Writing
I offer my services as a writer of non-fiction books, articles and reports. I have extensive experience of writing. My writing has been published in many genres. These include: business and investment, the green economy, renewable energy, history, travel, food, politics, publishing, education and sport.
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I am available to write
• histories, including corporate histories
• memoirs or a biography
• a long report or an annual report
• public relations copy
• articles (subjects as above, and more)
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My credentials as a writer
I have been writing full-time since 1997. I have written annual journals on the investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces for many years. Published by Global Africa Network, the journals are popular with the economic development departments of provinces, some of which have commissioned more detailed investment productions (for example on tourism in the province or on the potential particular district municipalities). I have thus gained detailed knowledge of the economies of every part of South Africa.
There have also been history books and educational textbooks. As a freelance writer, I have written articles on a very wide range of subjects. In my time as a business writer, I have gained extensive experience in writing articles for corporate clients.
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History
Just Imagine. The story of Mike Msizi, the Tsitsikamma Mfengu and the Tsitsikamma Community Wind Farm was written on assignment for renewable-energy company Cennergi after I was introduced to the CEO of that company by the Danish Ambassador to South Africa. The book was designed by Sean Robertson while the cover design and the modern photographs were provided by Stefanie de Beer.
There have also been books on the history of Grey High School, the Cape Town suburb of Observatory, Langa Cricket Club and Juta & Company, the publishing house. The Juta manuscript was accepted but the book is still to be published. In 2004 I contributed seven biographies to Penguin’s Great South Africans: General Jan Smuts; Eugene Terreblanche; Chief Albert Luthuli; Robert Sobukwe; Danny Jordaan; Cecil John Rhodes; JBM Hertzog.
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Education
I have been involved in textbook writing with Maskew Miller Longman and Pearson. I wrote the Teachers’ Guide for Grade 4 History and Geography and was the co-author of English Home Language Grade 11 X-Kit Achieve! and a Grade 12 book of exam scripts and memoranda. I taught English and History for 14 years and was the headmaster and director of a night school for adults for 12 years.
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Business
Since 2008 I have been writing (and more recently, editing) annual journals on business and investment covering every South African province. Every economic sector has been covered in my research and writing. A book covering all of South Africa is also published every year.
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TradeInvest Lagos. A guide to business and investment in Lagos State (Project manager, editor and principal author, Africa Investment Publishing Ltd) in 2008 was followed by TradeInvest Nigeria and TradeInvest Kwara, another state in Nigeria. I began writing a series of annual print publications about the economy of each South Africa’s nine provinces at this time, together with South African Business, published by Global Africa Network. Targeted investment journals for the Northern Cape, Free State and Mpumalanga provinces have been written and edited on assignment.
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Research for these books has given me a very good understanding of the details of economic development in every region in South Africa.
Sectoral overviews typically covered:
• Agriculture
• Banking and Financial services
• Business Process Outsourcing
• Construction and Property
• Education and Training
• Energy and Renewable Energy
• Engineering
• Manufacturing
• Mining
• Oil and Gas
• Telecommunications
• Transport and Logistics
• Tourism
• Water
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In addition to these regular overviews, every publication carried at least one Special Features which I wrote. A small selection of topics include: the Square Kilometre Array Telescope, Chinese interest in mining, the game-hunting industry (Northern Cape) the role of ports in the economy, a focus on a Big Five of Tongaat Hulett, Hulamin, Unilever, Bell Equipment and Toyota (KwaZulu-Natal) Sappi’s big investment in new technologies (Mpumalanga) the tourism events industry, rural development (Eastern Cape) Sasol’s expansion plans, rural development, creative industries (Free State) new rail lines for agricultural exports, the importance of logistics, the booming town of Rustenburg (North West) Medupi power station, De Hoop Dam (Limpopo) exciting new architecture, railway workshops boom, new investments in manufacturing, Gautrain, acid mine drainage (Gauteng) exports, the maritime industry, Stellenbosch (Western Cape) funding Africa’s infrastructure drive, the Southern African renewable energy private producers’ programme, SA after 20 years of democracy (SAB).
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For the website www.frontiermarketnetwork.com, I wrote feature-length articles on a wide variety of topics including African infrastructure, African trade finance, the concept of the aerotropolis, the renewable energy industry and conducted interviews with Spanish Consul-General and Danish and Swedish investors and investment bodies. On the invitation of the Danish Embassy in South Africa, I travelled to Denmark on a water study-tour and filed more than ten stories about water and related Green Economy issues.
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Energy
I also travelled to Denmark on energy-study tours, courtesy of the Danish Embassy who added me as a journalist to touring parties comprising mostly South Africans who might invest in Danish technology. I was an exchange student to Denmark directly after school and consequently speak Danish.
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Apart from writing regularly about energy and renewable energy for the business and investment journals, my book on the Tsitsikamma Community Wind Farm has given me detailed insights into the sector.
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Public relations
For Global Africa Network in a freelance capacity, I sometimes write material for clients who don’t have publish-ready material. I have written articles for Transnet Engineering for inclusion in publications such as Eastern Cape Business. The pages were branded with the TE logo. I visited workshops in Cape Town, Uitenhage and Durban, conducted interviews and wrote up my experiences. (see pdfs)
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Freelance contributor to:
Financial Mail (South Africa), The Weekender, Mail & Guardian, Sunday Independent, Sunday World, Cape Argus, Cape Times, The Times, Sunday Times, SA Cricket Action, Sports Illustrated (SA), Wisden Cricket Monthly, The Sunday Times and The Observer, (UK), Inside Sport (Australia), Indian Express and Hindustan Times (India). Subjects include a play about WP Schreiner, elections in Guyana, the Italian village of Mandela, cricket, cricket history, braais, hockey, rugby, dressage champion, JM Coetzee and cricket, yachting, Charles Fortune, kite-flying, profile of soccer club owner, golf in Wales, food, travel in West Indies, nation-building and Cape Town’s Olympic bid. Book reviews for Cape Argus and Mail & Guardian.
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Interested in my writing services?