Open letter from Hennie du Plessis
CEO Bytes Healthcare Solutions

Dear customer

Issues such as crime, power outages, fuel price hikes, high inflation, higher interest rates, the problems in Zimbabwe, xenophobic violence, and so on, are already old news around the dinner table (except maybe for fuel prices and interest rates – we have not seen the last of these, I reckon).  To open any newspaper, or to spend a useless hour trapped in traffic, or to speak to staff who live in underprivileged areas, are enough to make one worried and maybe even despondent about our country.

We were fortunate, recently, to spend ten days in Europe.  Summer in Venice and on the Greek isles is wonderful.  Tourists are joyful, there is a playful mood about, crime is not a worry, everything is so well organised and disciplined, life is a big vacation (they do pay EUR1.50 – over R18 – for a litre of fuel in Germany, but that is not the point here).  When one is there, one can understand that people there do not really understand what is happening here, or care very much, to be sure.  It makes you wonder what it will be like to live there.

And then, when we came back, I picked up a copy of “The South African Story” published by The International Marketing Council of South Africa (visit www.imc.org.za).  I read that SA engineer George Pratley’s famous putty was used in the construction of the Apollo 11 landing craft that helped Neil Armstrong become the first man on the moon.  I also discovered that SA engineer Rory Byrne was the designer of the chassis construction used by Ferrari.  In 2005, Barclays spent R30 billion to buy an interest in ABSA, and just earlier this year the Chinese did a similar transaction with Standard Bank.  Multi-nationals Barclays, JP Morgan, Lufthansa and Microsoft run their call centre operations out of South Africa and call centre deals worth R933 million have been secured since 2004, with more to come.  And yes, the famous Kreepy Krauly, still an international market leader, is a local invention, and the world’s tallest hotel, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, was built by South African construction firm Murray & Roberts.  And of course, the world’s first successful heart transplant was done right here.

These are impressive facts, and there are hundreds more.  For me personally, I then thought, what is it that makes the difference?  I like the fact that winters in Pretoria are so mild – no howling winds that drive sleet and snow down your throat in sub-zero temperatures.  I also like the fact that I can drive into the countryside, and within one hour I will be in the almost untouched wilderness of the bushveld, where the peace and quiet of a sunset will shut you up in wonderment.  I also quite like the fact that (even in winter) I can take my shoes off and feel the lawn in my garden.  This stuff is in our blood, man.  I do not believe one can go away and not feel a profound sense of loss.

Kind regards

Hennie du Plessis
CEO