First Rand co-founder and former CEO, Rain mobile network founder, sports fanatic, art lover, unmitigated optimist, ace reader, off-the-beaten-track traveller and prolific concert-goer – it’s no wonder Paul Harris is one of the most interesting guys around.
What’s the best book you’ve read in the past year? And why?
Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker … facts and rationality trump emotion and identity politics.
How do you keep fit?
Gym, walk, stretch.
Weekday, lowkey restaurant go-to? What do you order?
Pasta at Mastrantonio in Illovo, Johannesburg.
Artwork you’ll always love, and why?
The Death of Afrikaans (2021) by Willem Boshoff – a massive granite monument to about 14,000 Afrikaans words that are in danger of falling out of use. It is a comment on a uniquely South African language that is the cherished mother tongue of 6.5-million South Africans.
What do you regret most?
Not learning to play a musical instrument.
The one unusual item you can’t live without?
Golf clubs.
Who was your high school celeb crush?
That was too long ago!
Three songs that you’d take to a desert island?
Loretta Lynn’s Coal Miner’s Daughter (it reminds me of my parents), The Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up and Johannes Kerkorrel’s Halala Afrika.
Top image: Paul Harris, FirstRand co-founder. Image supplied.
