{"id":807319,"date":"2025-01-20T15:33:44","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T13:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=807319"},"modified":"2025-01-20T15:33:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T13:33:50","slug":"south-african-billionaires-important-message-to-people-who-want-to-leave-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business-opinion\/807319\/south-african-billionaires-important-message-to-people-who-want-to-leave-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"South African billionaires’ important message to people who want to leave South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two South African billionaires, Christo Wiese and Paul Harris, warned people thinking of leaving the country that the grass is not always greener on the other side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christo Wiese is one of South Africa\u2019s most successful businessmen and entrepreneurs and is closely associated with the success of Shoprite and Pepkor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wiese said South Africa is a land of great opportunity despite its significant challenges, making it a good place to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that people\u2019s perceptions of the country are highly influenced by what they hear from their family and friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you hear all day about how miserable the country is, you are obviously more likely to leave,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wiese explained that when his son asked him whether he should stay in South Africa, he advised him to do so, with one caveat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have to accept, even if you are the smartest man in the country, you will not be able to become president because of the colour of your skin,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you can accept that you are essentially a second-class citizen in your own country because of your race, it is a great country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that there is an opportunity for people who benefitted from South Africa over the years to give back and make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wiese said there are tremendous business opportunities in South Africa for young people who want to follow this path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the challenges to becoming a successful businessman worldwide are essentially the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have to decide what your business plan is, and after that, the most important thing to do is to work hard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wise added that many young people ask him the secret to success in business. \u201cThe answer is easy \u2013 work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said if you have a good plan and work hard, you will be successful. However, the level of success will vary based on things like luck and how smart you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Harris’ message<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Paul Harris is widely celebrated as one of South Africa\u2019s great entrepreneurs and is behind many excellent businesses, including RMB and FirstRand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While at RMB, he oversaw the development of several private game reserves, including Ingwelala, Mabula, Welgevonden, and Thorny Bush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, he responded to a friend in Australia who expressed concern about Harris and others who decided to stay in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He admitted that some worrying things were happening but said South Africa has been through and survived much worse in much more volatile environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He cited the Boer War, two World Wars, apartheid, the financial crisis without a bank bailout, the Rindapest, Ge Korsten, and Die Antwoord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor as long as I can remember, there have always been people who think South Africa has five years left before we go over the cliff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His message to these concerned friends was that they should not stress about the people in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are fine. We are cool. We know we live in the most beautiful country in the world with warm and vibrant people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that there are more people with smiles on their faces in South Africa than in any country he has ever been to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harris highlighted many positives about South Africa, including people pulling up their sleeves and fixing what is broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, Harris told Biznews<\/a> that most of what he wrote to his friend in Australia in 2012 is still apt today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe government of national unity (GNU) could herald in better times despite our continued propensity for scoring own goals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s morale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also admitted that some are still, unfortunately, divisive and vindictive and aren\u2019t prepared to engage in good faith to bridge what divides South Africans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two South African billionaires, Christo Wiese and Paul Harris, shared their messages to people who want to leave South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":793887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4137,20167,4413],"class_list":["post-807319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-opinion","tag-christo-wiese","tag-government-of-national-unity-gnu","tag-paul-harris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807319"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":807323,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807319\/revisions\/807323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}