Andre has been warmly welcomed into RCW and did not hesitate to respond “positively” when asked to give us a talk on his life’s journey, which as we learnt had been fascinating, filled with highs and lows!
Born in Durban, his father (Afrikaans), married his mother (English) who could not speak Afrikaans. The common denominator – love. His father was a cabinet maker – furniture, mainly coffins for which there was a high demand in Kwa Kwa!. After passing Matric, he became an actuary – a gifted mathematician. He joined Liberty Life Insurance in 1983.
After a successful corporate career in insurance, reinsurance and information technology culminating in being appointed CEO of Hannover Reinsurance Internet Services in Germany, André moved into the professional speaking arena, teaching and speaking about business and sharing some of the world’s biggest organizations trade secrets. He was the winner of the 2015 Western Cape Toastmasters Most Humorous Speaker, and winner of the 2017 speech evaluation contest, as well as a finalist at the 10 country Southern African SADEC Nationals for both events. Passionate about South Africa and Africa, his voice has been in demand by corporates and governments alike. Clients as diverse as financial giants. Andre. did however share that on returning to Cape Town he had no bookings for five years!
He spoke of life’s biggest challenge, being diagnosed with a malignant tumour, like a black spider, just before his 60th birthday, with specialists giving him a 15% chance of survival over 5 years. Faced with the decision to hide or disclose this health issue, he decided to go public. This conjoured up a huge wave of love and support, which Andre believes carried him on a positive wave of healing after his op, especially from Glenis his wife and family. When surgeons removed a 600g “steak” out of his back, they also removed nodes. No treatment was needed after the op. He is now completely in remission. Lesson learnt, “Live life maximally every day – look and see the positivity that surrounds you.”
Michael Goldman thanked Andre for the powerful message he shared to “look and see the positivity that surrounds us”.
