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T HE WO MEN WHO TOOK ON

A M A ZON HOW TO

(AND WON!)

LOOK LIKE A MILLION BUCKS

FACEBOOKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S

BIG MONE Y GAMBLE

ON T HE POWER TO PROVOKE

MARCH 2020 R60 ( INCL VAT ) OTHER COUNTRIES R52.17 GQ.CO.ZA

HASAN MINHAJ

MAR 2020

Wardrobe fundamentals to last a lifetime, p83

CONTENTS

THE COVER Photography by Errikos Andreou. All prices quoted in this issue are approximate and subject to change.

There are no constants in nature. Rainfall, soil conditions, temperatures. Countering the uncertain ensures a harmonious blend every time. Nothing left to chance. This is mastery.

DEPARTMENTS 10 Letter from the Editor FEATURES 64 How a group of Somali-Muslim immigrants took on Amazon 70 Luxury hotels in space 76 Facebook’s dodgy cryptocurrency 98 Why pro athletes are trying cryotherapy ESSENTIALS 15 Investment pieces for timeless style 20 Rouge is owning her throne 22 The financial pain of breaking up 24 Meet the cognac makers 28 Spotlight: Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa 30 The best noise-cancelling headphones 32 GQ&A: founders of Sealand Gear 36 Men of the Year 2019 in pictures

MAR 2020 The new class of 2020, p89

06 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

GEAR 42 Volvo XC90 46 Volkswagen T-Cross 48 Lexus RX WEALTH 50 Offshore investing 101 52 How to prepare a winning pitch 54 The digital agency shaking up the property world ST YLE 83 Wardrobe building blocks to last a lifetime 94 Budget fragrances that smell like a million bucks 102 Directory

P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y L U K E K U I S I S , C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 9 G AT E WAY F O U N D AT I O N

THE EDIT 104 Parting shot

PUBLISHED BY CONDÉ NAST

EDITOR IN CHIEF Nkosiyati Khumalo EDITORIAL

Lesley Mathys Walter Hay ward

GROUP MANAGING AND SY NDICATION EDITOR MANAGING AND SY NDICATION EDITOR

FA SHION

Jason Alexander Basson Mira Leibowitz Tania Durand

GROUP FASHION DIRECTOR FASHION EDITOR FASHION AS SIS TANT ART

Robyn-Lee Pretorius Keenan Jeppe

AR T DIRECTOR GR APHIC DESIGNER

COPY

Buntu Ngcuka Lisa Abdellah

SENIOR COP Y EDITOR SENIOR COP Y EDITOR

GROO MIN G

Jesé- Ché Lillienfeldt

WORLDWIDE EDITIONS UK & BRITAIN London: HQ, Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design, Vogue Business, Condé Nast Johansens, Condé Nast Traveller, Glamour, GQ, GQ Style, House & Garden, LOVE, Tatler, The World of Interiors, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Wired FRANCE AD, AD Collector, Glamour, GQ, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Vogue Collections, Vogue Hommes

CONTENT PRODUCER

FE ATURE S

Shannon Manuel Thobeka Phanyeko

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: ROGER LYNCH U.S. ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & GLOBAL CONTENT ADVISOR: ANNA WINTOUR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER & PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL: WOLFGANG BLAU CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD: JONATHAN NEWHOUSE

SENIOR CONTENT PRODUCER CONTENT PRODUCER

ITALY AD, Condé Nast Traveller, Experienceis, Glamour, GQ, La Cucina Italiana, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Wired GERMANY AD, Glamour, GQ, GQ Style, Vogue

C ONTRIBUTING EDITORS Dieter Losskarn (MOTORING) CONTRIBUTORS Sophia Benoit, Elle Hardy, Dylan Jones, Stuart McGurk, Christopher Riley PHOTO GR APHERS AND ILLUS TR ATORS Matthew Brookes, Angela Ho, Sven Kristian, Elliott Wilcox C ONDÉ NA S T INDEPENDENT MAGA ZINE S (P T Y ) LTD CEO Mbuso Khoza HEAD OF FINANCE Paul Myburgh ADVER TIS ING ADVERTISING ACCOUNT MANAGERS Lorraine Bradley, Jacqui Erasmus, Wendy Robinson, Millicent Mahlangu (JHB), Charlotte Nutman (CT) ADVERTISING LIAISON MANAGER Natasha O ’ Connor SALES REPRESENTATIVE ITALY Angelo Careddu (OBERON MEDIA) DIGITAL ONLINE EDITOR Molife Kumona SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Arthur Mukhari SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Viné Lucas CONTENT PRODUCER Gugulethu Mkhabela CONTENT PRODUCER Amy Saunders CONTENT PRODUCER Luthando Vikilahle BR AND PROPERTIE S BRAND PROPERTIES MANAGER Desiree Kriel BRAND PROPERTIES ASSISTANT Ntokozo Masinga E VENT S EVENTS MANAGER Thobile Sithole EVENTS CO-ORDINATOR Lindiswa Putuma PRODUCTION MANAGER Jean Jacobs / PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR Charné Phillips CIRCULATIONS MANAGER Frederick Smit / CIRCULATIONS CO-ORDINATOR Bertina Ellis PERSONAL ASSISTANT AND OFFICE MANAGER Karen Shields DIREC TORS CHAIRMAN Dr Iqbal Survé Takudzwa Hove CAPE TOWN HE AD OFFICE Condé Nast Independent Magazines (Pty) Ltd, 10th floor, Convention Towers, Heerengracht St, Cape Town City Centre, 8000. PO Box 16414, Vlaeberg, 8018. Tel: 021-344-0500; Email: gq @ condenast.co.za JOBURG OFFICE Condé Nast Independent Magazines (Pty) Ltd, Vunani House, Block C, Vunani Office Park, 151 Katherine St, Sandton, 2196. Tel: 011-263-9560 REPRODUCTION Studio Repro PRINTING Novus Print Montague Gardens DISTRIBUTION Allied Publishing, 32 Wepener Street, Booysens, Johannesburg PRODUCT MANAGER Soraya Pretorius, 011-248-2418 © 2020 Condé Nast Independent Magazines (Pty) Ltd. Copyright subsists in all work published in this magazine. Any reproduction or adaptation, in whole or in part, without written permission of the publishers is strictly prohibited and is an act of copyright infringement which may, in certain circumstances, constitute a criminal offence. ‘The paper used for this publication is a recyclable and renewable product. It has been produced using wood sourced from sustainably managed forests and elemental or total chlorine free bleached pulp. The producing mills have third-party management systems in place, applying standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. This magazine can be recycled either through your kerbside collection or at a local recycling point. Log onto www.prasa.co.za to find your nearest sites.

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INSIDE GQ LE T TER FROM THE EDITOR

CONTRIBUTORS

CONTENT PRODUCER JESÉ- CHÉ L I L L I ENF EL DT Jesé-Ché’s love for beauty and grooming started at a tender age. After school, while studying, she attended the L’Oréal Beauty Institute, and later combined her love for writing, beauty and grooming by getting into magazines. She started her career at Condé Nast in 2017 as a beauty assistant, and now helms the beauty and grooming departments.

IF I HAD A RAND for every cliché I’ve ever heard about money, I’d make sure that none of them ever get used again. Until that blessed day comes, we took a different look at money for this issue – by focusing on its impact. From noisecancelling headphones

10 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

to help you maintain your peace, to fragrances and eco-friendly fashion investments, we’ve highlighted ways you can invest in yourself right now – and look like a million bucks for a long time coming. On the more practical side, Michael Haldane breaks down the value and mystery of investing overseas (p50), HouseME’s Ben Shaw reveals how his

new-age letting agency saves both landlords and tenants thousands (p54), and we look at new revenue streams brought on by the near-future advent of space tourism (p70). And if money gives you access and a platform, how best do you use it? Follow the example of breakout actor Ncuti Gatwa (p28) or our cover guy, comedian and activist Hasan Minhaj (p58), and (sorry) put your money where your mouth is. Enjoy the issue!

NKOSIYATI KHUMALO EDITOR-IN- CHIEF

After realising that retail copywriting isn’t for him, Buntu’s returned to GQ HQ, where his career began. This time, he’s swopped digital for print, proving that the medium is far from dead. When he isn’t throwing shade at folks in gladiator sandals, you can catch him beer tasting, looking for street style inspo, or trying to keep his white sneakers scuff-free.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SEBASTIAN VOIGT

SENIOR COPY EDITOR BU N TU NG C UK A

AUTAVIA For those who seek adventure-ready design and high-precision timekeeping.

TAG Heuer Boutiques: Sandton City and V&A Waterfront Also at selected ďŹ ne jewellers nationwide For further information please call 011 669 0500. www.picotandmoss.co.za

FOR YOUR MONEY

HEY, BIG SPENDER! This month, we unpack the best ways to splash out – from fashion and fragrance to SUVs and tech – and meet the people building the currency platforms of tomorrow

K by Dolce & Gabbana Eau de Toilette 100ml R1 615

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDRE WEPENER. STYLING BY ROBYN-LEE PRETORIUS

THE MONEY SHOT

MARCH 2020 GQ.CO.ZA 13

THREADS

Bag R44 600 Prada

Big spenders needn’t look further than the iconic Prada Galleria bag, in ﬁne Safﬁano leather. It’s cleverly and ergonomically designed, classic yet a nod to the future, and you can use it as a briefcase or tote. You’ll want to take it everywhere.

You can look like a million bucks whether you’re on a shoestring budget or have the cash to splash. Let’s revisit the classics and learn from those who do it best Words by Jason Alexander Basson Photography by Luke Kuisis

MONEY, MONEY MARCH 2020

STYLE-

HIGH CLUB

White denim jacket R2 999 G-Star Raw

S T Y L E D B Y TA N I A D U R A N D

Looking expensive neednâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be costly. Some of the richest men in the world only wear jeans and a tee, while the most stylish are experts in the art of consistency. This could be anything from the conservative tailored suiting of a man like Bernard Arnault to the high-low stylings of David Beckham.

Threads

ESSENTIALS

FERR AG AMO

E MP ORIO AR M ANI

BRANDS

DOLCE & GABBANA

DSQUARED2

10 MOST A S P I R A T I O N A L

NEIL B ARRE T T

N°21

E T RO

X ANDER Z HOU

PRADA

Judging by these Autumn/Winter ’20/’21 looks from some of the world’s most covetable brands, luxury isn’t all peacocks and avant-garde. They’re wellcrafted, smart and classic.

QA SIMI

MARCH 2020 GQ.CO.ZA 17

ESSENTIALS

Threads MARK Z U CKERBERG

89.9

Billion-US-dollar net worth – Chinos and a polo

62.3

Billion-US-dollar net worth – Jeans and a grey tee or hoodie

ELON MUSK

18.0

Billion-US-dollar net worth – Jeans and two tees

JEFF BEZOS

1 14.2

THE

BIG F I V E

Billion-US-dollar net worth - Chinos and a polo

What are the fundamental tenets of good style, and do you need to break the bank with all that high-fashion frivolity? No. Stick to the script, say the ﬁve richest men in the world. Think jeans, blazers, chinos, polo shirts, classic work shirts and basic tees. Wear in a variety of combos, and elevate with a nice belt, some smart shoes, desert-style boots or white-leather sneakers.

18 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

P HIL KNIGH T

29.2

Billion-US-dollar net worth – Jeans, tee, shirt, sweater and blazer

P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y D A N I E L E O B E R R A U C H / I M A X T R E E . C O M , P A O L O L A N Z I / I M A X T R E E . C O M , S A LVAT O R E D R A G O N E / I M A X T R E E . C O M , A R M A N D O G R I L L O / I M A X T R E E . C O M , B A U E R - G R I F F I N / GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES, JOE SCARNICI/GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES, BLOOMBERG/GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES, IMAXTREE.COM, GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES

BIL L G AT E S

CASH

A N D C A R RY Small, discreet, affordable and packed full of attitude - the cardholder and compact wallet are our new obsession as we move on from omnipresent cross-body bags. Less bulk equals more class.

Cardholder R450 Thalia Strates Cardholder R899 Calvin Klein

ESSENTIALS

Woman We Love

OWNING HER

GQ: You’re also a TV presenter who’s comfortable in front of the camera. Would you say you’re an allround entertainer? R: 100%! I believe it boils down to versatility.

Born Deko Barbara-Jessica Wedi, awardwinning South African rapper, author and TV personality Rouge is claiming her spot as the best female in the game

THRONE P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y YA N N B K ( @ J A S H U G H AT T )

GQ: Describe your musical journey to date? Rouge: It’s an evolution. I’m learning about myself and my sound every day. It’s a beautiful journey. GQ: From your debut album The New Era Sessions to where you are today, would you say there’s been a shift in your music? If so, what would you attribute it to? R: You’ll hear the maturity in my sound. The hunger’s still there but there’s a better sense of who I am in this music. I’m doing a lot of singing, too.

GQ: Where did the name Rouge come from? R: I needed a name that represents me. The colour red symbolises love, passion and danger. It grabs your attention quickly. It’s everything I’m about. GQ: How would you describe the female hip-hop scene in SA? R: It’s booming at the moment. Everyone wants to be part of it. GQ: You got people heated when you tweeted that you’re the ‘best female

in the game’. What gives Rouge the edge over other SA female rappers? R: I’d say my versatility makes me the best in the game. And honestly, I’m not afraid about owning my place in it. I guess it’s also my unapologetic approach. GQ: Do you think beef is what keeps hip-hop alive, or can everyone flourish in their own lanes? R: I fully believe both can work. We’ve seen it time and time again. Just be ready to flourish in both. GQ: You’ve collaborated with Moozlie, Kwesta, AKA and other big names. What’s the common thread and who else would you like to work with in the future, locally and internationally? R: I think it comes down to a good relationship and sharing a common idea of what we’d like to achieve with our projects. I’d love to work with Lauryn Hill, LOGIC, Nicki Minaj or Remy MA.

GQ: You’ve bagged a couple of awards, including Newcomer of the Year at the South African Music Awards (SAMAs) and the South African Hip-hop Award for Best Female Artist. What does this speak to? And what does it mean to you to be recognised for your work? R: All my awards mean a lot to me. They’re an affirmation that not only am I being recognised by my peers, but my supporters are riding for me 100%. It really keeps me going. GQ: Are there social issues you’d like to add your voice to, and what would you like people to take away from your music? R: Definitely violence against women. I’ve had my fair share of abuse from men, both verbal and physical. It’s a daily fight. GQ: What type of content do you gravitate towards, and what would you say keeps you fresh and relevant? R: Love has been a huge driver of the project I’m working on at the moment. Honestly, my relevance is based on my supporters. GQ: What can your fans expect from you in 2020? R: A lot of collabs, singing, some fire bars and movies. – THOBEKA PHANYEKO

MARCH 2020 GQ.CO.ZA 21

Sex & Relationships

How (and When) to Ask Your Ex for Money Breaking up is hard to do, and expensive as hell to pay for

THOUGH COUPLES ARE WA I T I N G LO N G E R TO T I E T H E K N OT , they’re still moving

in together at about the same point (around the two-year mark) in their relationship. That means there’s a whole bunch of people who are unmarried and cohabitating — much to my grandmother’s horror. This new waiting period has left those who leave before making things legally official in a tight spot. Marriage, outdated as it may feel — R80 000 for a party (excluding lobola) in this economy? — is basically a package of legal protections and financial failsafes should you ever split from your beloved. Without a legal divorce, splitting up can be risky, and as a result, some people are taking matters into their own hands by asking their exes to help out with breakup-

22 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

induced expenses. (Or just staying together because they can’t afford a new couch.) To add to that, more of us are drowning in debt, and fewer young people own their own homes. That means that when they move out, they’re often breaking leases until they find someone else to move in. But those aren’t the only money concerns when you break up with someone. Alicia McElhaney, founder of She Spends, explains, ‘It’s not just breaking a lease or a bond. Packing your stuff up and finding a new place all adds up quite quickly.’ Additionally, McElhaney adds, ‘An ex might feel a bit spiteful and refuse to pay for things they promised to pay for.’ This all makes breaking up even more painful and expensive. But in our modern times, it’s possible to ask an ex for money

without ever having to see them face to face. Online banking and eWallets have eliminated all the work, and some of the awkwardness, from asking your ex to pay couch support. The ease of dealing with money electronically, however, means that the requests can get a bit...out there, but maybe it’s more acceptable to ask for larger amounts of money if there was an agreement or a contract. McElhaney says: ‘If they owe you money for a bond, and they leave that contract, I think it’s reasonable for you to ask for [their share of] that money.’ Why the breakup happened matters too. ‘There’s more leeway if the other person wronged you or left without warning.’ Chris Moedjio, 37, says that he knew he needed to break up with an ex of his, but they were

scheduled to go on a trip. ‘Minutes after I dumped him, he asked for his money back. [I] considered keeping it, but felt awful.’ He paid his ex back, and says he doesn’t regret it. Another woman, Julia, went collecting when her ex cheated on her. ‘I found out after I’d already bought his birthday present. I made him pay me back and I enjoyed the hotel and concert with my best friend.’ Some exes are just plain petty. A 36-year-old woman says her ex claims she owed him money for “lost time” after she ended their engagement. ‘I gave him money and so did my parents, [but] he asked for more to “make amends”. He even asked me to ask a wealthy ex of mine for a loan.’ Gaby Dunn, author of the book Bad With Money (R314, exclusivebooks.co.za), points out that asking an ex for money during the breakup fallout is often the first honest conversation a couple has about finances. McElhaney adds, ‘Most of our parents taught us that talking about money is impolite, so we have this notion that talking about it will be a turn-off.’ Hence, breakups tend to create money resentments and we feel like getting money might be a concrete sign that we actually came out on top. But there’s a lot you can do to protect yourself from the expensive shock of a breakup, according to McElhaney. At She Spends, they call it a Fuck Off Fund, an amount of money you put away for emergencies. Not only that, but McElhaney urges folks to put their name on any contract to make it much easier if you need to leave. Whether you ask your ex for money or reimbursement for the espresso machine they made you split with them, just don’t make your eWallet request the first honest money discussion you two have. – SOPHIA BENOIT

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y S I M O N A B R A N O W I C Z

ESSENTIALS

You never drink a single malt unless itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a special occasion. Why not?

