Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa April/ May 2020 | Page 8

MASTER INVESTOR
Breaking Boundaries
& Borders
The first of his name, Trevor Noah
SIDIMA MFEKU
TREVOR NOAH
B
orn out of unusual circumstances, Trevor Noah’s way
into the world was astonishing to many. A life story
very rare to find. It still amazes people how everything
about him is different from the rest. He is a son of a mixed-
race couple that dated in the 1980’s, at an intense era in
South Africa, where mixed race couples where prohibited
by the The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, Act No 55
of 1949..
His mother, Nombuyiselo Patricia Noah’s drive to go for
what she wanted, in a country where inequalities were rife and
the race card dictated everything, is often made to relate to the
life Trevor has portrayed while trying to make his name in the
entertainment industry.
“She lived in a world where nothing was hers and she
wanted her thing that she could love and that would lover her
unconditionally,” said positive thinker, Trevor Noah.
TREVOR NOAH
Age: 36 years old
Professions: Comedian,
Commentator, Actor, Television
presenter & Producer
Marital Status: Single
Famous quote: we spend so much
time being afraid of failure, afraid of
rejection but regret is the thing we
should fear most
Net worth: approximately $30 million
Books: Born a Crime
Speaking about what could have been in his mother’s mind
when making a decision to date and have a child with a white
man in an apartheid engulfed country. Noah says: “My mom,
in that moment, only thought the government says I am not
allowed to be with a white man and I will be with a white man.
She is the example that I live my life by,” he said.
Your current living conditions and circumstances aren’t, in any
way, a determination of your future. Like South African born
international comedian, Trevor Noah, it is important that people
rise above their circumstances and use every available opportunity
to invest in their future.
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APRIL/MAY 2020 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine
It was in his tender teenage years that internationally
acclaimed, successful comedian Trevor Noah started to hone
his craft while residing in the dusty streets of Soweto in South
Africa. Speaking of making lemonades out of lemons, young
Trevor used to make his comic performances from some of
his experiences as a kid, which would often look at the racial
dynamics of his native country, South Africa.
His start-up performances were sometimes games he
used to play with his friends. His skill and talent blossomed
from there, and he became one of the leading figures of
stand-up comedy in the country. Noah’s peers noted that the
young performer, who fluently speaks several South African
languages and imitate accents effortlessly, had big ambitions
for his career. His ambition was not to be a star in South Africa
alone, but to standout internationally as well.
Noah’s success hails not only from stand-up comedy. In high
school he was one of the few hustlers that were famous for
bringing all to the fun to his peers. He sold CDs at his free time
and during lunch breaks at school. Later in his life while trying
to make a cent for himself and his family, Trevor joined one of
the most scared of sectors, that not just anyone gets into but
mostly those who have lost all hopes of being successful the
traditional way. He joined the transport industry as a taxi driver.
But for him this was not because he had lost all hopes for his
future, but was still in the phase of seeking a breakthrough in
his life. All his ventures added value to his life and he is proud to
have lived through them.
“What got me where I am today was taking a chance and
doing what I loved, I think too many people focus on doing
what they think is successful versus doing what they love.
People want to be doctors, lawyers, in the entertainment
industry because of the money, and do not realise that life is
long and you are going to live this life hating it, because you
doing what you don’t love all in the name of making money,”
he says.
Noah believes that if you enjoy your life doing what you love
you do not need money more than you need the job. “Money
doesn’t make you happy,” Noah says. 36-year-old Noah says
there is nothing he has done in life that he would describe as
have been a waste of his time at any point.
“There is nothing that did not get me to this point,
everything that didn’t go well became a story to talk about
when I went well. Everything that did not go as I planned made
me what I am today and everything that went well is why I’m
here,” He says.
“What got me where I am
today was taking a chance
and doing what I loved.”
International stage
It is every local artist’s dream to feature in the international
stage of the entertainment industry. While we can vouch that
many South Africans and African entertainers are making
it in the international stage, this entertainer’s shine in the
international stage is exceptional.
Since 2009, Noah helmed his own one-man show,  The
Daywalker, which was also filmed as a documentary. Amongst
other achievements before making his name abroad, he hosted
The South African Music Awards (SAMAs). After performing
stand-up in the United States, Noah staged another one-
man show, The Racist, at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe festival.
A few of years later Noah landed another major gig, debuting
SA Real Estate Investor Magazine APRIL/MAY 2020
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