Martin Williams

This act has to be praised. Buying Curron for R7.2 billion and converting it from a listed private school business into a non-profit public benefit organisation is the single largest and most generous philanthropic act in South Africa’s history. At 79, having stepped back from business in 2018 after being diagnosed with dementia, and after founding Capitec and PSG, has chosen to spend his final active years of making South Africa richer rather make himself richer. I know some people say things like, "Well, he's supposed to." Nobody is supposed to do anything, because we see people doing what they want to do everyday. Now, instead of giving money to shareholders, Curro will reinvest all surpluses into building more schools and training more quality teachers. And the part that is closets to my heart, offering thousands of under privileged children bursaries, and expanding into rural areas where quality education is in shortest supply. (It's both a blessing a pity that an individual has to step in where the government fails.) Of course, it goes without saying that critics will do what they do best, criticise. Humans are, after all, specialists at decorating even the most generous acts with suspicion. But the truth remains, thousands of children from underprivileged backgrounds who might never even know Jannie Mouton’s name, will have an opportunity that will change the course of their lives. That, to me, is breathtaking. There is an old saying that I am about to butcher: great people plant trees even though they will never enjoy the shade themselves. Jannie Mouton has not just planted one tree, he has planted an entire forest for generations to come.