Beauty

A new project from Rémy Martin

celebrates the power of collaboration

Words by Nkosiyati Khumalo

THE YE AR 1972 DELIVERED T WO MUSICAL (AND COMPLE TELY NON-SCIENTIFIC) IDE AS

about what keeps the earth rotating on its axis. The first, and most oft-repeated, was delivered to us in song via Liza Minnelli in the film adaptation of the musical, Cabaret : “Money Makes the World Go Round”

Taste

A L L D U E R E S P EC T TO M S M I N N E L L I

and the writers behind the iconic and Oscarwinning Cabaret, but the lasting impact of money on life on earth pales in comparison to the more accurate historyshaping philosophy, also encapsulated in song by the American soul band The Stylistics and their hit, “People Make the World Go Round”. Since its release, the song has been consistently covered by a variety of artists from Michael Jackson to Hugh Masekela; in the same way, time and culture confirm the idea that a blend of people and talents make the most lasting impact on human history and culture.

I had the opportunity to see this in action during a visit to Cognac, France, to get a closer look into how the house of Rémy Martin manages to transmit close to 300 years of cognac-making expertise from generation to generation – and the variety of skills needed to make that happen. Cognac lies around about 405km southwest of Paris and 127km north of Bordeaux. The region is divided into six growth areas; Rémy Martin obtains its grapes from the top two: Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne. These areas are well-insulated from the winds of the Atlantic Ocean from the west, and the continental climate

from the east. There’s a mild, balanced climate, a good mix of soil and, perhaps most importantly, generations of specialist growers. After the harvest in mid-September, ugni blanc grapes are pressed and fermented, producing a thin and acidic white wine that’s then distilled twice in copper pot stills to create the eaux-de-vie (the water of life). This is then aged in French oak barrels for at least two years and eventually blended to create cognac. It’s in the blending of the eaux-de-vie that the expertise of Baptiste Loiseau, as Rémy Martin cellar master, really shines. ‘I have about 20 people by my side to help me with the selection of

FROM LEFT: A whimsical dinner setting at the Château de Versailles; Rémy Martin International Ambassador Thierry Arnold; Riky Rick sampling an unmatured eaux-de-vie

ESSENTIALS

the eaux-de-vie,’ he says. ‘Our decisions about which eaux-de-vie to use will be important, first, for the winegrower, and secondly for the quality of the eaux-de-vie that I’ll transmit to the next generation of cellar master. Many of the decisions we make now will only have an effect that my successor will see.’ Walking through the vineyards and the cellars, and meeting the multitude of people it takes to select, blend and mature the cognac, it becomes clear that here, the process of collaboration is as sacred as the resulting product. It’s fitting then, that the brand took this particular direction »

Riky Rick with his Team Up Crew in the official campaign

26 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

friends from around the world for an unforgettable celebration on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, the seat of the French government under King Louis XV. It’s a significant spot in the brand’s history: in 1738 (just 14 years after Rémy Martin started

Riky Rick and Indian singer Kanika Kapoor at the Team Up for Excellence launch at the Palace of Versailles

‘No man is an island,’ Riky Rick says as the film concludes. ‘We Innovate together; we create together; we pioneer together’

Dupri. Representing Africa as the star of the South African iteration of the Rémy Martin Producer series, was our very own Riky Rick. As one of hip-hop’s greatest collaborators, Riky used his Team Up film opportunity to honour the people who’ve contributed to his journey, including his wife Bianca, stylist Lethabo “Boogy” Maboi, right-hand man and producer Master A Flat, as well as Sheldon Tatchell, the founder of Legends Barbershop. ‘Success is greater when achieved together,’ says Riky, ‘and these people in my life have helped me grow into the artist I am now. Lethabo and A Flat push me to step outside of what I know and challenge the status quo; together we’re consistently changing the game. Sheldon has taught me so much about business, how to elevate my hustle and always give my all to every single thing I do. Bianca, is my rock and my anchor – she gives me direction in life and isn’t afraid to correct me. I owe so much of my success to her.’

HE AD T O G Q. C O. Z A T O SEE MORE

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF RÉMY MARTIN

with its latest global campaign, Team Up For Excellence, which celebrates the blend of many diverse talents in the cognac universe. The Team Up project is championed by a short film that introduces Rémy Martin’s skilled masters – Baptiste Loiseau as cellar master; Laura Mornet, viticulture consulting manager; Julien Georget, estate manager, and Michael Meunier, cooperage manager – who unveil how their unique skills add to the final product, and how the transmission of skills through generations keeps the magic of the house alive. It’s rare to get such an in-depth look into the operations of any French spirits house, and it’s quite special to be able to meet the many people who work behind the scenes to create these coveted bottles. ‘Team Up for Excellence is a wonderful project which was made through teamwork. The result is a film showcasing the essence of our trades, the passion that bonds us together and drives us, and above all the evidence of working together for the better, the excellence of our cognac,’ explains Loiseau. To launch the campaign, Rémy Martin drew on its history to host a delegation of close to 100 of its partners and

producing cognacs) the king was so impressed by the quality of his cognac that he granted Mr Martin exclusive permission to plant new vineyards through a coveted royal permission. We had a chance to recreate this journey towards cementing the brand’s place in history with a guided tour of the Château de Versailles and its Le Nôtre Gardens. Guests included friends of the brand from across the globe, who each star in their own Team Up for Excellence short film, such as Bollywood designer Raghavendra Rathore; Joey Ghazal, founder of Dubai’s The Maine restaurant empire; and American producer and songwriter Jermaine

GQ BESPOKE

THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE Investment guru Martin Diggle reveals how biomedical research will forever change humanity

Take us through your career in finance â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and how it brought you to where you are today. ,Â·P D ILQDQFLDO PDUNHWV person; I studied economics at Oxford. I started my career LQ WKH Â· V DW 0RUJDQ Stanely in London and LQ WKH Â· V , KDG WKH opportunity to live and ZRUN LQ 5XVVLD +DYLQJ sold one business WKHUH , ZHQW LQWR SDUWQHUVKLS ZLWK P\ brother in Singapore. The business that , UXQ QRZ LV 9XOSHV Life Sciences Fund, D ELRWHFK IXQG ZH developed from a real IDVFLQDWLRQ ZLWK WKH SRVVLELOLWLHV RI QHZ medicines and ZKDW WKH\ FRXOG GR IRU WKH ZRUOG

liver â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they have D MRE WR GR EXW WKH\Â·UH essentially machines. ,I WKDWÂ·V WKH FDVH ZK\ not use advances in robotics to help cure the diseases of the body, from the neck GRZQ" , WKLQN WKHUHÂ·UH going to be enormous advances in that in the next decade, and I think in 100 \HDUV LWÂ·V JRLQJ WR EH commonplace for a man and machine symbiosis to exist, and for this to exist LQ KDUPRQ\ ZLWK RWKHU SHRSOH $V ZLWK making Louis XIII cognac, over time some of the tools or technology may change, but the goal of biotechnology remains the same â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to improve the quality of life.

What excites you about life sciences and biotechnology? If you look at the human body, from the QHFN GRZQ ZHÂ·UH DOO basically machines. The heart the lungs, the stomach, the

What do you think is the next frontier in medical research? For diseases of the ERG\ ,Â·P H[WUHPHO\ optimistic about the SURJUHVV ZHÂ·YH PDGH :HÂ·YH ORRNHG DW D ORW RI QHZ SLRQHHULQJ

technologies. For H[DPSOH ZHÂ·YH looked at a company WKDWÂ·V XVLQJ VSDFH age technology to create stents to treat diseases of the heart, ZLWK D NLQG RI RULJDPL style structure. There are gene therapies being developed to cure haemophilia DQG 3DUNLQVRQÂ·V disease. And there are real hopes for all of these treatments to really revolutionise the health paradigm for mankind. The EUDLQ KRZHYHU is on a completely different level. I think the ultimate FKDOOHQJH ZLOO EH diseases such

as dementia and $O]KHLPHUÂ·V EHFDXVH of the vast complexity of the human brain. :HÂ·UH RQO\ MXVW beginning to JUDVS ZKDW FDXVHV these things. How do you want to be remembered? As having made a difference in helping to cure diseases and improve the quality RI SHRSOHVÂ· OLYHV

For more stories about the next 100 years, visit GQ.co.za. Brought to you by Louis XIII â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the king of cognac.

ESSENTIALS

Spotlight

NCUTI GATWA

The breakout star of Netflix’s Sex Education is a champion of representation – and uninhibited style Words by Nkosiyati Khumalo

PHOTOGRAPHY SUPPLIED

SOMETIMES AN AC TO R I S S O P E R F EC T LY CA S T

in a role that it seems as if it might as well have been the eleventh commandment. In this case, I’d like to thank any and all deities responsible for casting Ncuti Gatwa as the scene-stealing spark of light, wit and heart on Netflix’s Sex Education. The British series follows Otis Milburn, a student at Moordale Secondary School whose mother is a sex therapist by trade. Otis decides to launch his own sex therapy practice for his schoolmates, and they learn everything the curriculum doesn’t teach. Ncuti (pronounced “nSHOO-tee”) Gatwa plays Otis’s level-headed best friend, Eric Effiong, the flamboyant gay son of Ghanaian-Nigerian immigrants. And though all the show’s characters are beautifully nuanced, it’s Gatwa’s skilful portrayal of Eric’s balancing act between religious upbringing with his orientation; dealing with bullying and violence; and even hiding an affair (all in a printheavy, gender-bending wardrobe) that will keep you enthralled. Here, he reveals where Eric ends and Ncuti begins – and what he’s learned from his character. GQ: Both you and Eric are keen fashionistas. Are

GQ: What’s been the most revealing thing about playing Eric, and what are some of your favourite responses to him? NG: Just how resilient you have to be when you’re part of the minority. I felt like that was something all people of colour and minority groups have to face, and I identified with that. Eric’s gotten such a lovely reaction, which I wasn’t expecting. Netflix is such a huge platform, and I commend them for commissioning this show, and the writers for creating such an enriched character. GQ: What do you hope the show achieves for viewers similar to Eric? NG: I hope they know and see that it’s absolutely okay to live and walk in your truth. My mom always says ‘Face your front’, and that’s a motto I take to heart so much. It’s all about focusing on your journey, growth and progression. there any similarities between his style and yours? Ncuti Gatwa: I like to work out, so I’m normally a lot bigger than when I’m playing Eric. If I’ve been hitting the gym, then I’ll be in slightly tighter clothes. If I’m skinnier, I might want to create a bit more of a shape. I’m always playing around with clothes because as

an actor, my body and my appearance change so much. GQ: You were born in Rwanda, while Eric is Ghanaian-Nigerian. Have you had the chance to integrate African items into Eric’s wardrobe? NG: It’s definitely a collaborative process. The crew and directors

always want to hear our opinions. In terms of costumes, I’ve always felt free to be vocal when it comes to the more cultural aspects of Eric’s storyline, like when we see him at church or at home. Our costume designer [Rosa Dias] is fantastic, and I feel like she’s captured all of our [characters’] personalities really well.

GQ: Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix – what can we expect for Eric and the Moordale crew? NG: He’s a lot more comfortable and settled within himself. He’s not trying to please everyone. There are also new characters this year, and they definitely ruffle a few feathers at Moordale.

MARCH 2020 GQ.CO.ZA 29

ESSENTIALS

Technology

LOW NOISE AT A L O W P RICE

Plantronics offers good sound quality and decent noise cancellation at much lower prices. We tested the BackBeat Pro 2 Special Edition at R5 000, but the regular edition is similar enough at R1 300 to be a no-brainer. Plantronics BackBeat Pro 2 Special Edition PRICE R5 000

A S L I G H T LY C H E A P E R RUNNE R - UP

The Best Noise-Cancelling Headphones of 2020 We found the perfect pair for tuning out everything, from jet engines to Jeremy in accounting. 30 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

This pair checks all of the boxes: great noise cancellation and great sound quality, all packaged in a well-built pair of headphones that’s comfortable for hours on end. The sound is terriﬁc – everything feels balanced, and with a bass that’s full and clear. Sony WH1000XM3 PRICE R6 500

T HE BE S T BANG FOR YOUR BU CK

A C OLOURF UL HIGH - END OP TION FOR APPLE USERS

This pair has been one of our favourites for a few years, and at a new lower price, we like them even more. The PXC 550s are beautifully designed headphones with super comfortable earcups. Spend some time in the app, and you can tune the sound signature to your liking. Sennheiser PXC 550 PRICE R5 000

P H OTO G R A P H Y M AT T M A R T I N

E V E RY Y E A R, N O I S E- CA N C E L L I N G HEADPHONES B EC O M E M O R E VA LUA B L E . The

background noises in life are getting louder, or at least more annoying. Chalk it up to the mainstream adoption of shared workspaces, remote work, and – Christ ONL INE INFOR M AT ION T O G O HERE , T WO L INE S ONLY P L E A SE AND ONLY BL ACK WI T H WHI T E T E X T

– open floor plans. Blame it on to the growing amount of people who deem it acceptable to host conference calls in cafes or bachelor parties on planes. For years, Bose headphones have cancelled outside noise so effectively that the only real reason to look elsewhere was if the ~R5k price tag was too high. But over the last few years, everyone has

In the past few years, the higher-end Beats pairs have really improved in the sound department. They’re a compelling alternative if you don’t need intense noise-cancellation, and instead want seamless iPhone connectivity and dozens of colour options. Beats Studio3 PRICE R5 500

put out headphones with active noise cancellation (ANC), giving you more options for reducing the world around you to a quiet hum. The best noisecancelling headphones block out external noise so that they can feed well-balanced and clear audio – ideally, at lower volumes. Less distractions are nice, but reducing the decibels hitting your ear drums is critical. They’re not going to look back in 50 years and say we should have been listening to headphones louder. Most people who own noise-cancelling headphones wear them for hours every day, so comfort, battery level, and design are important factors to consider, too. – ANDREW GOBLE & DANIEL VARGHESE

GQ&A

ESSENTIALS

SUSTAINABILIT Y Co-founders of Sealand Gear Mike Schlebach and Jasper Eales have taken upcycling to new heights with unique, handmade products made out of old yacht sails, billboards, and other waste materials. The owners of this global, eco-conscious brand are driving the fashion revolution and elevating the local industry Words by Shannon Manuel Photographs by Andre Wepener Styling by Robyn-lee Pretorius

GQ: How did the two of you meet? Jasper Eales: I was running Jasper Eales Original, a small-scale firm that designed and retailed niche products I found necessary in my life. Things like functional yet aesthetically pleasing surfboard storage and display systems, beach bats and flat-packable laptop stands, to name but a few. I was surfing regularly to escape the bustling city. Known as one of the country’s best big-wave surfers, Mike was also searching for the perfect wave; however, the ones he was looking for were the size of buildings. Mike was running a bagmanufacturing business that repurposed old sails. My father told me about a new retail store

that had opened in my hometown of Hout Bay and was selling interesting products, and that the person running the show was a lekker guy he felt I should meet. We did meet up. Fast-forward six years and look where we find ourselves today – two good mates, running a business we’re both deeply passionate about. GQ: What materials do you use to make your products? JE: They’re smart because they’re made from a combination of upcycled and recycled waste materials. We reuse the structural properties and textures of these materials in a new context while reducing the generation of waste and promoting sustainable practices. The materials you’ll find in a Sealand bag have either

been deemed B-grade by manufacturers, are deadstock or end-of-roll. By nature, they’re sturdy and weather resistant. We use them in the form they arrive in, adding value to what might otherwise be considered waste. That’s our upcycling process. GQ: Where do you source your materials? Mike Schlebach: We use several different kinds of waste materials – most we pay for, some we don’t. In the beginning, we used to receive more donations, but when people saw what we were doing with their waste materials and the value we were creating from it, we started to get hit up a lot more for cash. Just about everything has some value in Africa and, in a way, we’re helping to stimulate

the economy by paying, so we’re not unhappy about that. Having said that, we do work with some great companies like Scan Display and Finlam Technical, who support us by giving us their waste materials. In return, we help to make theirs more sustainable. GQ: You mentioned recycling doesn’t represent the apex of waste management. JE: This is true. If you were to look at the wastemanagement pyramid, recycling is third from the top. Number one, and the best-case scenario, is reuse, which is then followed by upcycling and recycling respectively. Reuse requires no extra work or energy because the product keeps on working and serving a function in its original

form. Upcycling requires some creative thinking and an element of manipulation to the original product, usually by human hands, creating new value from material previously thought of as waste, and requiring minimal energy. When you recycle, the original material or product is broken down through an industrial process, and then reformed into a new product, all of which tends to use a lot of water and electricity. GQ: And you’ve also said that people should become sustainable for themselves and not the environment. MS: The word “sustainable” is overused these days, but it’s relevant to my life and Jasper’s, from an »

MARCH 2020 GQ.CO.ZA 33

Jasper Eales and Mike Schlebach

environmental and lifestyle perspective. Sealand as a business is about as sustainable and friendly to our natural world as a business can get, for various reasons. Still, we could do more. We live at the bottom of the world and shipping our products over long distances is a problem. This is impossible to get around if we want to grow our business, employing more people and keeping more material away from landfill. On a personal level, we’re doing all we can to live sustainably. Becoming the most sustainable person you can be is a journey, on which we’re all at different stages. It’s important that all humans, at least, start it. GQ: You opened your flagship store in

2019. How have people responded? MS: The store stocks our full offering, and seeing how people have engaged with our brand has been inspiring. Being the first tenant at the new Dock Road Junction near the V&A Waterfront has been challenging. We’re surrounded by a construction site, but the area will be fully functional and tenanted soon. We’re looking forward to having better visibility. GQ: Your other memorable moments include winning a Twyg and being a part of the House of Vans in California.

