Charl Botha

good way to be put another way..."what you focus on expands."

another James Allen phrase I've gotten a ton of mileage out of "They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to petty worries." this one serves four purposes 1. the first is that if u find urself falling prey to petty worries, its an alarm it tells u that u got nothing major going on in ur life, and that u need to cut the bullshit and go find a mission build something, write something, fall in love, make art, find God, figure out some way to be of use to ur fellow man. 2. similarly...thru this quote, others show u their reflection. when u come across someone who is petty, envious, mean-spirited, who seems to have nothing else to do with their time except gossip about other men they're letting u know, loud and clear: "I ain't got shit going on in my life." 3. u can confirm this a 3rd way, think of people you respect and look up to, and how they carry themselves it's mostly things that u never see a champion do not concerned with other people's business, never squabbling, never criticizing, always looking to lift others up, never looking to kick a man when he's down...not condemnatory towards all that stuff so much as, like, "I simply do not have a free minute for that bullshit." avoid this behavior, avoid people who revel in it the way out is self-correcting. once u are immersed in a mission, or in the joy of building and creating something, time just disappears and u dont have any of it to spare for petty behavior 4. last..."the royal road" "A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing point of his thoughts. He should make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself to its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings. This is the royal road to self-control and true concentration of thought."

@Ndala_Momane I havent told you about my other failures yet - where I also didn’t have excuses😂🙈

@futurewealthP You are better. I have no excuse 😂😂😂

I am not telling. 1st test of advanced calculus & 1st test of advanced stochastic calculus still stresses me to this day.

I wish we could have a set of role models/ngo's/civic societies/teachers that make it their mission to inspire young people to imagine what Africa COULD be - to use their creativity to create the future - instead of fixating on the past. Yes, the past is important, but if you make the past an anchor of resentment, or of longing (Europe), you will miss two very important facts: (1) the world has been getting a lot better (wealthier, healthier) since 1800...the countries/cultures that are future-focussed will leave the past-focussed behind...(2) Africa will have the largest population of young people in the world soon - we WILL have the largest cohort of potential intellectual capital in the late 21st century - lets use it so that Africa becomes the global vanguard of the 22nd century (economically and technologically)...we will not be there to see it, but its a worthy goal to pursue imo... P.S For those who are interested, I have an idea to this end that I would love to partner with you to make a reality

But people will still blame Apartheid… nope, sorry, that excuse doesn’t work anymore. You have elected leaders that are incompetent & stolen from you to fund their Sandton Diamond Walk lifestyles

This is the reality of friendships at work Anyone else relate?

🦁😂

If I was an unemployed black graduate, I wouldn’t spend my whole day sending CVs to Sandton corporates. I would be in the townships looking for opportunities then package what I see to sell to corporates like GG Alcock. Ask people about their pain points & then solve the problem

🎯🎯

Direct investment in Tencent - or something like Kaspi - is much better in my opinion...Tencent is arguably in the top 5 businesses globally, Naspers, apart form the discount, is probably not even in the top 100...they are cutting the flower and watering the weeds...as a trade it can certainly work, but my bet is that Tencent itself will outperform Naspers over any longer period...(3 years plus)...

@mtobinwex : I will definitely exit PRX (partially to realise the substantial CGT loss, TBH), but may consider whether complete exit or just a switch into NPN. 10C 1Q results today not great, first assess market reaction next day or 2, to assess exit or switch.

Starlink should not be exempt from the BBBEE rules in SA - that would be unfair. The problem is the rules themselves...we can do a lot better imo...my question: why can't we rethink the rules in a pragmatic manner - are there no minimal - but substantial - sets of values/outcomes people in SA that we can agree on to make BBBEE (or something else) much better? Scrap BBEEE or keep its is a stale debate - what about some real innovation in regulatory thought...

If you are South African, listen to this video and tell me what you think about Starlink. Are we missing out by not allowing the service into the country because they refuse to comply with BBBEE, or do you think Elon Musk can go suck it?

SOUTH AFRICA IS NOW THE WORLD’S LEADING CITRUS EXPORTER. South Africa has overtaken Spain and is now the world's leading exporter by volume. Citrus is the leading agricultural export product, accounting for 17% of South Africa’s agricultural exports of US$15.1 billion in 2025.

