Hermanus

Thank you.

Welcome to the Business News Studio in Hermanus for another of our live in-studio discussions.

Today it's with Rory Stain.

For five years, Rory was the man who stood between Madiba and those who would do him harm.

I'm very happy to report, Alec, and good afternoon to all our tribe, those listening both live and later.

Thank you for the invitation.

I just happened to be in Hermanus for a family member's 21st this weekend, and here I sit.

So...

I think it's a really complex ecosystem.

And when you have animals that move these massive differences, Ports and Starboard was seen in, they were in Hermanus the day before yesterday on Saturday and And they were further up the coast.

So they're moving very fast between areas.

So they definitely have a significant impact in False Bay, it seems.

War, climate, geopolitics, and AI.

And it's really good to have you in the studio here in Hermanus.

What are you doing in our part of the world?

Ale, delighted to be here.

We're here for a wedding this week, but also take time to catch up with friends and been involved in a number of book launches in Johannesburg, Victoria last week.

So delighted to be in your studio in this wonderful part of the world.

I think I first came to Hermanus in the 1960s to come watch whales and delighted to see the day back.

Yeah, there are lots of whales here, and it started as the best place on earth to watch whales from the shore.

For the other coast, for the West Coast, the best place to go is Happy by Nature because they have plants grown by Gail Gray and they are grown on the West Coast and propagated on the West Coast.

And then if you're further afield, if you're going up towards Hermanus, there's Ferncliff Nature Reserve, which has a plant sales nursery there.

And there was a very good list put together by Dr.

Di Marais up there.

They've got to come from South Africa.

Well, six months ago in Hermanus, the US ambassador, Brent Brazel, told a room full of South African business leaders that Washington's patience was running thin.

We now know what that meant.

Visa bans, names kept secret, a promise that this is only the first step, and a suggestion that Thabo Mbeki, not so Ramaphosa, is the man to fix it.

So these companies are going to look at that.

We're not aiming at the South African people, although, sadly, some of these actions will ultimately affect the South African people.

Ambassador, I'm putting myself into the shoes of those who heard you in Hermanus in March, business leaders, entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs.

they will be shocked by what you said earlier that it's off the table now.

And he has spent his whole career in the citrus industry.

And he tells me now that he is retired and he's living in Hermanus.

So welcome, Hopi.

And

After COVID, we realized that our fancy offices in Bryanston were not required anymore because no one was coming into the studio, which we built at huge expense.

And the question was, well, you know, if people are talking remotely like you and I are, where where's the best place in the world to do this? And I took a call on Hermanus.

And so we moved to Hermanus four years ago in December.

And now we have our nerve center here, but colleagues all around the country, primarily Cape Town and Johannesburg, But it's been a wonderful journey.

And really, we can honestly say that we reach about a million people a month who consume our content primarily on YouTube, but elsewhere as well.

So we started off, I have childhood friends of mine own the Champagne Sports Resort.

Roger Mackey, who was my father's friend, actually said to me, you know, why don't you think of coming here and he sent his general manager and we had our very first conference with about 60 people and from there it's just developed and grown and we now have two conferences, two big conferences a year.

The one in Hermanus, where for the last three years, there've been 600 people, 600 delegates.