JE: 2019 was a big year for the Sealand brand, which gained exposure and recognition on various channels. Winning the Twyg Sustainable Fashion Award was really special, as this recognised the focus and dedication we’re channelling into socialand environmentally responsible design and brand building. Vans has been a great partner to Sealand over the past few years, and 2019 saw multiple projects between us take shape. House of Vans was a great event to be part of, especially to the degree that they involved us. Our relationship will grow this year; exciting new projects are already underway. GQ: Are you involved in any other forms of ocean conservation? JE: Both Mike and I sit on the board of the Beach Co-Op, which is a not-for-profit company founded by Aaniyah Omardien. We’ll launch the Sealand Foundation this year. It’s one of our most exciting brand developments yet, and we’ve been working on it for years. GQ: Each product carries the personal stamp of the person who made it. Why’s that? MS: Stamps help us stand out, and they’re

also good for our brand’s culture and ethos. We portray ourselves as a family unit, and that really is what we are and always have been. While Jasper and I are the faces of Sealand, and Sealand represents our lifestyle, our business would be nothing without all the people who make it function. Introducing our customers to the individuals who handmake their purchases makes them feel more connected to our brand. It also means Sealand isn’t just about Jasper and Mike. GQ: What’s on the agenda for Sealand in 2020? JE: We launched new collections at Paris Fashion Week in January, and plan to do the same in June. Also in the pipeline is a US-focused, e-commerce platform, which will help us make inroads into the US. We’ve seen interest in this market grow, and have spent the past four years building solid foundations in our local production facilities. We’re in a good position to take on this exciting market. Look out for our first-ever global collaboration, during the first six months of this year: the ultimate Sealand trail-sneaker and a collection of bags will be released.

P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y L O U I S VA N V U U R E N

ESSENTIALS

G Q S T Y L E V O L .1 5

Exposure

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

I T WAS A N I G H T TO R E M E M B E R as we launched our first-ever Men of the Year Awards, in association with Hennessy V.S.O.P PrivilĂ¨ge, last December DW -REXUJÂˇV +RXJKWRQ +RWHO Punctuated with entertainment by Ngizwe, Berita, Bo & Laton DQG 6HPL 7HH WKH HYHQLQJÂˇV highlight was the presentation of the Hennessy V.S.O.P PrivilĂ¨ge Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr John Kani, who challenged us all to be better men, year-round.

P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y A R T H U R D L A M I N I / D A R T P H O T O G R A P H Y, A M A H L E I N N O VA T I V E M E D I A

ESSENTIALS

CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT: Hennessyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mike Ellingworth and guest. Men of the Year Award winners Tristan du Plessis, Nasty C, Lady Skollie, Vusi Thembekwayo, Dr John Kani, Brent Lindeque, Tebogo Sentle and Mr Mashudu (representing Prof Tshifularo Mashudu), Thebe Magugu and Craig Wilkinson, Clement Scholtz, Jennifer Bettencourt. Kat Sinivasan. Sabelo Mbete, Sipho Masebe, Lungisani Mncwabe. Lady Skollie. Thebe Magugu and Asanda Sizani. Nasty C. Kat Sinivasan. Entertainment by Bo & Laton.

MARCH 2020 GQ.CO.ZA 37

ESSENTIALS

Threads Exposure

CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP: Hennessy V.S.O.P PrivilĂ¨ge Lifetime Achievement Award winner Dr John Kani. Lebo Gunguluza and GQ Editor-in-Chief Nkosiyati Khumalo. The Hennessy V.S.O.P PrivilĂ¨ge photobooth, with Lungisani Mncwabe, Stef Kondylis, Mike Ellingworth and Sipho Masebe. Anele Papu. Vusi and Palesa Thembekwayo. Tristan du Plessis. Thebe Magugu and Dr John Kani. Berita. Banele Christopher. Ngizwe opens the evening with a live performance.

MARCH 2020 GQ.CO.ZA 39

A day at the races

inaugural Standard Bank Polo in the Park was held at Steyn City Parkland Residence last November. It was the first-ever parkpolo game held in Africa, and its always-in-play style made for a day of non-stop action, featuring fashion shows and a luxury car showcase. Amanda du-Pont hosted the event, attended by stars Kat Sinivasan, Seth Shezi, Thameenah Saint and Ayanda Thabethe, who dominated the blue carpet. Our favourite looks of the day were worn by singer LeVuvu and actor Nicholas Nkuna.

P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y A M A H L E I N N O VAT I V E M E D I A

The Standard Bank Polo in the Park set a new standard for the modern-day version of the sport of kings

W I T H I TS â&#x20AC;&#x2DC; N O M A D I C C O U T U R E â&#x20AC;&#x2122; T H E M E , the

40 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

GQ PROMOTION

THE ART OF CRAFT In the latest chapter of the Tabac Original journey, expressed through the all new Tabac Original Craftsman, Thapelo Mokoena reveals what it takes to master your craft GQ: Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;you think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible to fully master your craft, or do you see it as an ongoing process? Thapelo Mokoena: We DOO WKLQN ZHÂ·UH PDVWHULQJ VRPHWKLQJ EXW LWÂ·V GHILQLWHO\ RQJRLQJ ([SHULHQFH DQG SUDFWLVH PDNH XV ZKR ZH EHFRPH HYHU\ GD\ :KDW \RX ZHQW WKURXJK \HVWHUGD\ JRHV RQ WR GHILQH ZKDW \RX JR WKURXJK WRPRUURZ

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TABAC-ORIGINAL.CO.ZA Tabac Original South Africa @tabacoriginal_sa

VOLVO XC90 T6

You needn’t be reluctant to leave the tarmac in Volvo’s flagship SUV XC90 because the Swedish beauty maintains its luxury even on dusty roads Words by Dieter Losskarn

IT ALMOST FELT LIKE I WA S INSULTING THIS CLEAN, Scandinavian design piece by thundering along the unpaved road between Swellendam and the Malgas River. The Land Rover Discovery, one of Volvo’s competitor luxury, full-size, three-row SUVs, belongs here. It’s always eager to get dirty. But powdering the XC90 with dust was sacrilege. Little did I know it was up to the challenge.

A P P ROAC H I N G T H E O N LY H A N D D R AW N P O N T IN SOUTHERN A F R I CA , at Malgas

across the Breede River, I realised the Nordic god wasn’t angry with me, as Thor’s two hammers in the headlights still shone brightly in all their LED glory. This is one of several new details on the slightly updated XC90, which debuted in 2015. It now shares its Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) with the S90 sedan and V90 wagon. On the opposite bank, a huge motordriven ferry was being assembled, getting ready to replace the legendary one that’s been crossing here since 1915. They call it progress. Standing on the creaky, wooden planks, I took in the XC90’s striking, majestic exterior design. Since the Chinese company Geely Automotive Holdings bought Volvo Cars in 2010, the Swedish manufacturer added a third “S” to their vehicles: sexy. The Nordic cars were known to be safe – the latest one has a five-star Euro NCAP rating – and solid.

So there are Thor’s hammers in the LED headlights, then there’s another beautiful detail: the arrow in the Volvo emblem matches the angle of the diagonal, chrome crossbar across the slightly larger grille. This ride wasn’t made for anything less than 50cm wheels. Volvo describes the car as a “Scandinavian sanctuary”, and when you’re seated in its leather seats, surrounded by a tasteful mix of authentic materials like wood, metal and leather, you definitely feel what they mean. The ignition is a switch you have to turn, as opposed to you would push to start a competitor’s vehicle. There’s visible and tangible quality everywhere. The interior is almost in the same league as a Rolls-Royce, or Bentley, with a more premium feel than the Mercedes-Benz GLE or BMW X5. The car also features a 22cm touch screen mounted vertically on the dashboard, a bit like a tablet. Everything is controlled by touch, even the different driving modes, from normal to

dynamic. There’s also the crystal-clear sound that’s on par with the acoustics in the Gothenburg Concert Hall in Volvo’s hometown. This is thanks to the excellent Bowers & Wilkins surround sound system, delivering 1 476W from 19 speakers. Upon first glance at this two-ton heavy and 5m long dream of a vehicle, you’d be forgiven for assuming there’s a V8, or perhaps even a V6, as the powerplant under the hood, but Volvo has opted to keep it at a 2.0-litre fourcylinder engine instead. To give it enough power, they’ve used a clever mix of turbo- and supercharging that’ll make you forget about the fourcylinder engine. As I made my way further south towards De Hoop Nature Reserve and the sea, my drive was a lot more comfortable thanks to the optional air suspension fitted to the updated XC90. I didn’t drive the Volvo on snowcovered highways through dense forests – maybe as it was intended. Instead, I took it across »

MARCH 2020 GQ.CO.ZA 43

GEAR

Volvo XC90 T6

The XC90 comes in two other powertrains: the T5 and the plug-in hybrid T8

‘Its six-seat configuration can be adjusted to suit your needs: from family road trips to transporting bulky furniture’

corrugated, dirt roads and open landscapes with the odd kudu jumping across the road, leaving a large cloud of dust trailing behind me. All the while, the setting sun crafted beautiful images in my rearview mirrors.

‘So what other outstanding upgrades are there in this new rendition of the Volvo XC90?’ you might be wondering. Well, a new six-seat configuration for one, including a pair of middle row seats that creates room for walking to the two back seats. You can adjust the arrangement in numerous ways to suit your needs: from

family road trips to transporting bulky furniture. The XC90 also features Volvo on Call, or VOC for short, a new feature activated when you push a button at the top right of the rearview mirror for two seconds. You’ll then be connected to someone working at a call centre in South Africa who won’t only be able to assist you with directions

(plus, send them straight to your GPS navigator), but can also provide you with roadside assistance in the case of an emergency. Basically, Volvo’s helpers act as your personal travel guides in any area. How else could I have found the best place to stay in Knysna (a former power station) and the most delicious pizza in Plett?

LEKKERWATER BEACH LODGE

V O LV O XC 9 0 T 6

A world-class, very remote lodge in the Eastern part of De Hoop Reserve, with a 6km-long, undisturbed beach. The attractive eco-lodge is built on the footprint of FW De Klerk’s former Camp David. Time magazine listed Lekkerwater as one of the most beautiful places on earth in October 2019. naturalselection.travel

ENGINE 2.0-L 4 cylinder superand turbocharged petrol, paired with an 8-speed auto box, all-wheel drive

SKY VILLA BOUTIQUE HOTEL

POWER

The best place to stay overnight in Plett? An architectural masterpiece decorated with stunning art and fantastic views over the bay. skyvilla.co.za

235kW and 400Nm

TOP SPEED Speed 215km/h 0-100km/h 6.5 seconds

PRICE R1 134 700 (premium pack ‘Inscription’ R66 500, luxury pack R10 500) There are two more petrol versions available, the T5 (187kW) and the plug-in hybrid T8 (300kW), as well as a diesel, the D5 (173kW)

The former historic Cape Nature Conservation farmhouses and cottages were renovated and are now the most affordable place to stay in De Hoop. The on-site Fig Tree Restaurant is a treat for all ﬁve of day visitors’ senses. dehoopcollection.com

Ever wanted to fall asleep in a former power station, whose old machinery is perfectly integrated into its interior? It’s quite the experience. turbinehotel.co.za

DE HOOP COLLECTION

VOLVOCARS.COM/ZA

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This stunning architectural marvel is totally off the grid, and generates electricity via solar panels. It has ﬁve luxury suites and, like Lekkerwater, is a world-class location with excellent cuisine and immaculate service. morukuru.com

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MARCH 2020 GQ.CO.ZA 45

GEAR

Volkswagen T-Cross

POLO RELOADED

Volkswagen may have come late to the baby SUV party, but theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve crafted a bestseller: meet the all-new T-Cross 46 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

Makena Turquoise, along with the Energetic Orange, is the strongest. The T-Cross is much more than a Polo SUV. Wolfsburg’s latest offering is a real SUV and has been a fixture on SA roads since its release last year. VW’s new baby SUV meets, and exceeds, expectations – albeit entry-level, it’s a great vehicle. Its appearance, with LED daytime

passenger seat makes transporting bulky cargo a breeze. When it comes to its size, the T-Cross fits comfortably between the 6cm shorter Polo and the 12cm longer T-Roc, which is based on the Golf. Another big perk is the 377 litre boot, making it one of the largest in its category, with enough room for a full-size spare wheel. Obviously, VW had to be

VO L K S WAG E N T- C R O S S ENGINE .0-l. 3 cyl. turbo-charged petrol, paired with a 7-speed DSG auto box

POWER 85kW and 200Nm

TOP SPEED 193 km/h 0-100km/h 10.2 seconds

PRICE R334 600

VW.CO.ZA

‘The T-Cross is dynamite in an amazing package: a Polo in a superhero costume, if you will’

PHOTOGRAPHY SUPPLIED BY MOTORPRESS

VO L KS WAG E N I S K N OW N F O R B U I L D I N G G R E AT S U VS : Tiguan,

Tiguan Allspace, T-Roc and the legendary Touareg. They’ve finally entered the miniSUV segment – and killed it. The Polobased T-Cross may be a late arrival, but not if you consider how fast it’s selling. Polo lovers are no doubt making the switch to the refined version of the country’s favourite vehicle, and it’ll

probably poach a fair amount of the competition too. I immediately fell in love with the look of the new Volksie, from its bold Touareg-like grille to the uninterrupted rear light band, unique to VW and borrowed from its family member, Porsche. The fresh, contemporary colours, three that are new, are eye-catching and will draw lovers of all things bold and beautiful. The

running lights, optional R-Line exterior and those 43cm Manila alloy wheels, ticks all the boxes. And, surprisingly, even its tiny “motorcycle” engine manages to impress. The car is so much fun to drive, especially on narrow, windy roads, like the one between Nature’s Valley and Bloukrans Pass on the Garden Route. The DSG auto box shifts flawlessly, as usual. As soon as you need a bit more pull to overtake, you just have to flick the mode button to sport, then the steering tightens and the DSG shifts down. It’s not only dynamic; it stays quite comfortable as well. Although it’s already incredibly spacious (with room for four adults), the car feels bigger when you’re driving it. The rear seats are adjustable by 14cm, and the foldable

savvy with their spending, so the interior has a hard, plastic look and feel. Luckily, this can be jazzed up by mixing and matching different colour options. For the tech-savvy, you’ll enjoy the entirely digital control panel and the 20cm touch screen located in the centre. Safety is always a concern when it comes to driving smaller cars on South African roads, but the T-Cross isn’t only equipped with all the usual driver alert systems; it also has a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating, which is reassuring for the driver. The T-Cross is dynamite in an amazing package: a Polo in a superhero costume, if you will. And I can’t wait to drive the rangetopping 110kW version soon. In Energetic Orange, of course. – DIETER LOSSKARN

