Reddy, steady, wow!

THIS past weekend my wife and I had the privilege of meeting and spending time with the closest we would come to local royalty.

- RAVI GOVENDER

I do not use that expression recklessly and I will clarify in the rest of this column why I say that.Vivian Reddy is a proud son of Kwa-Zulu-Natal. He is a philanthropist and billionaire businessman who is the founder and chairperson of Edison Power.

He was not born into wealth. His father was a teacher, and Reddy was the youngest of nine children.

I would say that he received his wings to fly at the age of 16, when he was chosen to represent South Africa at a boy scout jamboree in Japan.

He also reached out to the moon, because during that adventure, he met the person who would become his lifelong inspiration. Indeed, the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong, would have been excited to discover that the then 16-year-old lad would become a legend too.

Reddy reached his own aeronautical achievement through sheer dint of ambition and hard work.

And | am certain that he is now the inspiration for thousands of starry-eyed teenagers.

Well, I reached pretty close to the moon on Saturday when I attended Reddy’s celebration of life at the magnificent R3,4 billion Oceans Mall in uMhlanga. It took place at the infinity sky deck on the 30th floor.