Champion South Africa

Champion South Africa

Ashraf Garda, SAfm Radio host

Ashraf Garda, seasoned Programme Director and MC, is a multiple award winning broadcaster with many years of media experience under his belt. He is a former host of SAfm Radio, which was awarded ‘Best Weekend Show’ at the MTN Radio Awards. Ashraf was also voted ‘Best News and Actuality Presenter’ at the MTN radio Awards, and he is a recipient of the Turquoise Harmony Institute Media Award (Turkey). To complete his cycle of versatility, he has been invited to be an analyst on international channels, such as CNN, AL Jazeera, and CBC TV: Canada.

Ashraf is the chief driver behind the project titled Champion South Africa – a nation building movement with the vision to move South Africa from a mid-table nation to a champion nation. #ChampionSouthAfrica identifies and elevates champions and facilitates networking opportunities to uplift and create more champions across the nation. This project, along with its podcast titled ‘Champion People Build Champion Nations’, is a movement which celebrates the champion mindset as a crucial tool for fostering winning citizens and a winning nation – a project that is great for team building, kickstart events, and organisations that need assistance in adopting a champion mindset.

Key takeaways to listen out for in this podcast:

• Life’s journey is never an A to B trajectory. For example, Ashraf started out in the fashion and fabric industry before moving into community radio – the rest is history. It’s all about finding your passion and using it to make a positive impact on society.

• When you start out in broadcasting and media, you may not have a huge audience. This is why it is important to carefully look at dynamics, figure out what works and what doesn’t, and cater to what the public actually wants and needs – it’s a process, not a race.

• Champion SA is a personal commitment to building optimism in the country. We celebrate in many ways, but we often don’t celebrate individuals as actual ‘champions’. We need to identify the champs in our nation, uplift them, and tell their stories to inspire others – inspire ‘championness’ in people.

• Having a champion-thinking mindset involves linking personal success to the country’s success. It’s all about collective participation, synchronicity between all pillars, creating conducive environments for productivity, and partnering with strategic partners to identify and solve critical issues.

• We need to speak about things that truly matter – especially those individuals who have an established platform and influence. We need to

push the envelope and see how farwe can go.

• Entrepreneurship needs to begiven a front seat in our country– it needs to be a part of thenation’s DNA for empowering theeconomy. The government cannotdo the hard work all on their own.

• Government and big businessplayers need to be ‘enablers’ andassist startups where possible.There needs to be easier accessto becoming an entrepreneur tocreate a strong entrepreneurialculture in SA.

• Economically, it’s been difficultlately. We are a developing nation.So we are a unique case studywhich requires unique processesand procedures in order to seesignificant growth.

• Support is vital right now, on allfronts. Take note of the fact thatwe are all experiencing some sortof ‘pain’ at present. Not everyonehas been ‘infected’ with the virus,but we are all ‘affected’ by it.Supporting one another is part offostering a champion mindset.

• It is important to have difficultconversations, especially withthought leaders. This will providefood for the mind.

In this Business Unusual Podcast, Fiona Wakelin, Group Editor at Topco Media, chats with Ashraf Garda on themes surrounding success, building champions, and the media’s impact on society. Ashraf talks passionately about surviving the Covid-19 pandemic, partnering with strategic partners, and how South Africa has the potential to grow into a winning nation.