GEAR

Lexus RX 450h

EASY

48 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

With the most distinctive looks on the road, the Lexus RX 450h is also the smoothest IT MIGHT S U R P R I S E YO U TO L E A R N that

the Lexus RX was one of the first carbased luxury SUVs available on the market. It predates BMW’s X5, and unlike the MercedesBenz ML-Class (now GLE) and other body-on-frame trucks, it was an early pioneer of SUVs made using unibody construction, giving it more car-like handling, safety features and even fuel economy, while saving on kerb weight. Since then, the competition has become savvier and so much more plentiful – who would’ve thought we’d ever see an Aston Martin SUV

LEXUS RX 450H

PHOTOGRAPHY SUPPLIED BY LEXUS

ENGINE 3.5-L V6 plus two electric motors, paired with a CVT

POWER 230kW

PERFORMANCE 0-100km/h 7.7 seconds

PRICE R1 315 800

LEXUS.CO.ZA

coming down the pipeline? Yet in an environment where it seems as if every marque is trying to out-sport the other, Lexus manages to maintain its position by doing what it’s always done best: offering whisperquiet engines, unique looks, premium Japanesebuild quality, and so many standard features that the only decision you’ll be left with is the paint job. Today’s RX 450h carries that formula forward and provides a mild but welcome update to the 2019 model. If you’ve ever tried to find your mid-size crossover in a crowded shopping mall, you’ll be pleased that no other vehicle looks like this, and yet with its plethora of aggressive-at-first folds and creases, it still manages to look elegant and athletic. Key to its look is the (in)famous spindle

grille. The new car received welcome revisions to grille’s surface, taking it from a swathe of vertical slats to a more refined, honeycomb piece. And rather than vying for top billing against the grille, the refreshed front air intakes and fog lamps now play a strong supporting actor role. Simplified rear LEDs top a general tidying up of the rear. Overall, the car looks less foldy-for-folding’ssake, and the simplification of its myriad creases also manage to reduce the car’s visual height. The interior remains a lovely space to while away the hours on the open road; it’s soft, plush and very well engineered. Though the dash looks a bit button-heavy in some spots, these make for an easyto-operate-quickly interface to control

the most pressing functions. Audio remains fantastic via the Mark Levinson 15-speaker system; it’s seriously one of the best in the automotive world. But our favourite improvement inside has to be the eviction of previous model’s joystick-cumcomputer-mouse setup for controlling the infotainment system in favour of a touch-sensitive trackpad that’s mated to a nowtouchscreen-central display. It’s a lot easier to use – and it also now supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

On the power scales, this one leans more toward sheer comfort than sheer power. There’s enough oomph, mind you, with a 3.5-L V6 paired with two electric motors delivering 230kW of total output. A tweaked suspension delivers a smooth ride that soaks up road imperfections. Opt for the 350 F-Sport with eight-speed auto if you need more flat-out hustle; but for most of us, the RX 450h is just what we need for happy cruising. – NKOSIYATI KHUMALO

WEALTH CREATE A MORE BANKABLE YOU

INVESTING O F FS H O R E A L LOWS YO U TO

Is your money better off overseas? With the fluctuating exchange rates and inflation spikes, you might be wondering if investing offshore could be the solution to securing your financial future. Here, financial planner and investment specialist, Michael Haldane, explains why it’s a good idea

diversify by spreading your risk and allowing you to benefit from a broader global universe of industries, companies, geographical regions, currencies and investment ideas. ‘Although the idea can be intimidating, offshore investing, in my opinion, should form part of your long-term investment plan,’ says Michael Haldane. Currently, South Africa only represents an estimated 1% of the global financial markets, which essentially means that by only investing locally, you’re giving up on 99% of the global market opportunity. With South Africa being an emerging market, Haldane encourages diversifying and investing part of your assets in developed economies. ‘These developed markets can assist in providing your investment portfolio with more stable growth, a choice of different currencies, different asset classes and the fund managers may adopt different investment strategies.’ Investing offshore won’t only help you to capitalise on circumstances beyond our borders but can also serve as a buffer against our markets. ‘The South African Rand is a volatile currency and very often tends to overreact, which is influenced by economic, political and social unrest. International investing may also offer a hedge for individuals and investors

W E A LT H O P E N E R

P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y C H R I S T I N E R O Y/ U N S P L A S H . C O M

who fear the depreciation of the Rand,’ says Haldane. If this is an investment option you’re looking at exploring, he weighs in: KEY POINTS TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN INVESTING OFFSHORE > Investment terms: It’s advisable to have a longterm investment objective: no less than five years to allow the portfolio to rebalance if there’s economic or market volatility. > Risk appetite: Offshore investing can be risky, so investors need to have an appetite for high risk, as the investment may be influenced by the market and currency fluctuations. > Goals and objectives: Investing offshore may make it easier to fund any international liabilities and help you meet your international goals. You might be planning to emigrate, travel or send your children to a university overseas. > Currency: Offshore investing allows you to invest in many different currencies. What you want to achieve will determine the currency you invest in. > Foreign exchange control regulation: There are certain limits on the amount of funds that can be taken offshore per calendar year, these limits are: - If you’re a South African resident, you can utilise your individual offshore allowances of up to R11-million. - R1-million single discretionary allowance: You can take up to R1 million offshore annually without having to apply for tax clearance. - R10-million foreign capital allowance: You can use a further R10-million a year, but you need to apply for tax clearance from SARS.

If you want offshore investment exposure, there are various ways to achieve this. Here are some of the offshore investment products that are available to you and their key features:

OFFSHORE ENDOWMENT This product offers South African investors a tax-efficient way to invest internationally for a minimum period of five years.

OFFSHORE UNIT TRUST:

There are two ways to invest in an offshore unit trust:

1. Invest in a Rand-denominated, offshore unit trust offered by a local manager. 2. Invest directly in foreign-currency unit trust funds through an offshore platform. The options below have different benefits and criteria, and you must consider them carefully before investing:

Some of the key features of the structure of an offshore endowment: > You’re

invested directly in offshore funds > The minimum investment term is five years > The investment is taxed in the hands of the investment company > Beneficiaries can be nominated, and the following can be selected: - Ownership can be transferred to a spouse to continue the investment after the death of the principal investor - The endowment can be paid out to nominated beneficiaries after death and payment can be made to an offshore bank account, as long as the account is in the name of the beneficiary OFFSHORE GUARANTEED STRUCTURED INVESTMENTS Individuals are keen to diversify offshore but at times want some level of capital protection during periods of market uncertainty and volatility, when downside risk is high. There are now structured products available that provide a guaranteed payoff while offering protection against loss. Unlike traditional investments, such as a unit trust, they provide a level of protection against negative returns at maturity of the investment. These investments products also have a minimum investment term that must be adhered to. LIVING ANNUITY WITH OFFSHORE EXPOSURE A living annuity is a flexible post-retirement investment that allows you to participate in the market during your retirement, with the added benefit of choosing a personalised drawdown rate (anywhere between 2.5% and 17.5%). Certain investment companies have made it possible to invest

RAND-DENOMINATED OFFSHORE UNIT TRUST

FOREIGN-CURRENCY OFFSHORE UNIT TRUSTS

Investment Description

Invest in Rands and the fund manager converts the funds and invests in offshore asset classes

The investor invests directly in offshore funds that are denominated in offshore currency

Investment Currency

Rands

Foreign Currency (US Dollar, Euro, GBP etc)

Deposit Currency

Investment is made in Rands

Within the allowable offshore limits, the Rands will need to be converted into the offshore currency you’re investing in

Offshore Allowance

Make use of the relevant offshore investment company allowance

Make use of your own individual allowances. You may also use funds that are already situated offshore

Withdrawals

It will be disinvested and paid in Rands

It will be disinvested and paid out in the currency you’ve invested in. It’s your decision should you wish for the funds to be converted back into Rands or paid into an offshore bank account in the name of the investor

Exchange Control Approval

No exchange control required

Anything over R1-million and under R10-million requires tax clearance before you can move the funds offshore

your post-retirement savings directly offshore. You’re not required to get tax clearance, as the funds are allocated using the investment company’s limits. TRACKER FUNDS These funds track only a specific market index or a particular segment of the market. These indices are not actively managed and are based on the market capitalisation of the underlying stocks. The funds will give you a return that’s very closely linked to the market. They’re often cheaper than actively managed funds, as there’s less human intervention. OFFSHORE BANK ACCOUNT You can also consider opening an offshore bank account, but

developed economies often have much lower interest rates and, therefore, your investment in an account will experience closeto-zero growth. Once you’ve considered all your options, Haldane affirms that diversifying your assets, both domestically and globally, will bring more benefits to your overall portfolio, and result in an improved risk and adjusted returns in the long term. ‘With the vast amount of options available many investors are hesitant and unsure where’s best to place their assets in the global markets.’ He advises sticking to the investment companies and platforms you recognise and seeking the advice of a financial specialist with a good track record in offshore investing. – THOBEKA PHANYEKO

W E A LT H P R O F I L E

How to pitch to win Business strategist, international speaker and author, Justin Cohen, shares his success secrets in his internationally acclaimed, six-step formula, Pitch to Win. Here’s how you can prepare for a multi-million Rand pitch and secure the bag. Words by Thobeka Phanyeko

GQ: What makes a pitch successful? Justin Cohen: Boil it down to its essence and you’ll see that what you’re really pitching is a solution to a problem. No one ever said, ‘My life and business are perfect, now let me pay you to change it.’ The first step to a successful pitch is understanding what the problem is, and you can only do that by listening. We think of a pitch as a performance – and to some degree, it is – but this isn’t a repeat performance, like a Broadway play. Each pitch is different because every person or organisation you’re pitching to is different. Your pitch can be won before you even enter the room to present it: it’s about how well you tune in your offer to what your audience is looking for. You can deliver an outstanding performance, but if you don’t address their needs, objectives and problems, then your performance probably won’t receive a standing ovation.

They don’t really care about you, your company or your list of features and benefits. They care about themselves: their needs, desires and pain. How you and your offering can help them is by addressing what they’re interested in, but you can’t show them that until you’ve taken the time to listen to what their needs are. When it comes to pitching, the best listeners win. GQ: How do you get potential investors to trust you? JC: Your pitch is a promise. You can only get away with lying once. You’re not pitching to win cash, you’re pitching to win long-term relationships, which are built on complete trust and transparency. Like sport, pitching is a high-stakes competition where the incentive to cheat is high. Few people will pitch a bare-faced lie, but the obsession with winning can lead to a whiff of inauthenticity that reduces their chance of success.

Think of the stereotypical usedcar salesman: he’s slick and knows his stuff, but you sense he’s only telling you what you want to hear so he can make a fast buck. There’s nothing wrong with wanting the deal, but you need to remember why you want it. What you’re really pitching is your purpose – your reason for being. When you’re clear about that, you’re more likely to convey your sincerity and build trust. GQ: How do you get people to buy into your vision? JC: You have to be confident about what your vision is, and conviction is contagious. I like to tell people this story: two men are working on a building site in the middle ages. A passer-by asks them, ‘What are you doing?’ One of them replies, ‘I’m cutting stone. It’s hard and it’s boring – my back is killing me!’ The other replies, with shining eyes as he stares up at the sky, ‘I’m building a cathedral.’ Until you can see that cathedral, or whatever else your vision may be, no one else will. The most important person you need to sell is you. Once you’re clear about your vision, tell a story about it. Facts tell, stories sell. Nobody ever invested in a business without a very good reason. Telling people what your business is and how it works doesn’t answer questions about why it should exist, but telling them a story of the impact your product or service has on a customer’s life does. People sometimes resist stories because they don’t seem factual when they are, they’re just facts communicated with heart. We can’t feel for a number. We can only feel for human beings who’re like us, and if we don’t feel, we don’t act. People want to be moved emotionally before they can buy into your product or service. GQ: What makes a person stand out? JC: You know those people who walk into a room and the lights go on? And those who walk out of a room and the lights go on? Ask yourself: what happens

when you walk into a room? How do people feel in your presence? It’s less about what you say and more about how you say it. Over 70 top companies in Europe were surveyed about the reasons behind a winning pitch. The number-one reason given was energy and enthusiasm, largely transmitted non-verbally. Over 50% of our communication is non-verbal: facial expressions, gestures and posture. Film yourself to see how you come across, and how your team responds to not only what you’re saying, but to your body language too. GQ: What do potential investors look for that isn’t obvious? JC: They often tell me that a good idea is a dime a dozen. What they’re looking for are good people, who aren’t just smart and creative, but resilient and resourceful too. They know how tough it is out there and they want to make sure you’ve got the tenacity to stick it out. They’re also looking at your social skills. Are you good with people, and can you resolve conflict and lead a team? Is it all about you and your ego, or are you really committed to building something bigger than you? GQ: How do you not take rejection personally when your livelihood depends on the outcome of your pitch? JC: We’re hardwired to hate rejection. It goes back to our caveman ancestors – if our tribe rejected us, we’d die. That isn’t the case today, but our brains still interpret rejection as a mortal threat. You’ve got to get over this rejection thing. It takes 12 exposures to a new product or person before people feel comfortable enough to buy into it. Don’t take rejection personally, and be willing to keep going. When it comes to pitching, “no” means “persuade me”, and the best way to do that is by adding value. That could be through providing additional information that’s useful or giving out a free sample.

W E A LT H P R O F I L E

Here’s how I advise people who grapple with rejection. Think of it as a vaccine – Karate training for the immune system. By implanting a tiny amount of the disease, the body learns to defend itself against it. If the rejection is the disease (as in something that makes you feel uneasy), the best way to defend yourself against it is to expose yourself to it. If you avoid it, you become more fearful of it. The more you experience it, the more immune you become to it. By regularly offering your services, through big pitches or small, experiencing the inevitable rejection that will come, you’ll find it less and less scary. The key is to feel the fear and do it anyway. The more you pitch, the less scared and intimidated you’ll feel, which will increase your likelihood of winning.

The TTOPPS formula 01 Tune in – The best listeners win. 02 Team – A pitch isn’t won by one person alone. 03 Optimism – The most important person who needs to believe in your pitch is you. 04 Presence – Measured by how people feel when they’re around you. 05 Purpose – How will your product or service make peoples’ lives better? 06 Story – Facts tell, stories sell.

An extract from Pitch to Win INTRODUCTION Have you ever been convinced that what you were offering was the best possible option? Maybe you just knew you were the right person for the job. Or you had a winning product that would undoubtedly sell or a service that everyone would love. And you didn’t just know it in your heart, you knew it in your head. Apples for apples, your value proposition was better. Yet after submitting your proposal and delivering your pitch, those sickening words landed in your inbox: “We regret to inform you...” Or worse, they didn’t even bother to let you know. I know what it’s like. For years, I struggled to close deals. I’d go in, have a great conversation with a potential client, feel sure I had it in the bag – then lose the business to a competitor, often someone offering less value at a higher price. I remember the day I finally got my wakeup call. I’d just lost a five-figure deal to exactly that: someone offering less value

PHOTOGRAPHY BY GALLO/GETTY IMAGES, MELISSA HOGARTH

‘Any time you influence anyone to do anything – hire you, promote you, marry you – you’re pitching’

at a higher price! Working my frustration out at the gym, it hit me: offering great value isn’t enough. It’s not enough to have the best product; you’ve got to have the best pitch.

BUILD IT, AND THEY WON’T COME

Pitch to Win (R257, exclusivebooks.co.za)

Remember the immortal idea from Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams? “If you build it, they will come”? It’s a lie.

If you build it – and here’s the kicker – if you pitch it better than anyone else, then and only then, will they come (maybe). If you’re anything like me, you’re passionate about your products and services. You want to make a real difference in your customer’s lives. You’ve spent a lifetime going from good to great. News ﬂash: great is not good enough. For real business success, it’s not good enough to be great at what you do. You have to be great at pitching what you do. In fact, you have to be even better at pitching what you do than doing what you do.

I PITCH. YOU PITCH. WE ALL PITCH Any time you influence anyone to do anything – hire you, promote you, marry you – you’re pitching them on a course of action. If you can’t pitch, you can’t influence, and if you can’t influence you’re powerless. The greater the difference you want to make in the world, the greater the pitch you need to be able to make. Gandhi, Mandela, Mother Teresa – these icons made a difference because they knew how to pitch to people about the difference they wanted to make. You’re holding the blueprint of a winning pitch in your hand. May you use it to pitch your difference so that you can make an even bigger difference! 1. Recognise that the ability to pitch isn’t inborn; it’s acquired. 2. Be willing to try and fail; that’s how you grow. 3. Practise pitching as much as possible. 4. Establish clear goals. 5. Seek feedback from partners or team members. 6. Realise that everyone can learn to be great at pitching. 7. Have fun! Given that the best way to learn is to do, I strongly recommend that, as you learn about each aspect of a winning pitch, you apply it in practice. Ideally, film yourself. In the extensive training and coaching I do on my programme, I find that the most valuable learning comes from people seeing themselves in action. You’ll almost immediately see what needs to be improved. Now, let’s get pitching!

