Miracle Drive turns the world upside down

GILLIAN KLAWANSKY

“In a time of darkness, one needs to bring light. If it bothers us that the world is in darkness, plagued by corruption and issues that drive us crazy, the [Lubavitcher] Rebbe’s advice was to turn the world upside down. Leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of bringing light and changing the world for good,” said Rabbi Michael Katz of Chabad Illovo, explaining the dinner’s theme – “Turn the world upside down”.

The evening highlighted how acts of goodness and kindness bring light. Having raised more than R21 million last year through the dinner and other fundraising activities, the Miracle Drive is perfectly placed to spread this ethos. The money raised is allocated to the organisation’s various innovative charitable initiatives benefiting people from all walks of life within and without the Jewish community.

With major sponsors including Nissan, Standard Bank, Liberty Life, and Yamaha, the evening was punctuated by amazing giveaways including a Nissan X-Trail. Drumming, dancing, and singing, a suspended violinist, and aerial acrobats performing while hanging from silks made up the entertainment. Delicious food was provided by Riva Flax Caterers.

Speaking on behalf of sponsor Standard Bank, Peggy-Sue Khumalo, a former Miss South Africa who is now the head of Standard Bank Wealth SA, gave an emotional but uplifting speech. Having recently lost her husband, beloved radio personality Xolani Gwala, Khumalo’s talk was an inspiring example of finding positivity in the most challenging of circumstances.

“In all the chaos we see around the world and in South Africa, I still feel positive about our country and about the world around me,” she said, pointing out that this was based on her experience of the goodness of humanity.

She highlighted the kindness she and her late husband had experienced from the Jewish community. “Stephen Koseff, the former chief executive of Investec, sponsored me when I didn’t know whether it was possible for me as a young girl from rural KwaZulu-Natal to go to an international university and acquire an education,” she said.

“I’m humbled and privileged that I’ve had that opportunity, and it was through your generosity and support via Mr Koseff that I was able to get that and be the person I am today.” Khumalo went on to work for Investec for 17 years before joining Standard Bank in early 2019.

Khumalo also thanked her Investec “family” for getting Gwala, who fought stage-four colon cancer, into a trial conducted at Sheba Hospital in Tel Aviv. “For us as a family, it was a privilege that Xolani was able to have access to the trial and to be with specialists at the forefront of advancing and shifting the treatment for cancer patients. All I wish for is that we spread such universal love and goodness widely, because there are so many communities that aren’t touched by the support some of us are privileged to have access to.”

While acknowledging that the world is “in chaos”, she said she reminded herself that the South African story has always been one of endurance. “Our proud heritage is a legacy of freedom, equality, the dream of shared prosperity, and the belief that the right to a better life isn’t just restricted to a few.” With despair recently being listed as a global theme, Khumalo spoke of a looming global financial crisis, corruption, sexual harassment, and unemployment. Yet to stay positive, she suggested thinking of the past, present, and future.

She’s inspired by the example of her mother, who sacrificed everything so that Khumalo could become the leader she is today, and by Nelson Mandela, who taught us that our humanity doesn’t lie only in one person, but in all of us.

“I reflect on the courage of my late husband, and his brave and lengthy cancer battle. When he was fighting to stay alive, Xolani used the mic to inspire, to advocate for early diagnosis of cancer, and to highlight how expensive and inaccessible treatment is for the poor.” Later this year, Khumalo will launch the Xolani Foundation. She plans to partner with government and private sector to make cancer testing and screening accessible and free at public and private hospitals.

Khumalo is impressed by the next generation, and its inability to settle for the status quo. “They’re labelled as rule breakers and non-conformists. Maybe some status quo needs to be abolished and some rules updated. The energy with which they tackle the world’s problems leaves me comfortable in their ability to serve as custodians of our freedom and a better world. I choose to look a little more, and despair a little less.”

David Roberts, an American disruptive innovation expert and distinguished faculty member of Singularity University, expressed dismay at South Africa’s emigration crisis. Singularity University explores exponential technology to shape the future and solve the world’s problems. Roberts, who aims to transform a billion lives, was astounded when he learned that up to 80% of the South African students he had addressed at one of the country’s most expensive schools were planning to leave the country permanently after matriculating.

“A nation can’t afford to lose so many of its most educated students,” he said. After speaking to these students, he realised that they’d lost hope for the future. “They believe that it’s not going to get better. But belief and truth are two different things. Hope isn’t about the reality of the future, it’s about belief in the future. You don’t have to change the future, hope can be changed in an instant.” Roberts found that students’ biggest concern was crime. “To fix crime, you need to fix the source, not the symptom, and the source is poverty,” he said.

Instead of focusing on 50 different issues, he argued, South Africa should focus on just one – crime, and therefore poverty. Roberts believes that in 10 to 15 years, 90% of poverty can be eliminated. “It’s a real vision that’s absolutely possible,” he said. China and South Korea did it, and so can South Africa. He suggested a five-point plan including installing great leadership, providing high-speed internet to the underprivileged thereby facilitating access to education, and building housing in innovative ways, much like cars are built in factories.

It also comes down to individuals, he said, who can make a difference in the world through small actions. “At Singularity University, we trace how the world is changed. It always goes to the same thing – a bystander like all of us who was inspired to do a little thing one day, grew it, and changed the world.

“We create our own walls around what we think we’re capable of doing, but our potential is unlimited,” he said.