Ethics

I will also forever be indebted to Reuters for the opportunity it gave me to learn, see the world and connect with some of the greatest people in journalism. What were the odds of someone from the desperation of a South African township making it into the Reuters Graduate Programme? It happened for me in 1997, three years after the end of apartheid. 

The experience and the tutelage I got from the likes of Nick Moore, Rick Norsworthy, Keith Stafford, Paul Majendie, Roger Crabb, Doug Hamilton, Colin McKinnon and Jeremy Lovell - (we had a great time in Cape Town, where I shook President Nelson Mandela’s hand for the first time in 1999) - is what I hold most dear. It gave me a foundation to contribute towards an understanding about the South Africa we wanted to build, must build and should build as we pursue the dream cherished by our founding president, Madiba. 

It is with Reuters that I got to fulfill my dream of working in New York, to cover big finance. I can go on and on, but the values Reuters instilled in me make those who now help me edit Business Report - South Africa’s largest financial daily - every best bit fortunate, because they form the core of what drives us every day. 

And that’s 14 years with the Baron. ■