W E A LT H A D V I C E

H O US E M E WA S F O U N D E D BA S E D O N E V I D E N C E T H AT T H E R E S I D E N T I A L R E N TA L M A R K E T is systematically

How HouseME is disturbing the peace Ben Shaw’s digital rental agency has shaken the foundation of the property industry with its innovation, transparency and key selling points Words by Shannon Manuel

flawed for both tenants and owners. CEO and co-founder Ben Shaw is passionate about fixing this. ‘My biggest motivation for creating an agency was that my friends weren’t allowed to apply for a mortgage based on the colour of their skin. The process is still unfair and hopelessly outdated,’ says Shaw. ‘I was also concerned about pricing. I found that, even with my own rental applications, after talking to the landlord I realised that neither of us – and not even the agent – had any idea what “fair” rent is and should be.’ To solve the problem, the first thing HouseME introduced was an “auction mechanic” where tenants could place bids on accommodation. Shaw was also driven to create employment and help ease the lives of the less fortunate. ‘As a privileged and educated Allan Gray Fellow, I believe that God has given me an opportunity to help others. It might be in a small way, but I’m determined to do so.’ He explains that challenges like scammed deposits and ridiculously high application fees – along with racial discrimination – make things difficult for prospective tenants. Landlords also experience hardships because of poor tenant behaviour, missed rental payments and procurement fees. Enter HouseME: a specialised, digital-rental agency that provides core services to landlords and tenants. Essentially, it professionally manages rentals for the parties involved, minus the risk, hassle and cost. ‘Renting through us means you only pay 2.5% for lease management, including collections, reporting, maintenance, advertising and renewals,’ says Shaw. ‘We also verify each user so there are no security risks, and hold onto the deposit on behalf of the tenant. By using HouseME, both landlords and tenants gain access to our additional services, such as DepositFREE renting for

tenants, and our rental guarantee for landlords. These are used by almost 70% of the people who’ve signed up with us.’ Described as an industry disruptor, HouseME uses technology to make the entire rental process seamless and more efficient. ‘Agencies that charge landlords a full month’s rent just to place a tenant cannot operate on a scale where they match us on costs – although this isn’t HouseME’s largest differentiator,’ says Shaw. ‘We have an advantage because of the data we’ve accumulated and use to understand our customers. We can offer them services they actually want. We have the highest collection rate in the industry and our own rental income guarantee for landlords. This is all thanks to our database, which, of course, improves and gets more detailed every month.’ As for the reason disruptors are considered a threat to traditional businesses, Shaw says: ‘Although disruptors can threaten traditional business by finding better and more innovative ways to approach the same customer, this pushes the market to grow – which helps the entire industry. ‘By growing HouseME this quickly, we’re creating a direct link between landlords and tenants that removes agents as the “middlemen” of the process. While this is a potential threat to regular agencies, it could also turn out to be mutually beneficial. Most industry disruptors actively seek ways for incumbents to collaborate.’ HouseME can also help prevent you from falling into rental traps. Shaw says another one of HouseME’s most important duties is helping landlords to understand that a month’s vacancy can amount to a significant loss. ‘It means you’ve lost 8.3% of your annual return. To help, we’ve created PlaceME, a feature that lets the leasee negotiate the rental amount so that properties aren’t left vacant. We encourage landlords to take part in these negotiations so that we can help them find other people to move into their property faster.’

PHOTOGRAPHY BY H.J. BESTER

W E A LT H A D V I C E

Another pitfall Shaw says HouseME helps its customers to avoid is the lack of transparency and information when it comes to contracts. Our team of experts helps tenants and landlords understand the lease, the requirements of both parties, the property’s peculiarities and the processes involved when renewing or cancelling the contract. ‘We’ve had a very low number of disputes because of how much we care. We’re committed to sharing as much information as possible,’ he says. Shaw goes on to shed some light on the two categories that make up the residentialproperty-rental market; namely, procurement and management. The former refers to tasks such as advertising the property, vetting a tenant, and the industry-standard of charging one month’s rent so an applicant can secure it. The latter refers to tasks such as collecting rent and other payments, attending to emergency services and deposit negotiations. ‘Agencies charge an additional 5-10% each year,’ says Shaw. ‘HouseME’s model for all of this is just 2.5%, with the option of taking up additional services, such as having professional photographs of a residence taken, for a once-off fee.’ Property is an extremely large market in Africa, with the money made from residential rentals amounting to over R120 billion per year. ‘It just so happens that it’s also an industry with a lot of gatekeepers. Because of this, there hasn’t been much in the way of innovation,’ says Shaw. ‘That’s why it’s the ideal industry for a tech entrepreneur.’ HouseME now operates nationally. It has over 100 000 users and accumulates R130 million in rental payments per year, from thousands of managed properties – all this was accomplished in three years, by a team of 30 people. ‘I think people don’t consider that the other big-name estate and rental agencies have had decades to build their legacies and gain their reputations. We’re only beginning to define ours.’

Since its inception, HouseME has also caused a stir in the South African property industry with its transparent management of finances. ‘South African agents charge a commission from landlords. This is usually the amount of one month’s rent,’ reveals Shaw. ‘Apart from us, there’s no agency we’re aware of that can guarantee yield for the entirety of the lease. If they can’t guarantee yield for the entirety of the lease, this means that if a tenant wishes to leave a contract before it ends, the agency fee could end up amounting to a percentage of six months’ rental, as opposed to twelve, as an example. This makes it an incredibly high, non-transparent fee structure. HouseME charges a flat 2.5%, no matter how many months the tenant rents with you. They also typically charge an application fee from tenants. On average, this amounts to R927, putting further pressure on tenants. To help ease the liquidity squeeze on tenants, HouseME launched its DepositFREE feature, which offers a qualifying tenant the chance to pay a little more rent every month for their dream home – without having paid any deposit fee at all. ‘This is a first in Africa, and an enormous number of people took up the option within its first year,’ says Shaw. ‘We’re in a position to do this because of our excellent tenant-reviewing system and the data we gather about our customers’ needs. The tenants we’ve looked at have the highest collection rate in the country, which makes the idea of working with us that much more attractive to larger property managers. That, combined with our foolproof income guarantee, means you’ll never lose out on rental payments ever again.’ Then there’s the Assist package, tailor-made for landlords who need a property managed in another location, say, a popular tourist town a few minutes away, or even another province. The deal comes with a professional photographer, who shoots attractive images of the residence, hosted viewings, inspections, key handovers

‘Although disruptors can threaten traditional businesses by finding better and more innovative ways to approach the same customer, this pushes the market to grow’

when tenants move in and access to emergency services. However, Shaw says the feature is only available in Cape Town and Joburg at the moment. By being ahead of the curve in the field of South African property technology, HouseME plays a crucial role in the difficult economic time we’ve found ourselves in. Shaw says this gives the company an advantage, in several ways. ‘With our decreased rates, we’re easily accessible to more tenants and landlords than our competitor agencies. We offer everything, from affordable rentals at around R3 000 in Cosmo City, to ones at around R30 000 in more upmarket places such as Sandton. In addition to our permanent staff of 30, we also provide contract and freelance work for close to 80 people. Our rapid growth has resulted in scale, which gives us access to the valuable data we operate with. We’re proud to be able to share our insights with our users, to enable and empower them to make better decisions about property.’ Shaw’s vision for HouseME is to make it the largest, long-term property letting platform in the country. ‘We’ll continue to build products and services that solve tenants and landlords’ problems and alleviate stress. Our goal for the next three years is to become one of the top four largest rental companies in South Africa,’ he says. ‘That aside, we’ve also been asked if we’d consider going international, and we could look at broadening our offering to something more than solely residential rentals – but I can’t share anything further at this time.’ And while HouseME may be the underdog at the moment, overlooked as a serious competitor by traditional agencies, the company is popping up more frequently on property managers’ radars. ‘As we acquire more business, we’ll continue to grow, and hopefully work with the agencies that want to maintain the status quo. Unfortunately for them, disruption is very much here – and so are we.’

W E A LT H T H E B R I E F

From eggfreezing to sabbaticals, workplace perks are big business Building staff loyalty is good for hiring talent, workplace morale – and the bottom line Words by Chris Stokel-Walker

E V E RY J U LY F O R T H E PA S T D ECA D E , Jon Lonsdale, the CEO

and cofounder of Octopus Group, a creative agency, has encouraged his 60 employees to pitch tents in a remote field. There, they embark on a two-day festival dubbed Rocktostock, complete with food trucks, bands and games. He says it’s ‘the one thing we do that’s in the diary straight away. It keeps everyone engaged throughout the year.’ The festival is employeerun and led, with staff able to chip in ideas for the following year’s festivities. ‘The underlying purpose is to get people excited about working here,’ says Lonsdale. ‘It’s become folklore, and people

apply to the company specifically because they’ve heard about it.’ The promise of table foosball and a fully stocked fridge just doesn’t cut it any more when it comes to enticing the best employees to your startup. Now they expect snacks to be from local providers, says InaMarie Johnson, chief people officer at Zendesk, a customer service software company. ‘Some things have changed, others have stayed the same,’ she adds. ‘Employees want to be engaged in creating the right environment and workplace.’ They also want meaningful connections with their employers – and out-ofthe-ordinary perks.

‘Everyone is competing for the same talent,’ explains Katie Burke, chief people officer at inbound marketing company HubSpot. ‘When your competition goes up, your offering needs to as well.’ With the proportion of freelance workers in the job market increasing, it’s not just other businesses companies are competing against – the lure of working from home can be tempting. HubSpot offers its workers a range of perks, including unlimited holidays, a flexible workday and a four-week paid sabbatical for every five years of employment. ‘There’s a much greater demand for flexibility,’ says Burke. ‘People want to work more on their own time and schedule, and in places that work for them.’ A paid sabbatical is something Lonsdale offers longstanding Octopus employees – and has for the past 17 years. It costs the company money in the short term, but in the long run it’s revenueneutral, says Lonsdale. ‘We work hard, and often find one reason we lose people is they want to go off and do life stuff. If we allow them to have six or eight weeks off, they come back more motivated and stay with the company.’ Zendesk offers employees the chance to refresh by temporarily moving to other departments to build up their skills and knowledge. These perks are becoming more personalised – and more costly – but can transform the perception of the workplace from a necessary evil to a place people enjoy being at. ‘It’s all part of a self-fulfilling cycle. If you create a home from home, people treat it like a home and build up better familial relationships,’ says Lonsdale. One of HubSpot’s most unusual benefits for its female employees is an offer to pay for treatment to freeze their eggs. The offer is an attempt to encourage more women to progress up the career ladder, allowing them to choose when to start a family, rather than feel they have to take a career break. It’s a benefit that Spotify also provides to its US-based employees. Such perks focus on what’s important for overworked, stressed employees: time. ‘For many, the concept of time being the new money is important,’

explains Charles Cotton, performance and reward adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. ‘These individuals are quite well-off. However, what they don’t have is a great deal of time.’ As a result, paid sabbaticals, flexible work and support through major life decisions are becoming more important. The goal? Longevity. ‘Individualised benefits packages and allowing people to tailor their own package means people will always want to remain with your company,’ Cotton says. Lonsdale agrees, saying that it’s vital for companies to create bonds to encourage employee longevity, which may affect the bottom line. Recruiters can charge a quarter of an employee’s annual salary to find the right worker. As a result, firms are ploughing more money into employee benefits – and creating HR departments that are more in tune with employee needs. Burke’s job title was at one point rare, but isn’t any longer. When she first took up her role, she thought that this was ‘a good way to be unemployed in a few years. Since then, it’s exploded; so many organisations have culture teams.’ So have the perks on offer: what was once unusual is now seen as standard – even festivals and egg-freezing.

‘These perks are becoming more personalised – and more costly – but can transform the perception of the workplace from a necessary evil to a place people enjoy being at’

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y S I M O N A B R A N O W I C Z / G A L L O I M A G E S / G E T T Y I M A G E S

THE

LION TAMER With Patriot Act, Hasan Minhaj jabs pitch-perfect humour at some serious foes – and the crowd roars

Words by Sloane Crosley Photography by Errikos Andreou

HASAN MINHA J DID WELL AT SCHOOL . While this may seem like an arbitrary

introduction to the 34-year-old host of Netflix's Patriot Act, one designed to make him cringe – it is – it’s also one of the most salient points about him.

FIRST OF ALL, he brings it up all the time. He brought it up when he was a correspondent for The Daily Show. He brought it up in his Peabody Award-winning stand-up special, Homecoming King (‘not good for an Indian kid!’). He brought it up on the inaugural episode of Patriot Act, a show that received an unprecedented 32-episode order before it aired. He’s in on the self-infantilising nature of the joke, of the ridiculousness of holding on to suburban disappointments, but therein lies the core of Hasan Minhaj. ‘When I was developing Homecoming King, we had some really heated conversations where my cocreator was like, “Dude, come on, your first love didn’t want to go to matric dance with you. Your spine isn’t getting shattered in the back of a police car.” But I pushed back. Why does the collateral damage always have to be death for the story to be valid? Why does our story have to be steeped in poverty or porn for it to matter?’ He continues down a familiar path, widening his eyes, which are already puppy-dog-like, even when he’s not being sarcastic. ‘Oh, my name’s Hasan Minhaj. I grew up in the gullies of Mumbai and never thought I’d make it to America,’ he mocks. ‘Like, we can’t get Lena Dunham freedom? We can’t just say “Dating’s hard”.’ We’re standing in front of a three-metre inflatable red jug (‘This is the OG bidet,’ Minhaj explains. ‘We’ve been on toilet hygiene for a minute.’) that reads “SHIT HAPPENS!” It’s the opening day of artist Maria Qamar’s first solo exhibition in New York. Qamar, a PakistaniCanadian artist (aka @hatecopy), came to Minhaj’s attention via “brown Twitter”, he says; Mindy Kaling has featured her work on sets as well as on a personal greetings card. Much of

60 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

Qamar’s work is inspired by Indian soap opera heroines, and the effect is that of a subversive Lichtenstein. It’s easy to see why Minhaj feels a kinship. While you’re busy appreciating how stylish it is, the political soul of it comes straight for you. In one painting, a woman slaps Trump across the face as she shouts “Bidaai!”, which means “Fix yourself!” more or less. ‘What I like most about her work is that it puts brown female leads front and centre. She just goes for it,’ says Minhaj. ‘There’s a lot of brown dudes out there right now – we’re taking up a lot of space.’ He has a point, albeit one that somewhat undermines his previous point. With increased representation comes diverse preoccupations. One thing you can say about, say, Aziz Ansari is, that guy has made a career out of “Dating’s hard”. But the expectations for Minhaj are different. He started as a stand-up, but broke out as a satirist on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show, doing segments on the Muslim ban and equal pay in women’s soccer. To seal the deal, he played the notoriously tough ballroom of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2017, months after Trump took office. ‘Nobody wanted it,’ says Minhaj of the job. But his friend, the comedian John Mulaney, was moved by the reality of the thing – Minhaj, the son of Muslim-American immigrants, ‘was going to make fun of the biggest worst sonofabitch that ever got to be president’. Now, with Patriot Act in its fourth season, Minhaj does ‘woke TED Talks’, or what he describes to me as ‘more storytelling in the same vein as Colin Quinn or Mike Birbiglia’. This means the comedy about his personal life – he and his wife and varsity sweetheart, Beena Patel, recently welcomed a baby girl – has faded to the background. Not that it was ever particularly pronounced. ‘I respect the privacy of the people who I love,’ he says, ‘and they didn’t sign up for this.’ And he means it. Lots of celebrities won’t post pictures of their kids’ faces on social media, but Minhaj asks that his daughter’s name be kept out of the spotlight. Instead, he chooses to talk about his youth. Thus, by rooting personal details

in the past, Minhaj can trick an audience into thinking he’s sharing more of his current self than he actually is. Minhaj grew up in California. This is also the artistic terrain of Joan Didion and Greta Gerwig, so – white. Minhaj’s father immigrated in 1982. He was born in the US and raised by his father for eight years while his mother completed her medical degree in India. In Homecoming King, he refers to himself as ‘the only brown kid’ in his class. He was brought up in a conservative Muslim home; unlike with other comedians, you can sense the eternal good kid in him, the one who’ll still drop his wife’s hand in public if he passes an ‘auntie or uncle, like, we are married!’ He also grew up with fleeting exposure to television, which meant even less exposure to comedy. So no early idols – no Simpsons, no nothing. Studying medicine locally was the dream, but then he ran into someone he knew who warned him of the rigour of the classes, so he decided to go to another university, where he’d probably achieve a better result. ‘I got scared,’ he says. ‘Then I lied to all my friends and said I went to the other university because I got a scholarship.’ This is a man who, after devoting a Patriot Act episode to Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi royal family, had to contend with death threats and hung-up calls. (‘If this person is calling my cell phone, it means they know my postcode. It means they know where I live.’) Can we really be dwelling on the wounds of university admissions past? I was put on a waiting list, then rejected, from my first-choice university, but you don’t see me bringing it up 22 years later in a celebrity profile. ‘I self-sabotaged and I was like, “I’m never letting this happen again.” So by the time I started driving to open mics’ – his peers included Ali Wong, Maria Bamford and Moshe Kasher – ‘I told myself I just had to go for it. I really think it’s informed the decisions that I make now.’ While most of us just guess at what made us the way we are, Minhaj is hyper-aware of what motivates him. There’s a precision to »

