MEET RONALD
Ronald Samuels, a proud South African and natural leader, has transitioned seamlessly from a distinguished corporate career to becoming a dynamic business owner. With over 30 years of experience in distribution leadership within the financial services sector across Southern Africa, Ronald has now fully embraced his role as the head of RS Consulting, while also steering the growth of his holding company, SA Karoo Industries (Pty) Ltd.
Having concluded his tenure as CEO of Botswana Life Insurance Ltd. in 2023, Ronald is now deeply invested in building RS Consulting, where he leverages his extensive expertise to provide custom-made, holistic Distribution solutions for financial services clients in Africa. His firm specializes in distribution design and optimisation, distribution leadership development, omni-channel distribution design, and providing clients distribution businesses with bespoke automation and IT solutions tailored to the unique in-country needs.
Under his leadership, SA Karoo Industries has grown into a diverse enterprise, encompassing four distinct businesses. RS Consulting leads the portfolio, offering cutting-edge consulting services across group insurance, retail, corporate, bancassurance, and fiduciary business lines, with a particular focus on distribution of financial services products on the African Continent . The second venture, Rolling Hills Farmstead, located in the Overberg region, focusses on agri-tourism and offers guest
accommodation on a working farm, in the picturesque Hemel & Aarde Valley about 90 minutes drive from Cape Town.
Ronald’s portfolio further includes Body20 studios in Paarl and Hermanus, which bring the future of fitness to life with Electro Muscular Stimulation (EMS) technology. These studios offer a revolutionary workout experience, delivering the equivalent of four hours of conventional gym training in just 20 minutes.
Beyond his business endeavors, Ronald is also a published author, having penned his memoir, The Bitter Olive, a compelling narrative of resilience and choice. His story underscores the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity and thrive.
Ronald's accolades include the CEO Leadership Excellence Award in 2023 and being named the Life Insurance CEO of the Year in Botswana in 2022, reflecting his exceptional leadership and vision in the industry.
Ronald Samuels continues to be a driving force in the financial services industry, now channeling his passion and expertise into empowering businesses across Africa and beyond.
“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.” – Roger Crawford
South Africa 1978. It is a time when draconian laws and deep-seated prejudice care little for the love and ties of family. When the colour of your skin determines where you live, who you marry and even where you sit on the bus.
This is one man’s story of a childhood that ended abruptly at the age of nine, when despite every kind of intervention, he is transplanted from his idyllic middle-class upbringing in leafy Pretoria, to the alien surroundings of the Cape Flats. Forced to leave his devastated parents, siblings, grandparents and the only life he has ever known, Ronald Samuels is adopted by a coloured family, and so begins a new chapter, one in which he will need all his stamina, resilience and grit. But as we know, it is not what is on the outside that matters. Ronald finds his inner strength and despite the odds, discovers his purpose - finding friendship and even love in his new surroundings. Reconnecting with his family and achieving in the army give him the leverage he needs to build an exceptional career.
The purchase of a guest house situated on an olive farm in the Karoo presents Ronald with an intriguing metaphor for his life story. The first fruit of an olive tree is essentially inedible, its bitterness an effective defense mechanism. However, once the olives are cured and treated not only do they become palatable, they are considered a delicacy. So too the child plucked from his home, who could have succumbed to bitterness and lawlessness, but instead, through the support, discipline and encouragement of others and an innate determination, became a significant contributor to society and an inspiration to those who have suffered the same unpardonable injustice wrought by the Apartheid system.
LISTEN TO A MEDIA INTERVIEW WITH RONALD REGARDING THE BITTER OLIVE.
RONALD IN THE MEDIA
Botswana Life, CEO ranked top during the 2022 Global Banking & Finance Awards
Botswana Life Insurance Limited PR, Communications and Marketing Manager, Gabriel Tlagae has confirmed that...
The Bitter Olive - Ronald Samuels Book Review by Simonéh De Bruin
Successful businessman Ronald Samuels’ memoir, The Bitter Olive, is an unpretentious account (much like the author I suspect) ...
Adopted during apartheid: ‘The Bitter Olive’ author recalls childhood
In an exclusive interview, Ronald Samuels details his remarkable journey which unfolded when he was adopted during apartheid.
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