To the Stellenbosch area near Cape Town home to Roné Silke, today’s Sovereign Story subject. Roné is Senior Business Development Consultant in the South Africa office and we caught up with her on a typically busy day when she was “on the road”.
Roné did not want to reveal exactly when she was born nevertheless told us that she had a fabulous 40th birthday party “relatively recently”. Living in and around the gorgeous Stellenbosch area some 45 minutes drive from bustling Cape Town, Roné graduated in 2005 from the local university with an LL.B. law degree.
Having completed her education, Roné spent the next two years doing her articles following which she became an attorney and conveyancer of the High Court in South Africa.
Having studied and then successfully practised law for 8 years Roné decided to change direction in August 2012. She joined a Mauritius based corporate and trust structuring business and was their sole representative in South Africa for three years. Her role was to represent the firm singlehandedly, whilst staff travelled there from Mauritius regularly. Roné remembers fondly her own visits to the island on several occasions.
Thus, Roné gained considerable, relevant industry experience proving that she was dedicated having worked alone during her employment by the Mauritian business. Looking for a bigger challenge and more solutions to offer her clients, Roné decided to join Sovereign Trust (South Africa) in June 2016 and has never looked back. In that time, she has proven herself to be an invaluable asset to the office.
Continuing to spend much of her time in the Stellenbosch area, Roné concentrates on the company and trust business rather than the pensions side. The vast majority of her clients are South African resident business owners; generally, they fit into two separate streams. One group typically comprises successful local business owners expanding their businesses internationally. . The second cohort includes entrepreneurs such as Intellectual Property developers seeking to structure ownership correctly.
Roné enjoys the opportunity to interact with other Sovereign offices. We asked with which locations she worked and she answered by reading out an almost complete list of the network! As she explains, her clients look for well thought out, bespoke, compliant solutions always, she adds a little mischievously, at the best price. Thus the answer could come from anywhere around the extensive global office network.
Roné regularly attend annual Sovereign Conferences and enjoys meeting colleagues from around the world in person. Apart from the learning experience gained from the long days in the classroom, she enjoys social interaction in the down time and many deep business relationships developed across the group over the years.
Devoted to her family, Roné has been married to Michael for twelve years. They have two children, Ella (9) and Michael (7) and a ‘fur’ baby called Archie, who is a very busy Beagle.
The couple have always been hugely active and are dedicated to the outside. They took this to the max on honeymoon at the death-defying Victoria Falls Devil’s Pool. It is stunning but not something for the faint-hearted – look online!
More than a decade on, the pair quench their thirst for adventure by undertaking strenuous activities. A recent trip to Portugal saw them canyoning. Roné puts this activity down to a mutual love for the outdoor life and never wanting to sit still for too long. She is also keen on mountain biking and water skiing – and accompanying Archie when the pair runs in the nearby mountains.
Braais (South African barbeques) with friends and family are a favourite and Roné is an avid reader boasting an eclectic range of likes ranging from novels and everything in between.
All this talk of sport and the outdoor life made us a little reticent to ask whether Roné enjoys the wine for which Stellenbosch is deservedly world famous. She smiles widely, “oh jah” she exclaims in that unique Afrikaans drawl “we love it – especially MCC” (the local champagne style wine produced using the Méthode Cap Classique).
What a pleasure it was to chat to Roné. Aiming for success in everything she does this energetic self-starter is a delightful person to know. Thank you for your time talking to us; we wish you and the family all the very best and continued success in your career. Carry on exploiting the outdoor life – and do not forget to relax over a little MCC from time to time. Send over a glass. Cheers.