62 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y S I M O N A B R A N O W I C Z

his personality, an intellectual calm that comes through when the cameras turn on. It’s beyond what happens when a performer delivers a piece of rehearsed writing. The effect is not just that of a stand-up comedian playing to the energy of a crowd, but a storyteller playing directly to an individual. Even when the cameras are off, Minhaj speaks in whole paragraphs, particularly when it comes to his community. ‘Yes, hate crimes happened to our house on 9/11, but the other 364 days, we live as this new group in America. The race discussion in this country, the cognitive framework, has always been a black-white conversation, but post-’70s you have an influx of immigrants from South Asia, Iran, the Middle East, Latin America, a group of children coming of age who’re able to put their spin on what America is. But at the same time, in India, there’s still this even wider generational divide.’ He asks if I’m familiar with Section 377, a law in the Indian Penal Code that criminalised homosexuality until it was ruled unconstitutional last year, though it was a relic from British colonial rule. ‘They took everything from us, and we decided to keep their homophobia? It’s also why Indians are loving Brexit. The way they divided us all up? We’re like, Oh, yeah, you should separate from the EU.’ He’s aware that there’s an Indian woman in Boris Johnson’s cabinet – ‘I know! Sleeper cell. It’s so much easier to take down the British Empire from within.’ Then he smiles and turns to inspect some of Qamar’s silk-screened T-shirts, satisfied he’s nailed the point. At first, the comparisons to fellow Daily Show alum John Oliver were obvious, if superficial. (It’s like Last Week Tonight but brown! And standing!) There’s also substantive overlap when it comes to shedding light on complex global issues, and in verbal flourishes when it comes to describing the players. (‘“Noncriminal arrests” is such an oxymoron. It’s like “Chatty Clarence Thomas” or “Remorseful Louis CK”.’) But Minhaj has given himself a unique feat to pull off: he has approximately six times the lead-story real estate as Last Week Tonight, during which he has the task of making just one news story funny. Patriot Act episodes run the gamut, topically, but Minhaj usually waits for some kind of back door into a story, both to differentiate it from a 60 Minutes piece and to give him enough meat on the bone. The takedown episode of Supreme in the first season ‘was actually an analysis of the Carlyle Group and the intrinsic value of hype. It started with hoodies and allowed me to talk about bomber jets’. A season-four segment on the unionisation debate within the multi-millionUS-dollar-a-year, video-game industry took six months to jell. As for how the stories are chosen, Minhaj says that sometimes it starts as a news story that needs a personal hook and sometimes it’s a personal story just waiting for the data points to reveal themselves. After a friend overdosed on fentanyl, he felt ‘the urgency with the words’, and devoted an episode to this wave of the opioid

crisis. In September, Minhaj put his face on the student-loan issue in the US – the focus of a standout season-two episode – when he testified before Congress, singling out predatory lenders. When it comes to means of personalising his material, second only to metaphor is Minhaj’s fixation on technology. He’s acknowledged and embraced screens, both within the format of the show and how viewers are watching it. As Minhaj says, ‘Netflix is like electricity at this point. Or water – it’s just this constant flow of content. The medium is the message,’ he says. ‘When we first designed the set, some of the older critics would be like, “Isn’t there too much information happening on the screen? Shouldn’t you be at a desk with a single image over your shoulder?” And I’m like: “Do you realise how fast and how many taps we’re doing per second, just in our day-to-day lives?”

‘JUST IMAGINE SAYING THE DAILY SHOW WITH HASAN MINHAJ. HOW IS DORITOS GONNA PUT ADS UP AGAINST THAT?’

He’d been working on the Saudi Arabia episode for a long time when the murder of Jamal Khashoggi ‘put everything into hyperdrive’. Suddenly, the world was watching. What came out was a cannily pop explanation of the brutal regime at the centre of the Muslim world. In that episode, Minhaj identifies Saudi Arabia as ‘the boy-band manager of 9/11 – they didn’t write the songs, but they helped get the group together.’ ‘With Saudi Arabia, they don’t take dissidents lightly. Also, 1.6 billion Muslims around the world have to pray towards this place,’ he says. ‘My sister was like, “You’re gonna say that onstage? You’re going to call out a country that we all pray to but you feel doesn’t represent our values? It’s the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. What d’you think he does to people who question his power?”’ Both his sister and his wife asked him to take a step back, to make sure he truly understood

what he was about to do. They worried he was being stubborn and selfish and ‘it was beyond just getting the episode pulled’. Did he really want to live with the consequences of this? Did he want to ever make hajj (an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca) in his life? His comedian friends, for whom there’s no such thing as a sacred cow, took the opposite position. ‘They’re like, “But you’re saying the truth, man.” But I’m like, “Yeah, man, but I’m also trying to live to see these retweets.”’ In the end, the compulsion to speak up, to “go for it”, won. ‘Comedians have this platform. Especially right now and especially the platform I have. You can be a provocateur. You can say crazy shit for crazy shit’s sake. Or you can aim that towards something.’ Minhaj’s immediate community has been a mix of support and, unwittingly, part of the problem. He was never up for Jon Stewart’s gig, but several comedian friends, under the guise of “genuine levelling”, offered up their opinion, unprompted, that he’d never get it. “They were like, ‘They couldn’t give it to you, man. Just imagine saying The Daily Show With Hasan Minhaj. How is Doritos gonna put ads up against that?”’ This, in particular, stung. There’s a lot in a name, especially for Minhaj, who grew up around enough Chads and Codys that they remain his go-to dude names for a joke. When he appeared on Ellen in 2019, he tried to get her to nail the pronunciation (she never quite did). He argued that if America can get ‘Benedict Cumberbatch’ and ‘Timothée Chalamet’ right, they can handle Hasan Minhaj. What America heard was a charming repartee between host and guest, but Minhaj’s father, who was in the audience along with his mother, heard something else. ‘I got a big lecture in the car afterwards on “Why do you do this stuff? Why do you make a scene?” But this is the assimilation argument, that we should just be grateful to be at the party at all,’ he says. ‘I know it’s Ellen and I know this is a big deal – but can we do it on our terms?’ There’s “our” terms and then there’s Hasan Minhaj’s terms. He asks me, earnestly, if I think you have to be ‘fucked up’ to be funny. This is a long-standing debate he’s had with other comedians. I ask him to define fucked up. ‘Any of it. Comedians like Rock and Louis talk about it, but I’m like: “Is this the cost of doing comedy? I don’t want this.”’ I tell him I can’t speak to comedians, but I can speak to writers. I know that people glorify David Foster Wallace, or leave nips of whisky on Hemingway’s grave even though Hemingway never wrote drunk. Even our most revered depressives and hedonists finished their thoughts before they succumbed to them. Or else we never would’ve heard of them. ‘That’s true,’ he says, seeming unconvinced. ‘What did you get in your exams?’ ‘You know?’ he asks, his face brightening. ‘I don’t remember. I actually don’t remember. That’s probably a good sign.

MARCH 2020 GQ.CO.ZA 63

64 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

Words by Jessica Bruder With additional reporting by Saraswati Rathod

HOW A

GROUP OF SOMALIS BECAME

LEADERS IN THE

FIGHT TO CHANGE A TECH

BEHEMOTH

IT WA S

11 DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS

66 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

Nimo Omar

strikers were Somali-Muslim immigrants. Many of their faces were framed by hijabs. Stolz estimates that about 50 workers assembled at the front doors before they streamed out. (Amazon says the number was around 15.) Stolz had joined friends at political protests before, but he’d never participated in anything like this. The organisation supervising the event wasn’t a union but a fledgeling organisation called the Awood Center – Awood is the Somali word for power – whose motto was “Building East African Worker Power”. The first speaker received an ecstatic welcome: US representative Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American politician

to serve for US Congress, promptly led the group in singing ‘Aan Isweheshano Walaalayaal’ (‘Let’s Get Together With Our Brothers and Sisters’), a classic Somali solidarity anthem. The protesters began marching toward the warehouse, back to the glass doors where Stolz and the other strikers had emerged, so that managers could hear them. As if on cue, several police patrol cars rolled up to ambush them, calling for backup. Armed with pepper spray, police formed a human barricade across the glass doors of the foyer. The crowd started to dissipate when darkness fell. But not all the protesters went home. For several, it was time to start the night shift. Winding their way through the

police barricade, they presented their Amazon badges in the foyer and disappeared through the turnstiles. As the protesters cleared away from the police line, they chanted ‘Amazon, we’ll be back,’ and they would soon make good on the promise. In the 25 years since Amazon was founded, it’s become the second-largest, private-sector employer in the US. During that time, the company has displayed an extraordinary knack for dictating its own terms to suppliers, local governments, and workers. For years, the company has coerced cities to compete to host Amazon facilities. What Amazon offers in turn are jobs with competitive wages and benefits for full-time workers,

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JESSICA CHOU (LEFT), JENN ACKERMAN (RIGHT & PREVIOUS SPREAD)

I N 2 0 1 8 , and an Amazon warehouse in Minnesota, US, was operating at full tilt. Inside the warehouse, within dark, cyclonefenced enclosures, thousands of shelf-toting robots performed a mute ballet, ferrying towers of merchandise from one place to another. And throughout the huge space, yellow bins brimming with customers’ orders zipped along conveyor belts. Negotiating all the distances and tasks that fall between those pieces of machinery were the people. They power-walked (running was forbidden) across roughly 259 000 square metres of polished concrete. Among them was William Stolz, 24, who’d been at Amazon for a year and a half. As a “picker”, his job was to hover at the perimeter of a cyclone fence and fetch customers’ orders from the robot-borne storage pods that came to his station. He’d stoop, squat, or climb a small ladder to grab items and then rush to place them in one of the yellow bins that sped off to the packaging department. Stolz says pickers were expected to fetch more than 300 items every hour. And, according to workers, Amazon’s inventory-tracking system closely monitored whether they were hitting their marks. Many of his colleagues endured pain as they strained to hit their hourly rate – which was one of the many reasons Stolz had decided to walk out of his job that afternoon, 14 December, at precisely 4pm. Stolz and several colleagues of his had been planning the co-ordinated walkout for weeks. He’d been getting to know other workers as they’d discussed the conditions in the warehouse. Unlike him, most of his fellow

and the expectation that workers will do their part to uphold the company’s principles of “speed, innovation, and consumer obsession”. In presiding over that bargain, the company has enjoyed tremendous leverage over its employees, dismissing them if they fail to meet their hourly productivity rates and fending off trade unions. In recent years, however, Amazon’s leverage has weakened. Though opinion surveys suggest that Amazon remains one of the most highly regarded companies, it’s been caught in public criticism over its treatment of workers. In many ways, the warehouse in Minnesota is just like the dozens of other Amazon fulfilment centres in the world. But it differs in at least one significant respect: at least 30% of its workers are East African. Many are Somali-Muslims who’ve been in the country for only a few years. Some are refugees who survived years of civil war and displacement, only to face anti-immigrant sentiment and Islamophobia in their new home. This relatively small group – bound together by shared neighbourhoods, mosques, cafés, and Somali shopping malls – has staged walkouts, brought management to the negotiating table twice, demanded concessions to accommodate Muslim religious practice, and commanded global attention, all without the clout of a traditional union. But just how did a twoyear-old organisation made up of immigrants become such a thorn in Amazon’s paw?

ONE

of the most important people at the protest on 14 December 2018 wasn’t a politician or even an Amazon employee. Running operations behind the scenes alongside workers was 23-year-old Nimo Omar. The American-born daughter of East African refugees is a devout Muslim who speaks four languages (English, Somali, Oromo and Amharic). In the midst of the Somali Civil War, Omar’s parents, who’d fled to Kenya as refugees, emigrated

to the US, where Omar ended up living with relatives in Minnesota. Eventually, some 52 000 people who live in the state would report Somali ancestry, the largest population in the US. Omar relocated to Las Vegas during her teenage years. There, she was the only girl who wore the hijab in her high school. White boys called her a terrorist. She later enrolled at a university back in Minnesota and began getting involved with the Black Lives Matter movement in 2015. The ensuing year brought a string of disillusioning events for Omar. In Minnesota, the run-up to the 2016 election saw enthusiasm for Donald Trump fused with increasingly virulent anti-Somali, anti-Muslim and anti-refugee rhetoric. In late 2016, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was looking for someone who was fluent in Somali to help organise workers, many of whom were East African, at an airport. Omar took the job. Nearly a decade earlier, SEIU organiser Dan Méndez Moore’s wife, Veronica, had cofounded a workers’ centre – a non-profit focused on training non-union workers to organise themselves around their own goals. Given the success of the campaign to organise East African airport workers, Omar and Méndez Moore thought that a similar kind of effort might work for Somalis. That year, Amazon had opened a warehouse in Minnesota, and had gone all out to attract East African workers. Recognising that many immigrants lacked cars, the company chartered shuttles for the workers between their neighbourhood and the warehouse. Omar’s brother and uncle had both worked for Amazon, so she knew a little about the productivity quotas and the relentless pace. She wanted to learn more. So she started visiting the Amazon shuttle stop. Gradually, people started saying they’d be willing to meet up.

WHEN

the warehouse opened in 2016, things weren’t so bad. Hibaq Mohamed, a Somali

refugee, started that August. She says she was required to process just 90 items per hour, and Amazon’s shuttle service made for an efficient commute. But in the new year, she says she now had to stow 120 items per hour. And language barriers were making relations between the warehouse’s managers and its East African workers increasingly testy. Mohamed, who spoke English better than many of her colleagues, often tried to step in and translate. Working at Amazon already created challenges for devout Muslims. The warehouse had no air conditioning on the work floor at the time, and some days were sweltering. Because the latter part of Ramadan that year coincided with the summer solstice, Muslim workers’ daily periods of fasting were especially long.

Safiyo Mohamed, an Amazon worker

Several Muslim workers reported exhaustion and dehydration, though Amazon disputes those reports.

THE

grievance that first made workers truly interested in talking to Omar was a relatively small one. In October, Amazon announced that it would cancel its direct shuttle service from the Muslim community to the warehouse. Now the trip would include a transfer and take an hour and a half – twice as long as the shuttle ride had been. It didn’t help that the new pickup point was further than the shuttle stops had been from the area where many of the workers lived. Muslim women who wore the hijab worried about their safety walking to and from the bus stop after dark. >>

THAT autumn, Stolz and a few other workers began bringing a petition to work with them at the warehouse; it was addressed to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and it asked him to restore the direct bus service. In general, the workers shared a deep sense of dread over the pace of Amazon’s hourly rates – which they saw as not only exhausting but unsafe. People were getting hurt in the course of meeting their quotas. The workers who gathered at Awood were also constantly afraid of being fired or “written up” for falling behind on their quotas amid breaks for prayer. In early May, Amazon management announced that they’d heard some concerns about Ramadan, so they scheduled two open meetings where workers could discuss the holiday with them inside the warehouse. Workers rattled off a number of desires: lower productivity rates for the holiday, more breaks, some kind of respite from heat, and time off for Eid al-Fitr, the festival that concludes the holy month. According to Stolz, the managers’ replies were non-committal. (Amazon says the purpose of these meetings was just to hear from the workers.) So workers at the warehouse promptly began to hand out leaflets calling for Muslim employees to show up for work on the first day of Ramadan – 15 May – wearing shirts and hijabs that matched the colour of the Somali flag. The show of force, called Blue

68 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

Day, was meant to draw media attention to Amazon’s failure to accommodate Muslim workers for the holy month. Soon after those flyers went out, Awood says, warehouse management agreed to create dedicated prayer rooms and promised to lighten quotas for Ramadan. Blue Day was called off. On 15 May 2018, Amazon distributed new prayer rugs and agreed to convert a conference room into a quiet prayer room, though it would be available only on Fridays. The company also says it began allowing workers to transfer to the night shift so they wouldn’t have to work during periods of fasting, approving leaves of absence for Ramadan – though workers say these were unpaid – and offering unlimited time off to workers who wished to celebrate Eid. The promise of a prayer room heartened the activists, and it helped that the warehouse was also now cooled by large fans. But then Ramadan began, and workers say the quota system didn’t change. Amazon fired one Somali-American who fell behind on her rate while fasting. Awood upped the ante again, inviting reporters to a protest on 4 June. That day, a handful of Amazon employees stood chanting ‘Yes, we can!’ in Somali (‘Haa waan awoodnaa!’) and English. Stories about the protest appeared on the radio and in local news outlets, and the media blitz put Amazon on the defensive; the company responded by touting its workplace benefits and its plans to build a permanent prayer room for Muslim workers at the facility. But on some points, Amazon wouldn’t budge: workers who prayed, the company made clear, were still expected to meet the same hourly quotas, unless they wanted to dip into their unpaid time off. The principle of speed, it seemed, was not up for negotiation. Behind the scenes, Amazon agreed to meet with the workers who’d organised under Awood. And on 25 September, after much back and forth, about 12 workers, three Islamic community leaders, executive director of the Awood Centre Abdirahman Muse, Omar, and four Amazon managers

met. The group of workers explained their concerns about hourly productivity quotas, the warehouse’s response to workplace injuries, and the lack of African managers, among other things. Amazon’s response felt like more of the same. On November 20, The New York Times published a story about Awood’s meetings with Amazon under the headline “Somali Workers in Minnesota Force Amazon to Negotiate”. The story underscored how rare the Minnesota workers’ successes seemed to be. For Awood, it was a moment of triumph. The scrappy Somali workers had created a classic David versus Goliath tale, and as soon as the Times posted its story, calls of support started rolling in from around the country. Seizing the moment, Awood announced on Facebook that it was planning its biggest event ever: a protest at the Minnesota warehouse on 14 December. Everyone was invited. With the Awood Center suddenly commanding national attention, Amazon projected a measure of seemingly strategic benevolence during the week before the protest. The company held a job fair in the heart of the Muslim community on 10 December, advertising it with a video in English and Somali. Awood organisers decided to escalate their plan further: they would stage a walkout in the thick of the pre-holiday rush. On 14 December, as Stolz watched the minutes tick down to 4pm, Awood members, supporters, and reporters gathered on the far side of the warehouse’s car park. It was a moment of euphoria. But after the protest, some workers would come to feel less secure than they had before. Within days, several workers say they began to feel distinctly uncomfortable in the warehouse. In May, three East African workers filed a complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, saying that, almost immediately after their participation in the 14 December protest, they “began experiencing a campaign of retaliatory harassment from Amazon management”.