A young kid got caught taking photos of a Ferrari… Instead of getting mad, the owner said: “Don’t ever be sorry… in fact, get in it.” ❤️🚗 Moments like this restore your faith in humanity. That kid’s gonna remember this forever 😭

(Oil Crisis)I can see a good chance (perhaps 50-50) of a return to lock-down measures in most countries - or at least stay-at-home for most employees...As far as I can see, its the lowest hanging fruit to manage the supply shortfall coming to gasoline markets soon...this will stop oil prices from rising to levels that will create serious problems in the rest of the economy (food supply, etc). Energy - and oil - is a non-negotiable for modern living, so something MUST give - imo it will be the non-essential things we use oil for (trips to work, trips for holidays, etc.)...whether this happens by choice (through very high oil prices), or fiat (government decree - rationing etc)...it has to happen...in short: energy HAS to be found, the question is: where can it be found in sufficient quantities quickly - both on the supply side and the demand side... I also expect some subsidies for the food value chain (farmers and consumers - not middle men and retailers), as high food prices and civil unrest are close cousins...food could get extremely expensive, unlike anything we have seen for decades...I expect trading down for most people (less meat, more staples)...a benefit of this crisis would be people (incl entrepreneurs) thinking carefully about how to curb food waste (globally, we waste around 25%-plus of all calories available for consumption)... Finally, as everyone knows, just as the oil crisis of the 70's (amongst others) led to the introduction of more fuel efficient cars, so will this crisis lead to the adoption of electric energy conversion (as opposed to fossil fuel conversion) on a grand scale...the name of the energy game is always (ultimately) efficiency; electric cars are more efficient than any ICE car could be...the future is electric...consider also that today's ICE's are the result of 120 years of improvements, while electric cars less than 20 years of intense effort at improvements...

What a beautiful moment... This tennis player’s son ran on the court to give him a hug after seeing him cry in loss at the French Open. 😢

René Girard, what a line

My son brought home a friend for dinner on a Tuesday evening. No heads-up, no "Is it okay?" He just walked through the door at 6:00 PM with this boy in tow. "Hey Dad, this is Leo. He’s staying for dinner." It wasn't a request; it was an announcement. My son, Jax, is fourteen and usually follows the rules, so this caught me off guard. Leo looked small for his age, drowning in an oversized sweatshirt despite the humid evening. He kept his eyes glued to his shoes. I had exactly four pork chops defrosted for our family of four. Now, we were five. "Nice to meet you, Leo," I said, already doing the mental math to shrink our portions. "I hope you’re hungry." Dinner was heavy with silence. Leo ate with a sort of desperate politeness—tiny, careful bites, whispering "thank you" every time a dish was passed. My wife tried to start a conversation about school, but he gave nothing but one-word replies. Jax just watched us, his jaw set, like he was waiting for us to mess up. Once Leo headed home, I pulled Jax aside. "You can’t just spring guests on us like that, Jax. We need to know ahead of time." "He needed a meal," Jax said flatly. "What do you mean, he 'needed'—" "Dad. He needed to eat. There’s nothing in his pantry. His dad is working two jobs just to keep the lights on, and his mom hasn't been around in years. He gets a school lunch, and that’s it until the next morning." A cold knot formed in my stomach. "Did he tell a counselor? The school must have resources." Jax looked at me with a tired kind of wisdom. "If he tells the school, they call the state. Then his dad gets investigated, they might get separated, and everything falls apart. He just needs a hot meal, Dad. That’s all." At fourteen, my son was seeing a world I had been comfortably ignoring. "Tell him to come back tomorrow," I said. Jax finally cracked a smile. "Already did." Leo became a fixture at our table. Monday through Friday, he was there. He was always quiet, always grateful, and never asked for a second helping unless we practically forced it on him. By the end of the first month, he finally looked me in the eye. "Why do you let me stay?" "Because you're our guest," I told him. "And there’s always enough to share." He didn't sob; he just let out a long, shaky breath as a few tears hit his plate. "Nobody ever just... helped. Without a catch." It turned out Leo was a brilliant kid. He was obsessed with aerospace engineering and was already teaching himself calculus. He graduated top of his class last spring with a full ride to a tech institute. During his commencement speech, he thanked his mentors and his father. Then he added, "And to the Miller family, who gave me a seat at their table for four years without making me feel like a charity case. You taught me that being in need doesn't mean you're a failure. Thank you for always having a plate ready." I was blindsided. I sat in the bleachers and ruined my shirt sleeve wiping my eyes. The truth is, I didn't do anything heroic. I just bought more groceries. I put an extra chair at the table. That’s it. But to a kid who felt invisible, it was a lifeline. Jax is eighteen now. He still brings people home. Last month, it was a classmate whose family was living out of their car. Last week, it was a kid whose house was freezing because the heat had been cut off. He doesn't ask anymore. He just sets the table. And I just keep cooking. Look around your community. There’s a kid in your neighborhood who isn't just "struggling"—they’re hungry. Right now. You don't need a charity board or a massive budget. Just set an extra plate. Sometimes, that’s all it takes to change a life. By shahida6603

Dave Grohl wrote “My Hero” for the Foo Fighters. And in 2022, Taylor Hawkins’ son Shane played it back to him on drums at his father’s tribute concert. That is not a performance. That is a son saying goodbye.