Nelson Mandela. He wanted to
talk to me about the future, so I had five hours one-on-one. He even gave me lunch. Imagine
„
that, I’m with the most famous
prisoner in the world and he’s asking me if I want ham! He just blew me away with his
spirit of reconciliation. I don’t think his successors have had that same passion.
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largest economy in the world, so we’re in the relegation zone here. If we don’t get our act together, we’ll follow our second possible route, which is dropping into the ‘second division’ of nations. Business can still make some money on this path, but it is a disaster for government because tax revenues dwindle. Third is an off-the-wall option: we become a failed state and public violence becomes so prevalent that we could head towards civil war. Initially we gave this zero probability, but the Marikana tragedy illustrated such tension that we give it a small chance of happening. Certainly another Marikana could be to this scenario what the Tunis demonstrations were to the Arab Spring. We must not allow anything like that to ever happen again.” Sunter offers three flags that will determine the country’s negotiation of this precarious future. To climb back up to the middle of the premier league we need inclusive leadership, replication of our pockets of excellence, especially educational ones, and nurturing of entrepreneurial spark. “People think politicians are what make countries great,” argues Sunter. “They’re not. It’s the entrepreneurs.” The story of a rocketeer If that all sounds too academic, Sunter never passes up an invitation to tell the Siya Xuza story as a real, living example of positive potential in this country. It’s an opportunity that arose from his role as chair of the Anglo social responsibility scheme, the Chairman’s Fund. This enabled him to turn his fiery belief in the powers of education into action, with millions of rands to deploy. “We gave at least 40 percent of the money to education,” he says proudly. “Our approach was to find champions and back them, regardless of the facilities they had. This often meant we interviewed some of the brightest young kids around. But there was this one youngster from Umtata, Siyabulela Xuza, who had developed a rocket fuel that helped to break the national amateur altitude record. He got a scholarship to attend one of our real pockets of excellence, St. Johns College, and went on to study engineering at Harvard University. He did so well there. On the second-last launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour he was given a special tour of the facility with a couple of other guests, Barack and Michelle Obama. The
guy is a superstar - just the sort of person we need to support in South Africa.” Man of the moment And finally, what flags will weigh in on the scenarios for Clem Sunter’s next chapter? Well, just recently back from Vancouver, there are few signs he’s slowing down as a hugely in-demand consultant and speaker. He remains a prolific writer for a variety of media and even chanced his arm with a special appearance as a radio host not long ago. You’ll agree Sunter has earned the right to indulge in the finer things in life. So what’s his answer to the favourite Opulent Living question: what does luxury mean to you? “Gee, I live such an ordinary life. As I get older I spend less and less. At one stage luxury was driving the very first edition of the BMW M5. What a luxury that was! But now I’ve got a Mini Cooper S. In the 1960s it was the car to have, but I couldn’t afford one then. I suppose I’m reliving swinging London. Oh, and when I’m in the Cape, lunch in the winelands is a real treat.” A thoroughly social being who would “rather talk to people than ‘ching, ching, ching’ sit and type away on Twitter”, which historical figures might Sunter like to invite to lunch at a picturesque vineyard? “First would be Charles Dickens. I think he gave a very good picture of life in Victorian England. He must be one of the greatest novelists ever. Next I’d say Elvis Presley, but not in his later years when he was in that white suit. Blue Suede Shoes was the first record I ever bought. I’d just love to go to some fast food place with Elvis and say, ‘Let’s do a duet!’ And number three, well, I’ve kind of already had that one: my meeting with Madiba. Though all three at one table would be quite funny!” On hints he’ll soon make a permanent move to Cape Town, his favourite city in the world, he can only slyly advise we “watch this space”. It’s difficult to discern a single, major goal carved indelibly in stone. But did you expect one? Remember, “You can never know what your life is going to be.” So you’d better think like a fox.
Clem Sunter met with Florian Gast and Tessa Bailey for an interview and photo shoot in Cape Town.
PHOTOGRAPH: FIONA MACPHERSON FOR OPULENT LIVING
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I had the privilege of meeting
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