Sometimes it’s easy to forget how wonderful our country is, and how amazing we, as South Africans, can be. It’s often much easier to look at our flaws (which we should), but we need to create a perspective that lets us build a culture of “we can” rather than “we can’t”.
While we may be at the southernmost tip of Africa and geographically remote from the US, Europe and Asia, it doesn't mean we’re removed from the competitive arena. We’re a deeply innovative, resourceful nation because necessity has made us so. We face challenges that are unique: which other countries have 11 official languages, for a start?
Our challenges make us different; they give us an opportunity to build character, develop resilience, and bond diverse communities and cultures by celebrating success.
SA has won the Rugby World Cup three times. Zozibini Tunzi was crowned Miss Universe. Sho Madjozi is rocking the international music scene. Black Coffee is one of our most influential music exports. Trevor Noah is flying the SA flag high on US soil. The world’s first 3D-printed middle-ear implant was performed at Steve Biko Academic Hospital. Our netball Proteas won the Africa Cup.
Our sports stars hold world records. Our universities do ground-breaking research. Our chefs are celebrated across the world. Our medical advances pave the way for improving health for people of all nations. Our artists are giving the rest of the world a welcoming taste of Africa. Our technology sector sets trends for other countries to follow. Our entrepreneurs breathe life into the economy in ways that surprise us on a daily basis.
Actors, musicians, engineers, doctors, sportspeople, dancers, artists, scientists, business leaders, society leaders, entrepreneurs, futurists ... they add the shine to what is an amazing country, with the potential to be a winning brand: SA.
We invite you to join us online for the Future of Media digitised series in partnership with Vodacom and EziAds, as our panel of experts in media and advertising speak about how to innovate and use available media channels (traditional, social and digital) to energise our biggest brand: SA.
Panelists in the discussion moderated by Siya Sangweni (brand manager at CliffCentral.com) include:
- Brent Lindeque — Good Things Guy editor in chief
- Happy MaKhumalo Ngidi — Proudly SA marketing and communications
- Jaun Pienaar — ApexMedia co-founder
- Nwabisa Makunga — Sowetan editor
Date: July 9 2020
Time: 10am
Cost: free
Partners of the Future of Media digitised series include Everlytic, Proudly SA, The MediaShop and WAN-IFRA.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 