Page 14 - MiNDSPACE Issue 2 2022 - Old Mutual Corporate

interview impactSPACE
agility, the way it develops and responds to unique requirements. For instance, it developed the world’s first high-energy groundnut protein supplement that requires no refrigeration, which is critical in disaster environments. ‘Innovation comes from learning by doing,’ Sooliman says. ‘The lifeblood of any successful organisation is striving to constantly improve outcomes.’
STEPPING INTO A
LEADERSHIP VACUUM
In the three decades since he founded GOTG, it has extended its scope far beyond responding to natural disasters and man-made conflicts.
In South Africa, it has increasingly filled the vacuum left by government – almost acting as a parallel structure. ‘I hear that all the time,’ Sooliman says. GOTG fixes hospitals, schools and clinics. Sinks boreholes or dispatches water tankers when taps run dry. Dispatches convoys with feed for livestock on farms in drought- stricken areas. Agility is key, he remarks. The foundation goes where it’s called and where it can help. This takes many forms, even procuring sniffer dogs for SAPS.
I remember chatting to Sooliman in
the closing months of 2020. The country
was in lockdown. It was way before
vaccinations were a reality in South Africa
and Covid-19 was cutting a swathe
through businesses and families. He was
crisscrossing the country trying to plug the
gaping holes in South Africa's pandemic
readiness – assisting with everything from
food parcels to refurbishing hospitals to
acquiring oxygen machines and delivering personal protective equipment to desperate (and fearful) health workers. Later, GOTG became instrumental in oiling areas of our halting vaccine roll-out.
Then, two other debilitating crises hit. The first was what Sooliman calls the ‘despicable’ wave of unrest and looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng last year. The second was this year’s floods in his home province – an ‘angry sea of water’ that swept away homes and people and obliterated infrastructure.
Again it was the GOTG teams in their dark green T-shirts that hit the ground running, taking over the role of provincial and national emergency response structures. For a man who prides himself on the agility of his organisation and specifically its logistical capability, Sooliman cannot hide his irritation at inefficiency.
IT’S ALL ABOUT SYSTEMS
‘When I speak to government, I tell them you don't understand three words – urgency, emergency and disaster. Your policies and bureaucracy are restrictive and obstructive. You can't take three or four weeks to discuss what to do when instant intervention is required. It’s all about systems and their systems are a total disaster. We can be on the ground within minutes. We’ve got stock on hand. We have teams on the ground. We've got vehicles.
‘There was no drinking water in KwaZulu-Natal over the Easter weekend because nobody had expected the disaster. Manufacturers ran out of bottles for water. Nobody
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