Q: Where are you from and what is about where you are from that influences the man that you are today?

I am from the south coast of Durban, my parents’ first home was KwaBB in the township of Umlazi, I later spent a huge part of my childhood in Athlone Park & Amanzimtoti.  Being a Durbanite, we are very relaxed as people, very connected with where we are from and we pride ourselves with being down to earth.  That’s probably the biggest influence that my city has on me because no matter how far one goes in life, you remember the humility of home and those you grew up with and shaped your early life.  Another major lesson I not only take from where I’m from but also from my mother is simply loving yourself, dressing the part is a huge part of that, but self-love goes beyond just looking good, it’s also about your mental well-being and doing the things that make you happy and help you grow.

Q: What are your dreams and how are you going to get there?

While I may be vague in saying this, my biggest dream is to simply be the best I can be.  Right now I work in sports broadcasting and television and I want to be the best at what I do.  I believe I am on track to achieve that, but there is plenty of hard work that lies ahead and I don’t take anything for granted.  Supersport has allowed me to live out a dream I never thought would be attainable as a young man and for that I will always be grateful and to pay them back, my duty is to always produce the goods, grow every year and with my versatility, deliver quality content and most importantly be an ambassador that the company can be proud of. I don’t have a ceiling for what I want to achieve in this world from a professional stand point and even in entrepreneurship, I simply believe in myself immensely and I back myself to always be successful at whatever I put my mind to.

Q: Are you married, in a relationship, do you have children and how many?

I am single and available hahaha.

From the point of view of children, no I don’t have any children, the right time will come for me to start a family and I look forward to that some day.

Q: What are your struggles today that you face as a man?

It can be tough to be a man in our society because of the expectation that is placed on us to be these standout individuals who have it all together.  There is also a huge emphasis on being hugely successful and quite frankly, to be seen as “rich”.  While I’m from Durban, I live in Johannesburg today, a city that I call home and one that has taught me many lessons. One of the biggest lessons I learnt early on after getting caught up in life was that if you allow the city or society to dictate the tempo of your life, you will often trip up on the lies you tell, the fake life you live and I have never been a subscriber of “fake it till you make it” because quite often it leads you down a path you don’t want to go down.  As a man you must be able to look in the mirror and be happy with the hard work you put in on a daily basis, be happy with the person you are and how you have achieved your goals.  I always say that one can be “Rich” but unhappy, but for me being successful is more important because I see success as being complete, being whole, being happy and most importantly being content with your life.

Q: What are your thoughts on the current status of Gender Based Violence in South Africa?

The Gender based violence issue is one that truly breaks my heart because I was raised by a phenomenal woman, I have a little sister and those two mean the world to me.  I often read stories and put myself in the shoes of the women who go through such and are so helpless in their situations, the mental and physical pain must be so unbearable especially when society can often turn a blind eye to such.  I also think of the people who lose loved ones to GBV, the thought of any woman having to go through so much pain, anguish and torture at the hands of us men is incomprehensible. I will simply never understand what gives any man the right to lay their hands on the most amazing human beings on this planet.  Women bring life into this world, they are at the centre of the most beautiful aspects of our world and we want to take that away, crush them at every turn and for what? Like I said I will never understand the reasons, we just need to do better and most importantly stop enabling abusers because our society does not need monsters who are at the centre of one of the biggest problems we face today.

Q: How do you think men can help with protecting women and children?

I don’t think there is one way of doing things, like any problem you need to attack it in different ways.  For me the biggest problem is enablers, people who protect abusers, people who make excuses for them.   The bottom line is that nonsense like that cannot and must not be tolerated in any parts of our society, it’s not funny, it’s inhumane and its disgraceful.  Our friends, family and colleagues who do such must know about our displeasure and be called out on it, the police need to do a million times better because women are getting killed due to their cries being ignored.  We can’t keep having the same discussions and they keep falling on deaf ears, campaigns are great and everything in terms of awareness, but we need something more tangible, we need severe punishments.  If men know that there is more at stake if they overstep the line maybe they will catch a wake up, but it’s easier said than done because I don’t think that some of these monsters that live among us can even comprehend how destructive they are to so many lives.  It all starts with respect and they simply have none for women. As a community, we need to make a bigger effort to listen to the cries and protect each other through thick and thin and also teach our kids about respecting one another and there is no one better or more important than the other in our modern day society.

Q: Tell us one thing that we don’t know about you that will make us understand you better.

I come from a very tough place mentally, whereas a family we lost so much and life became tough after having made a good start.  I was that kid who had a great upbringing, but things changed and with some people they can break down from those setbacks, but my mom was so incredible and while we were on the back foot, she managed to sacrifice so much and make sure we never lost our smiles.  As a result I base my life around a simple principle that you work hard for everything and always give your all.  I hate walking away from any situation thinking “what if” and instead focus on making sure I give my best.  I never lose, I learn, and I take those learnings into the next time I face a challenge because if you walk away from challenges or hardship, you will be walking away for the rest of your life.  While some might think I am too serious, I simply see it as investing now and paying now so I can play later.  So if you see me looking focused and on point, don’t mind me I’m just trying to win holistically in this game of life but I’m actually a very fun, regular gent who loves to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.