wrote this message to his friend in Australia.
He told Biznews that most of what he wrote to his friend in Australia in 2012 is still apt today.
“However, if I were to write it now, I would add that South Africa has continued to have tough times and is still bumbling along, with lots to do to transform.”
He added that the grass in places like the United States, the UK, and Europe is not as green as it may have been perceived to have been then.
“The government of national unity (GNU) could herald in better times despite our continued propensity for scoring own goals,” he said.
Harris said the Springboks set an example of how people from different backgrounds and past experiences can unite to do great things for the country’s morale.
He also admitted that some are still, unfortunately, divisive and vindictive and aren’t prepared to engage in good faith to bridge what divides us.
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