About
Software developer with 40+ years of building things that work — starting with sewers in the 1980s and ending up with code in the 2020s. The arc makes sense if you squint.
Born in 1962 in Kimberley — a city most famous for a very large hole in the ground, which is either a tourism asset or a cautionary tale about taking a problem too far. Since 1989, Cape Town has been home, which is either a lifestyle choice or evidence that the mountain is unreasonably persuasive.
My professional story began in civil engineering, where I spent 11 years (1985–1996) as a Civil Engineering Technician. I learned systematic thinking, attention to detail, and that management will cheerfully label a productivity improvement as "non-productive" if they didn't ask for it first.
Case in point: I built a sewer design program that compressed a 1–2 week task into 1–2 hours. The project notes record that productivity "increased noticeably despite management concerns." I later transitioned to software full-time, which felt like the correct conclusion to draw.
In 1996 I made the move permanent. Since then: billing systems for South Africa's biggest telecoms operators, fraud detection for Vodacom, enterprise Cisco provisioning systems touched by British Telecoms and New York State, team leadership, and — most recently — a handful of side projects aimed squarely at problems in my own house: the budget, the meal plan, the training week. Small, self-contained, and answerable to no roadmap but mine.
I describe myself as a generalist specialist: enough breadth to understand the full picture, enough depth to be dangerous. The civil engineering background helps — both disciplines reward systematic thinking, both punish shortcuts, and in both, the ugly parts are underground and nobody notices them until something breaks.
The code either works or it doesn't. Same principle applies to people. Say what you mean, build what you say, ship when it's ready.
Four decades of experience means four decades of learning what not to do. The lessons stack. So does the respect for craft.
My vision is to leave a legacy; my mission is to give with all that I am. This has been in every CV since 1995. It still means what it says.
EC-Council, 2015 — yes, it's a real certification. No, it doesn't mean what it sounds like at a dinner party.
2014
UNISA, 1993–1995 · OO Design and Development with Abstract Data Types
Pretoria Technikon, 1983–1985
UNISA, 2008 · First year modules completed · Quantitative Management
This is accurate and I'm leaving it in.
As an Enneagram Type 5, I prefer to understand a problem thoroughly before solving it. This is either a virtue or an occupational hazard, depending on the deadline.
My development philosophy is straightforward: clean, readable code over clever code; proven approaches over fashionable ones; tests that test the right things rather than tests that merely exist. I embrace AI-assisted development as a force multiplier — not a replacement for the judgment and craftsmanship that only comes from having made the mistakes yourself.
I also believe the world needs more software that does exactly what its users need, built by people who understand that "enterprise" is not synonymous with "good." Most of what I build in my own time is an argument for that.
Forty-plus years in, what I enjoy hasn't changed much since the sewer program in the 1980s: building things. Hands-on development and architecture — designing the system, then writing it. I still like the part where you open the editor.
I've led teams, run recruitment, and developed engineers into specialists. I was good at it, and the results are on the CV. But given the choice, I'd rather be the one building. That isn't a retreat from responsibility — it's knowing which part of the work I do best, and at this stage that matters more than the title on it.
So that's the work I'm looking for: building and architecting software — on my own products, and on other people's.
Based in Cape Town, South Africa since 1989. The mountain is magnificent. The traffic is character-building.
I work remotely, from here. It's how I do my best work — after four decades I know the conditions I need, and a quiet room is most of them. What replaces a desk in your office: video for anything that needs a face, working hours that overlap yours, and someone who answers. A kickoff or the occasional visit is no trouble; a standing commute is not the arrangement I'm after.
Remote — worldwide, time zone SAST (UTC+2).
Whether you need a full-stack application, a mobile solution, or an architect who will also write the code — I'd like to hear about it.