The average person still has a very limited understanding of the long dirt road trekked by computers in South Africa between the 1980s and the present – where computers define the quality of all our lives.
Hyde Park resident, business entrepreneur, and technology educationalist Pravin Maharaj still recalls how Steve Jobs took on the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in 1984. Maharaj shared his journey with technology since the early era of computers when the screens were still in black and white – and the hardware large and clunky.
“If someone told me that we will have Hollywood-movie-quality streaming services unfolding in virtually every sphere of human existence, I would not have believed that in the 1980s,” said Maharaj. “At that time in the early 80s, the education sector didn’t quite realise the phenomenal potential of computers. Hence, that gave us the space to develop solutions that the Technikons were creating three-year courses. We became South Africa’s first institution to administer a full three-year qualification in programming.”
Maharaj regards humanity to be in a transformative era which he calls The Fifth Age of Human Kind, which is determined by four principles, namely: responsivity, inclusivity, sustainability and equitability.
“When these four principles are brought together, we can literally address the challenges of this, and take South Africa into an era of radical abundance,” Maharaj gleamed. “We must not downplay that we’re in the age of human intelligence (HI). We mustn’t lose sight of the fact that when we begin to manage and structure our lives through artificial means, then the whole of humankind will find time to reorganise their lives.”
Maharaj, now in his fifth year since leaving Kwa-Zulu Natal, enjoys how moving to Sandton has positioned him and his family at the heart of progress in South Africa.
“I love it here because I’m at the centre of the action, and decision-makers: I have the ear of credible voices across the strata of human activity in South Africa,” said Maharaj. “that allows us to network with intellects, and to understand the nature of South Africa: the churn, the opportunity, and the road ahead.”
Defining the Fifth Age of Human Kind, Maharaj said this:
“The fifth age of humankind is more than just information, it’s the transforming of information into real-life scenarios, situations and solutions,” Maharaj concluded. “So often, we hear everything that tends to go wrong; but, in reality, we’re sitting in the greatest opportunity ever in our human history. I think that’s the message that needs to go out very clearly, far and wide.”
In 1995, Maharaj’s Technikon became the first institution in South Africa to have papers moderated through the internet – with the University of Oxford’s delegacy of local exams. Now, he entrusts his legacy to his children: Sha, Akshay, Shekhar and Ashe Maharaj – all of whom are impressively working on enhancing Earth’s technological future emergent.
Related articles: Sandton-born and raised student takes over national radio
Annual Charity Golf Day raises funds and spirits
