Hello and Welcome to my website
IT'S ALL ABOUT IMPLEMENTATION, IMPLEMENTATION, IMPLEMENTATION AND MORE IMPLEMENTATION. And I want to do my bit.
WHY THIS WEBSITE? IT'S ALL ABOUT "IMPLEMENTATION"
I hope you will find this website about STRATEGY + ACTION = IMPLEMENTATION and its advertised services useful.
The main aim of this website is to make explicit my committment to transformation and change in South Africa. In fact, it's more than that. I agree that there is a definite need for South Africans to unite under clear and acceptable goals in order for transformation to work. I further agree that we must all pull together to help the miracle in South Africa to continue.
But the question is HOW DO WE DO IT? HOW DO WE ENSURE IMPLEMENTATION AND SERVICE DELIVERY in business and government alike?
Yes, our hearts are in the right place and we have the country's constitution and bill of rights on our side - BUT still we are failing to deliver even the most basic of services in our country.
Well, I am not going to stand on the side-line and complain or throw unnecessary stones. With this website I am stepping forward BOLDLY to make my skills available to the country. In fact I have always done so, but not in the way I am doing now.
I am a patriot, Yes. But I am also a business person. So, a unique combination of my skills and a small fee is what I am looking at. And then we can begin to seriously fix our country. "Nothing for nothing" as they say. So let's talk.
BIOGRAPHICAL & PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
DIVERSE & ECLECTIC
I am only 54 years old, but I have been busy. I have gone from a Fitter & Turner tradesman to Cleric to Deputy Director-General of Scorpions to CEO of an Engineering company to Professor to Consultant and Business Entrepreneur. And all here in South Africa.
I have acquired experience across a wide range of sectors including: Government, Private Sector Business; Education; and as a shopfloor worker and Tradesman. And I know what IMPLEMENTATION means across all these sectors.
CURRENT ACTIVITIES
Founder and Chairman - Ruben Richards Foundation - A South African nonprofit organisation (NPO 116-249) www.rubenrichardsfoundation.org.za or www.rrf.org.za
Peace negotiator with criminal gangs in South Africa see BBC World News clip ( click here to view) and also German Media coverage ( click here to view )
Company Director
PAST ACTIVITIES
CEO Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry
CEO Globe Engineering Works, Cape Town
Visiting Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of Public and Development Management (P&DM), Wits University, Johannesburg
ADVISOR: Engineering sector - focus on scarce and critical skills (Johannesburg)
Consultant & Entrepreneur
BORN, RAISED AND TRAVELLED
Born in Cape Town. Studied and lived internationally (mid-1980's to early 1990's).
Lived in Johannesburg (1995-2006).
Currently back in Cape Town but commuting all over.
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
PhD (Univ of Cape Town); BD (Zurich, Switzerland); MTh (Michigan, USA); BSocSc (Univ of Cape Town)
Mechanical Engineering National Technical Certificate 5 - Athlone Technical College, Cape Town
Facilitation of Strategic Planning - Church Community Leadership Trust
Project Planning and Execution
POSITIONS PREVIOUSLY HELD
Deputy Director-General - Scorpions (National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa)
Executive Secretary - Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Visiting Professor - Albion College, Michigan-USA; Wits Graduate School of Public and Development Management
Lecturer - Wits University, Johannesburg
Tutor to academically disadvantaged students - University of Cape Town
PUBLICATIONS
BULLETS OR BALLOTS: The ultimate solution to crime and unemployment in South Africa (published 2010 by Mutloatse Arts Heritage Foundation [formerly Skotaville Press]) For more information and reviews see http://www.rubenrichards.co.za/wmenu.php
2 Billion Strong - A regenerative Solution to building sustainable African cities (Eds. Gita Goven, Ruben Richards, Alastair Rendall) Reygan Publishers, Cape Town, 2012
AFRICA POISED FOR ABUNDANCE AND PLENTIFUL JOBS: The entrepreneurial gift of rapid urbanisation - Zambia Institute for Public Policy Analysis
South Africa's Skills Crisis - a paper presented at the 1st Scarce Skills Conference in Cape Town 2008 ( click here )
Upcoming: TRANSFORMATION AND CHANGE: The Survival Tool Kit for South African Executives and Senior Management.