Amazon, for its part, says it has a zero-tolerance policy toward harassment and retaliation. So on 8 March 2019, nearly 30 stowers at the Minnesota warehouse walked out of their jobs at around midnight and decamped to a restaurant. Three hours later, they returned with a list of demands, handwritten on a sheet of notebook paper. They included “end unfair firings”.

15 July 2019, the Minnesota warehouse was decked out with banners and balloons and free commemorative T-shirts for everyone. Amazon had decided to expand its annual consumer bonanza into a twoday affair, featuring a brand-new service: free one-day shipping for Prime members. Analysts predicted the event would drive record-breaking sales. For the company, the stakes were high. Mandatory overtime was in effect. Managers stood outside the foyer, high-fiving workers as they arrived for 11-hour shifts. A week earlier, the Awood Center had announced its plans for the strike. European Amazon workers had been doing it for years, but as with a number of things Awood was doing, it had never happened before in the US. Since then, it had drawn widespread attention. That morning, Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren had tweeted: ‘I fully support Amazon workers’ Prime Day strike. Their fight for safe and reliable jobs is another reminder that we must come together to hold big corporations accountable.’ The strike was due to start at 2pm. By 1.30pm, about 50 people were marching in a circle with signs in the warehouse’s truck lane. Meanwhile, Omar was stationed outside the foyer, waiting for people to walk out. ‘My job is to gather workers and make a march,’ she said. As had happened back in December, the protest was taking place on the far side of the car park. On the hot summer day – under the scrutiny of managers – the idea was to give workers a feeling of strength in numbers. Inside the warehouse, however, things weren’t going as planned.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JENN ACKERMAN (TOP LEFT), JESSICA CHOU

Eventually, Omar would post herself outside the warehouse itself, greeting workers and bringing up the cancelled shuttle. ‘This is an issue that we all need to talk about,’ she remembers telling them. One night, some 20 people followed her to a nearby café. They went on to form a new group they called the guddiga xalinta – Somali for “problem-solving committee”. In November, the Awood Center launched its website and officially opened its doors, with funding from the SEIU and support from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a major Muslim advocacy group.

By 4pm, a stage had been set up across the car park. Despite the heat and the poor showing of strikers, the protest took on a festive mood. More than 200 people had gathered. There were trays full of food and refreshments, and a performance by a Somali dance troupe; at one point, Hibaq Mohamed jumped into formation with them. Finally an emcee – an Amazon worker named Sahro Sharif – took to the stage.

‘There were a lot of people who were afraid to come out and stand out here today because of the management that’s going on inside,’ Sharif declared. ‘To the people that actually came out tonight, I want to say thank you, and let’s make it great!’ Today, there’s no end in sight to the jousting match between Amazon and Awood. When labour experts characterise what Awood has accomplished overall, they tend to focus not on any

specific concessions the group has extracted thus far (which Amazon denies are concessions anyway) but instead on the national attention the group has attracted – and its implications for other workers in warehouses and in tech. Awood bears a certain resemblance not only to worker centres that focus on low-wage industries, but to recent efforts by Google employees and other tech workers to organise themselves and learn labour law without the structure of a union. ‘Tech workers are in this situation where they’re trying to figure out: where is their leverage? Where is their ground to stand on? How do you negotiate with an algorithm?’ says Janice Fine, a labour student. Awood has become one of the prime examples to learn from. Amazon, in other words, is not the only one watching a few Somalis closely.

Stolz, who’d arrived at around 5.30am to hand out strike flyers in the car park, was trying to rally the day shift. He made the rounds of the canteens, where he saw managers handing out snacks and chatting up employees. People were getting nervous. Some told Stolz they didn’t want to lose their unpaid time off. Only a few people trickled out to strike, and Omar gave up on the idea of leading workers away from the warehouse in a parade. According to Awood, about 35 people took part in the walkout; Amazon would later say, yet again, that only 15 employees participated, and according to a press statement handed to reporters, it didn’t see the event as a strike, either.

JE S SIC A BRUDER IS T HE AU T HOR OF N OMA DL A ND : SUR VI VING A MERIC A IN T HE T WEN T Y - FIR S T CEN T URY ( R503, E XCLUSI VEB O OK S. C O. Z A ) .

CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT An inspirational day at the Amazon warehouse in Minnesota; William Stolz; The executive director of the Awood Center Abdirahman Muse

For a few million Rand, you could spend a fortnight in orbit. The budding space hotel industry is offering a sort of NASA-meetsRadisson Blu experiment 322km above planet earth. They’re willing to take bookings from anyone with big bucks to spare, be they the super-rich or government space agencies; gaze up from terra ﬁrma at these new concepts of galactic hospitality.

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y S I M O N A B R A N O W I C Z

FIF T Y YEARS SINCE THE MOON LANDINGS, SPACE IS THE NEW PLAYGROUND OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y S I M O N A B R A N O W I C Z

THAT'S NO MOON...

Words by Thomas Barry

Actually it’s a fully functional luxury hotel. As early as 2022, for a hefty price you’ll experience five-star (five trillion-star?) accommodation in the coolness of space. From the orbital ‘private jet’ that delivers 16 sunsets a day to the Philippe Starck-designed station that comes with 15 weeks of prelaunch training, the future of interstellar interstition is now MARCH 2020 GQ.CO.ZA 71

THE TRANSIT

THE NEXT GENERATION

As well as life-support facilities, such as solar panels and air- and water-producing modules, Von Braun has a proposed rail transit system that would circle the outermost ring of the station.

After the proposed opening of Von Braun, the Gateway Foundation plans to construct a larger spaceport called “w”, with a capacity of 1 400 and almost 500 metres in diameter. This would act as a steppingstone for human colonisation of Mars and the moons of Jupiter.

THE GRAVIT Y Von Braun Station is named after Wernher von Braun, whose pioneering work in physics is also used to generate the station’s gravity. Designed as a 190-metre wheel, Von Braun will rotate around a central point to create a centrifugal force similar in strength to the moon’s gravity. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s the difference between being able to use a toilet normally and, well, not.

72 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

P H O T O G R A P H S S U P P L I E D C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 9 G AT E WAY F O U N D AT I O N

THE CAPACIT Y

VON BRAUN STATION

Von Braun Station is the brainchild of the Gateway Foundation, which compares the experience to a luxury cruise – it’ll have fully working bars and kitchens when it opens. Alongside commercial visitors, it plans to house national space agencies conducting lowgravity research.

Twenty-four pods with sleeping and living areas will be dispersed around the rim of the wheel, projected to house a population of approximately 400 guests and staff. Given only 565 people have ever been to space in human history, it’s an ambitious target.

VON BRAUN HOPES TO BE OPERATIONAL FROM 2025, WITH ROUGHLY 100 VISITORS TRAVELLING TO AND FROM THE STATION EVERY WEEK.

THE LAUNCH DATE

The Skywalk space hotel is a hypothetical concept conceived by the futurist Professor Dale Russell as part of Samsung’s KX50: The Future In Focus Project, a thought experiment carried out by the company to visualise what life in 2069 might look like. Space hotels are just one of the technological developments theorised by Professor Russell.

THE REPORT PROPOSES THAT A CENTRIFUGAL SKY ELEVATOR MADE OF “SUPER-LIKE, EXTREMELY STRONG MATERIALS” COULD PROPEL SPACE TRAVELLERS OUTSIDE THE ATMOSPHERE USING LITTLE TO NO FUEL. THE SPACE LIFT

THE CONCEPT

SKYWALK

Russell describes the hotel as, ‘Luxury space stations orbiting planets, generating their own gravity’, a description similar to the concept for the Von Braun Station.

Alongside low-orbit hotels, Russell also predicts that virtual-reality technology might become so advanced as to make travelling to space redundant. The experience could be modelled so realistically and vividly, she suggests, that a tourist could â&#x20AC;&#x153;visitâ&#x20AC;? space from home.

THE HOME VISIT

WHAT COULD GO WRONG

A game-changer for the world’s unbanked, or a Zuckerberg power grab for the global money supply? Inside the Libra wars Words by James Ball Illustrations by Mike McQuade

here were more than 2 400 cryptocurrencies in circulation by June 2019, with further launches on a daily basis. Most were nearly worthless, had been heard of by virtually no one, and never would be. So when yet another – called Libra – was announced on 18 June, you might’ve expected it to attract no more attention than any of the others. But from the moment of its launch, Libra received a huge amount of attention. The project made many of the same promises most new digital currencies brag about: it’d work more efficiently than existing payment technologies, and it’d avoid the huge spikes and falls in value that made Bitcoin, the first and best-known cryptocurrency, such a roulette wheel. What was more eye-catching was its promise to target billions of the world’s unbanked – people with little or no access to the global financial system – to open up huge new business and work possibilities for at least some of the world’s poor, and revolutionise the global financial system. The main reason people took notice this time was due to one of the main backers: Facebook. Freshly out of a seemingly endless series of data privacy scandals, the social media giant was now appearing as the lead partner in a plan to create a new global currency, alongside a coalition of other major tech, finance and commerce companies, and was promising to roll the whole thing out early this year. Then after its announcement, Libra was attacked seemingly from all sides. Cryptocurrency fans said Libra wasn’t a real cryptocurrency, as it breaks some of the basic principles promoted by the community’s often technoanarchic fan base – including the important distinction that Libra transactions still rely on trust rather than mathematical proof. Others criticised Libra as a corporate power grab. Economists warned it could challenge countries’ control over

their own monetary policy and so undermine democracy. And lawmakers and regulators around the world lined up to say they’d be launching investigations or taking action against the fledgeling currency, before it’d even launched. In early October, PayPal, one of the 28 founding members of the Libra Association (set up to manage the cryptocurrency) withdrew from the project. A week later, e-commerce platform eBay and payments companies Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and Mercado Pago also backed out, leaving only one payments partner, fintech company PayU. On 23 October, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was brought in front of US Congress to answer questions about Libra. In an opening statement, congresswoman Maxine Waters threw down the gauntlet by restating her call for a suspension on Facebook’s development of Libra until Congress could properly consider the issues it raised, and suggesting that Facebook focus on existing problems. ‘I’ve come to the conclusion that it would be beneficial for all if Facebook concentrates on addressing its many existing deficiencies and failures before proceeding any further on the Libra project,’ she said. Listing various concerns with Facebook, including its poor diversity record and scandals around political advertising, Waters said that Zuckerberg was ‘willing to step on or over anyone, including your competitors, women, people of colour, your own users, and even our democracy to get what you want’. In his own testimony, Zuckerberg recognised that he wasn’t the ideal messenger for the Libra project, noting: ‘I’m sure there’re lots of people who wish it were anyone but Facebook who was helping to propose this.’ For the user, Libra is a relatively straightforward proposition. »

MARCH 2020 GQ.CO.ZA 77

‘Economists have warned countries that Libra could challenge thier control over their monetary policy and undermine democracy’

Like any other cryptocurrency, you could buy up a certain number of Libra coins in exchange for a certain amount of currency, such as US Dollars or British Pounds. You’d exchange currency for Libra through a digital wallet, one of which – the Calibra wallet – is already being developed by Facebook’s subsidiary. Calibra will have its own associated app and will also be integrated into Facebook’s Messenger and WhatsApp, which the company claims will make it possible to send someone Libra as “easily and instantly as you might send a text message”. For each Libra coin created, the Libra Association promises to buy up an equivalent amount of one of a basket of existing currencies, stabilising the value of the currency and making it more usable for everyday transactions as opposed to speculation (a single Bitcoin has, in recent years, been worth as little as R45 806 and as much as R179 000). The “crypto” element is in Libra’s distributed ledger – a usage of blockchain – which will verify each person’s stake (the quantity of the currency they keep). Libra insists that it’s more than just “Facebook’s currency”. The Libra Association, which is based in Switzerland, had 21 members towards the end of 2019 (down

from the initial 28 that had signed on). These include Calibra, tech firms such as Uber and Spotify, European telecoms companies Vodafone and Iliad SA, a handful of blockchain companies, several nonprofits, and venture-capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz. The association has said it hopes to grow to 100 members before launch, all of which would have an equal say in decisions over Libra’s future. But many of the project’s key architects are Facebook employees – all of the authors on the press release introducing Libra’s blockchain are listed as working for Calibra – and the cryptocurrency’s early days began within Facebook, which built an in-house unit to work on blockchain before forming the coalition that became the Libra Association. Facebook began quietly staffing up its blockchain division under David Marcus, its vice president overseeing Facebook Messenger, who now runs Calibra and is one of the Libra Association’s five board members. In February 2019, Marcus’s division quietly bought up blockchain startup Chainspace, essentially as an acqui-hire – a means by which large companies like Facebook buy start-ups not for their business, but primarily as a way to hire their staff (even if very expensively). Of the five authors of Chainspace’s press release, only Mustafa Al-Bassam (who came to public attention with the notorious computer-hacking group, LulzSec) is the only one who didn’t move across to Facebook. ‘I think, fundamentally, the people who started the Libra project did it because they believed they were doing something good, from an ethical perspective,’ he says of his former colleagues. ‘They were brought in by the whole cypherpunk version of blockchains. They want to create something that’s censorship-resistant and that’ll give people power. I genuinely believe that their main motivation is that, rather than to make money.’ But the project is, in his view, now in Facebook’s hands. In practise, he notes, many of the

researchers building the currency work from Facebook’s headquarters in California: ‘From the eyes of the world, it’s still a Facebook project.’ Furthermore, Libra’s ambitions to become a global currency rely largely on Facebook’s reach. Across Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, the company has close to 2.5 billion active users, many of whom – thanks to its Free Basics and Facebook Zero projects to spread internet access in the developing world, which together have an estimated 100 million or more users – are outside of the banking system. As a result, the social network is integral to the project, even if it’s also the biggest driver of its backlash. Will the fledgeling currency be able to overcome the reputation of its corporate parent? Dante Disparte, an entrepreneur and cryptocurrency advocate, was drafted as the Libra Association’s head of policy and communications just weeks before the project’s public launch last June and was elected deputy chairperson of the Libra Council, which governs the Association, in a meeting on 14 October. Speaking shortly after that meeting, he insisted that there was still “a pathway” for Libra to be ready for launch this year, and said there were 1 500 companies keen to join the Association. He attempted to put a positive spin on the companies dropping out, arguing that ‘if there was any doubt or any lack of institutional courage… better to find out early if you’re not in it for the long haul’. Disparte sounds like a true believer when he talks about Libra’s potential. ‘We have a global payment network that looks more like the telephone networks of our grandfathers’ era than it looks to be fit for purpose for the 21st century,’ he says. ‘A world in which you have 1.7 billion people without a bank, you have a billion [of those] roughly with access to low-cost mobile telephony and broadband – and when you start to think of the social economics and growth implications of beginning to connect those »

What Facebook's Libra will have to do to succeed in Africa LIBRA AIMS TO TARGET THE UNBANKED, BUT IT NEEDS TO RECOGNISE THAT AMERICAN FINANCE CULTURE IS NOT UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED

‘Since BitPesa’s first public product launch in 2014 in east Africa, we’ve witnessed the way cryptocurrency transactions reduce friction and lower the barrier to entry in markets with shaky infrastructure. When I hear Libra say that it’s on a quest to increase financial inclusion, I immediately think about the young, tech-savvy generation in emerging markets looking to trade, code, build, transact, connect and play – populations who don’t have PayPal accounts or Visa cards that work from their home country (which includes myself, an American who has lived abroad for 15 years without a US bank account). ‘But Africa, as a continent, is complex, because its regions and sub-regions are so very different in culture, infrastructure and incumbent players. While domestic financial infrastructure has boomed over the last decade, there’s little financial infrastructure across borders. Regulation, access to power and internet, language, population density, cultural habits and ease of doing business all differ greatly. Comparing South Africa with its neighbour Zimbabwe, or Ethiopia with Sudan, is a way to quickly realise how different each individual market is. ‘Despite these differences, most businesses and many individuals split their lives between countries. It’s therefore essential for Libra – or any similar project – to have a multi-country approach if looking for success on the African continent. For example, South Africa is one of the largest economies on the continent but is filled with populations of people working, travelling and transacting in and across its neighbouring countries. Success in South Africa, therefore, requires functioning infrastructure in Botswana and Namibia as well.

