Dr Iqbal Survé, chair of Sekunjalo Investment Holdings and Independent Media, a visionary entrepreneur and innovator, has been honoured with a special Global Trailblazer Leadership Award.
This took place on Thursday evening during the prestigious Future of Jobs Summit, a flagship event of the T20, the official think tank initiative under South Africa’s G20 Presidency.
In his acceptance speech, he said: “All of us in our journeys are where we are because of the people that we work with and so I want to honour the 8,500 people in our group. I want to thank them for their contribution towards this award. And I think this award is really in honour of them.”
He believed the award is a recognition for the role he played within the country and globally in fostering the interests of South Africa.
“I think for me it is only recognition of the work role I played in the World Economic Forum, in BRICS and in the Clinton Global Initiative and just generally trying to promote our country as chairman of different business councils between different countries for the last few decades. And I am optimistic about my country. I firmly believe you can change things,” he said.
Survé talked about the importance of positioning South Africa on the global stage, advocating for a multi-polar world where the Global South plays a significant role.
He emphasised his belief in fostering cooperation among nations of the Global South to promote mutual interests and development.
“I think South Africa must take its rightful place in the community and nations from an investment point of view, from a skills point of view and from a development point of view,” he said.
He emphasised the need for a mindset shift, encouraging people to think differently and be more open-minded about collaboration, both within South Africa and with other countries.
“I haven’t said we must work exclusively with the BRICS countries. I think there is a very strong place for us to work with the West. They are a big part of our history. They are a big part of our trade and economy and we just need to have a balanced approach to the world,” he said.
He noted that people in different countries, such as the United States and China, have a strong sense of national pride and confidence in their systems, suggesting that South Africans should similarly believe in their own country and its potential.
“So we as South Africans should believe in our country and our rights. We must put our rights first and we must demand respect. We must demand that people respect our sovereignty and our independence,” he said.
When he was chairman of the BRICS Business Council, Survé always made sure that South Africa was never a small state within BRICS.
“As much as our economy was a tiny portion compared to the other BRICS countries, I never allowed our delegation that attended these big meetings, either the business council meetings or the heads of state meetings to go there with a begging bowl. From the very first meeting I insisted, whether there were Chinese or Russians or Brazilians or Indians, that we are here as equal partners,” he said.
He expressed deep disappointment with South Africa’s approach during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, describing it as a low moment in the country’s 30 years of democracy.
“We looked like we were a banana republic. We didn’t look like we were an independent sovereign country with a point of view. People should not interfere in what happens in our country.
“Whatever our issues are around farmers, it is for us to sort them out. And not for us to go to another country and get them to sort them out. Why have we elected our leadership? They have been elected to solve these problems,” he said.