‘Facebook’s strength has always been in signing partnerships, as evidenced by the reach and power of its launch partners for Libra. However, those are all private companies with relatively similar perspectives to Facebook’s. In emerging markets, where there’re fewer domestic giants with which to partner, Libra must conduct a precise symphony of working with both public and private players to create an ecosystem for adoption. You can have incredible growth in Nigeria for a domestic product, but without addressing the infrastructure in both the origination and destination countries of remittance transactions, a cross-border product will struggle to gain traction. ‘At BitPesa, we started as an adaptive company, using a hybrid approach of bank, mobile and cryptocurrency infrastructure to create a platform of streamlined service and efficiency. We benefited from the boom in domestic mobile money systems, which created competition for existing financial institutions, the end result of which was real-time domestic bank transfers.

‘This isn’t the case in every African country and is surprisingly not the case in the US, UK and much of the seemingly financially developed world. Compliance complexities, payment infrastructure delays and individual company operational difficulties still make it hard to complete an end-to-end digital currency transaction unless the participants are existing users with existing stores of digital currencies. When I ask somebody to send or receive digital currency, and they’re new to the space, I still have to explain the platform, account set-up and compliance verification, and then wait for their local payment infrastructure to top-up or withdraw from their account. ‘Libra’s ability to find the right local infrastructure partners, or build its own, will make or break its frontier market strategy. While the American business and finance culture is strong, it’s not universally accepted – and there’re great swathes of people on the planet who need to be considered on their own terms.’ Elizabeth Rossiello is founder and CEO of BitPesa

THE CRYPTO COUNTDOWN

2 MAY 2019

Facebook confirms that it has begun working on a cryptocurrency

18 JUNE 2019 Libra is formally announced

2 JULY 2019

Leading Democrats send a letter to Mark Zuckerberg calling for a halt to Libra’s implementation

15 JULY 2019

Facebook affirms that it won’t launch Libra until regulations are met

14 SEPTEMBER 2019

The US Congress holds hearings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to discuss Libra

4 OCTOBER 2019

PayPal withdraws from the Libra Association

11 OCTOBER 2019

The association is depleted further as Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and eBay quit.

23 OCTOBER 2019 Zuckerberg testifies before the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee

2020

Libra is scheduled for launch

MARCH 2020 GQ.CO.ZA 79

‘Libra could present a threat to economies and this is a risk in places where people don’t trust governments or currencies much’

dots in a secure, stable way, it’s a game-changer.’ He says that something with the scale and backing of Libra is vital if the challenge of banking the unbanked is ever going to be met. ‘The UN talks about a multi-trillion-US-dollar funding shortfall for the world to achieve the sustainable development goals, of which many specifically highlight financial inclusion and innovation, and these types of opportunities,’ he says. ‘Short of a project like Libra succeeding, it’s hard to envision how you extend the basic perimeter of finance to include those people.’ Why would Facebook, a social media company, be so interested in developing a global currency? The Libra Association insists that access to payments data will be tightly controlled, and that Libra users’ data won’t be shared with Facebook or other third parties without consent.

That said, Facebook clearly has a lot to gain from integrating payments into its platforms in terms of keeping users inside its ecosystem. Daniel Tischer, a global finance researcher, says Libra also has the potential to make the companies behind it vast profits, with little public accountability. ‘Outside the guardrails of government, effectively, they’re the controllers of their own fortune,’ he says. ‘If this currency is scaled up sufficiently, it could actually produce billions and billions of profit.’ As Libra would keep a reserve of real-world currency of equivalent value to the amount of Libra in circulation, and invest that reserve in relatively safe assets, it would generate some return. This would be used to cover the cost of the project – but any leftover could be taken as profit. And if Libra became a major world currency, that profit could become very significant. Facebook and its Libra partners aren’t the only people moving into this space. On top of the existing cryptocurrencies (of which there are around USD$200 billion-worth in circulation, with Bitcoin worth more than all the others combined), larger and more established players are determined to move in. While Libra represents the biggest effort of western business to launch a cryptocurrency, China is well into the development of its own digital currency, backed by its state bank and due to roll out to some of the country’s largest online companies, such as Alibaba and Tencent. It’s expected to make only minimal use of blockchain, and virtually no one expects extensive privacy protections to be built in. At this stage, according to Enrique Dans from IE Business School, a major new digital currency is an inevitability; the question is who will be behind it. ‘It’s something that we know will happen; it’s going to happen no matter what,’ he says. ‘The Chinese initiative and Libra, they’re not strictly cryptocurrencies as the crypto nerds would like to think, but they’re definitely a step forward in redefining what is money. This is going to happen, for sure.’

Dans thinks that Libra or the Chinese initiative – or some other new effort – are far more likely to win the contest than existing currencies such as Bitcoin, because they’ll be more accessible to a mass audience and don’t require large amounts of energy to “mine”. (A study from last year in the journal Joule estimated that Bitcoin is responsible for more than 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions – about the same as Bolivia.) ‘It feels weird because first of all, it’s the privatisation of money,’ he says. ‘Thinking about private money is something that makes many people say that something is wrong. Why should money be private or emitted and managed by a private company?’ This raises practical as well as philosophical problems, says Dr Iwa Salami, a senior lecturer in commercial law and financial law regulation. Libra could become a currency working across multiple countries and continents with very different circumstances, and could very quickly become, in essence, a global bank – and so a source of global risk. ‘The implication of this [is] if things go wrong,’ she says. ‘It’s the systemic risk potential here that has really aroused attention. Therefore, although they’re saying they aren’t a bank, they’re engaging in bank-like transactions for which there really should be a requirement that they fulfil.’ Beyond the usual regulatory concerns on issues such as antimoney laundering and fraud prevention, Libra could present a threat to local economies. This is especially a risk in places where people don’t trust their governments or currencies much – where many of the world’s under-banked live. Salami says that people could prefer using Libra over national currencies. ‘For those countries, it’ll then become very difficult to conduct monetary policy and use monetary policy as a tool to either stimulate their economies or not. If that happens, then those countries have a serious problem.’ It’s no surprise that banking regulators across the world

have taken a strong interest in the development of Libra – last September, representatives from 26 central banks across the world met to question Libra executives. The Bank of England has warned that Libra must be held to the same standards as traditional payments providers, and France and Germany have said they’ll block the currency from operating in Europe as long as concerns persist. In his testimony to Congress, Zuckerberg promised that Facebook ‘won’t be part of launching the Libra payments system anywhere in the world until US regulators approve’. The departure of its main payments partners, however, means Libra no longer has their experience of the extensive regulatory requirements of moving money – a significant challenge that makes the possibility Libra’s launch this year seem increasingly unlikely. As the controversy rages on, Bill Maurer, the dean of social sciences from the University of California, sees a missed opportunity to have necessary discussions about important issues with the world’s financial systems and their impact. ‘In a way, I think, unfortunately, because it’s Facebook, it’s just, “get them in front of us on the TV cameras, and let’s yell and scream at them about privacy and security”,’ he says. Libra’s Dante Disparte, who’s never even met Mark Zuckerberg, shares this frustration. ‘The drama candidly is in part because the size of some of the organisations involved scares people,’ he says. ‘There’s also an educational requirement here because you’re leveraging things like blockchain and cryptocurrencies, and you’re touching a very heavily regulated space of the financial system. Every one of these domains has raised very fair and very reasonable questions.’ Disparte insists that, for him, Libra is all about the mission: increasing access to the financial system for those outside it. He’s scared of what happens if Libra fails. Many are terrified of what happens if it succeeds.

MARCH 2020 GQ.CO.ZA 81

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CHINOS & SNE AKER C OMB O_ T HE T RIED AND-T EST ED PAIR IS YE T TO FAIL , NO MAT T ER T HE YE AR, BUDGE T OR OC C A SION. Blazer R1 999, trousers R429 H&M, shirt R1 999 Diesel, belt R699 G-Star Raw, sneakers R1 399 Arthur Jack at Tread and MIller

BL ACK INDUS T RIAL B O OT S _ T HESE HARD - WE ARING STAPL ES WILL HELP YOU STAND THE T ES T OF T IME. Sleeveless hoodie R1 399, pants R3 199 Calvin Klein, boots R3 999 G-Star Raw

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MODERN T RENCH _ T HE OL D SCHOOL FAVE T HAT NE VER QUI T S IS MAKING A C OMEBACK IN ALL SORTS OF ST YL ES AND SIL HOUE T T ES. Trench coat R3 999 G-Star Raw, T-shirt R1 000 Replay, pants R429 H&M, sneakers R3 499 Diesel

CLASSIC MAN

TOP NOT ES GR ANNY SMI T H APPL ES, GREEN MANDARIN, GR APEFRUI T AND GREEN C ARDAMOM HE ART NOT E S BL ACK PEPPER, CLOVE, SAGE, NU T MEG, GER ANIUM AND BL ACK CHILLI B A SE NOT ES WOOD, TONK A BE AN AND ROA ST ED ALMONDS Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb Night Vision Eau de Toilette 90ml R1 650

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Ever wanted to whip out your fragrance in a room because it’s just that good? With these scents, you probably will. Aesthetically pleasing and budget-friendly, these lust-worthy options hit all the right notes Andre Wepener

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TOP NOT ES GINGER, BERG AMONT AND WHI T E ALDEHYDES HE ART NOT ES VIOLE T LE AF, SAGE AND GER ANIUM AB SOLU T E B A SE NOT ES MUSK, CEDAR, INCENSE, BALSAM FIR AND AMBERGRIS Yves Saint Laurent Y for Men Eau de Parfum 100ml R1 420

BOARDROOM BIGSHOT

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OUTDOOR EXPLORER

TOP NOT ES I TAL IAN GREEN BERG AMOT, WHI T E AND BL ACK PEPPER HE ART NOT E S SAGE AND CEDARWOOD B A SE NOT ES AMBERWOOD, C OC OA AND TONK A BE AN

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TOP NOT ES BERG AMOT AND NEROLI HE ART NOT ES OR ANGE BLOSSOM, VIRGINIA CEDAR AND CYPRIOL OIL B A SE NOT ES WOODY, LE AT HER, AMBERGRIS, AMBER, WHI T E MUSK BLOS SOM AND CEDARWOOD B A SE NOT ES AMBERWOOD, C OC OA AND TONK A BE AN

Bvlgari Man Wood Neroli Eau de Parfum 60ml R1 260

SLICK

CREATIVE

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CRYOTHERAPY

MIGHT BE THE BEST WAY TO RECOVER FROM JOINT PAIN This is what it’s like standing in a -140°C chamber 98 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020

T H E OT H E R DAY W H I L E E AV E S D RO P P I N G O N A T R A I N I N G S E S S I O N AT T H E GY M , I heard a statuesque

trainer tell his client he recently started cryotherapy to help with his recovery. Since I was between sets – checking all my social media pages and taking selfies – I took the time to Google this procedure. My knees had been bugging me, and I was desperate for any kind of relief. The images that filled my screen showed people with their heads sticking out of machines resembling sun beds except standing up and surrounded by

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y S I M O N A B R A N O W I C Z

fog. I came across testimonials from pro athletes like basketball player LeBron James and rave reviews from people with sculpted bodies who’ve probably never tasted nachos smothered in cheese in their lives. It turns out that one of the hottest fitness trends is making your body think you’re dying. That’s how cold it gets in those chambers. Allegedly it’s good for you. In a nutshell, cryotherapy is a procedure that involves standing upright in a cryo-chamber with temperatures ranging from -84°C to -124°C. The extreme cold

stimulates the skin’s temperate receptors to activate the nervous, immune and endocrine systems. All the participating systems in your fight-or-flight response activate like characters from Captain Planet. Any pain or inflammation is reduced. Your mood ring turns from a filthy brown to a sunny orange. And all of that happens in less than three minutes. Any longer and, well, you saw Titanic, right? I needed to see if it was worth the hype, so I paid a visit to a centre recommended by a friend – Kryo X. It was frequented by

reality TV stars and it was close to my apartment, so why not. After being greeted by a friendly technician, hearing about their pro-athlete clients, and getting all my safety questions answered – it’s safe unless you’re pregnant, have unmanaged hypertension, deep vein thrombosis, acute or recent myocardial infarction, uncontrolled seizures, fever, Raynaud syndrome, cold allergy, acute kidney and urinary tract diseases, open wounds or ulcers, are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or being treated for cancer – I began my first of three treatments. I stripped down to my boxers, wiped away any moisture on my body to avoid frostbite, and put on the one-size-fits-all socks, gloves, earmuffs, face mask, and Ugg-like boots the centre had provided. Then I stepped into the cryo-chamber. It was kind of like walking into a very bright walk-in freezer – initially. For my first go, the technician took it easy on me and set the temperature to -137°C. And for three minutes he made small talk with me to take my mind of my body shaking uncontrollably. You know when André 3000 chants, ‘What’s cooler than being cool? Ice cold!’ He should really update that last line to, ‘Doing cryotherapy!’ I could feel my legs quaking, my stomach tightening, and my teeth chattering by the twominute mark. At the three-minute mark, I was like, ‘Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright.’ As my body started to thaw, I felt alert, alive and aware. It was as if someone had given me an injection of sunshine, or maybe just a really good night’s sleep. Apart from all these sensations, I was most interested in how my knees felt. I do a lot of spinning classes, and my knees had been sore and tight. I did a few squats while I was getting dressed in the changing room to test them out, and my pins felt limber and pain-free. According to Kryo X’s website, after you exit the chamber, filtered blood flows back to the peripheral tissues. Now, cleaner and enriched with oxygen, nutrients and enzymes, the blood warms and enriches skin and muscles, and range of motion

increases. As I walked home, there was so much spring in my step. I leapt over a puddle in the street, and it was like bounding over all the negative drama at work. That evening, I even held the lift door open for a stranger.

I DIDN’T RECOGNISE MYSELF I went back to Kryo X two more times that week. Each time, the technician, Peter, made the temperature colder until we got down to -140°C. Now a pro, I earned the privilege to benefit from the built-in speakers inside the chamber during my treatment. My trembling turned into twerking as Christina Aguilera and Beyoncé blared in the chamber while I was being blasted with cold air. After each session, I found myself in a sunny mood (or with a ‘runner’s high’), and I felt my workouts improved – I cycled faster, lifted heavier, and focused on never checking Instagram even once during my workouts. ‘More research is still needed to fully understand the benefits of cryotherapy,’ says physical therapist Jonathan DeMatteis. ‘But clients often tell me they feel a relief of symptoms, including muscle soreness, arthritis, chronic pain and inflammation.’ During one of my visits, I chatted with a middle-aged client in the waiting area who told me that before she and her friend had cryotherapy, they could barely lift their legs due to inflammation and arthritis. According to research from Poland (the birthplace of cryo machines), cryotherapy may actually help people with depression, anxiety and insomnia, which would explain my elevated mood. And even though the US Food and Drug Administration’s website says: “This so-called ‘treatment’ hasn’t been proven to do any of these things” I would do cryotherapy again. My joints are sore again and the other day I watched the lift doors close in a colleague’s face. But at R800 a session, I may need to become a pro athlete first. – LAMAR DAWSON

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GREAT PERSONAL STYLE HA SSANI ABDUL AHI MGOYA Born and raised in Italy, and the son of Tanzanian parents, this hospitality expert and lover of vintage style has a special affinity for the ‘70s. ‘People were experimenting a lot. It was a revolutionary time and it can be seen in the clothes. I love that era because it’s iconic and genuine. It was a direct product of society at the time – a realistic reflection of it.’ 104 GQ.CO.ZA MARCH 2020