I get the impression that Rob
could no longer bear living in a world where the system
favours an unscrupulous and greedy minority enjoying immense
wealth and luxury at the expense of the masses who struggle
to eke out a miserable existence.
The Cape Town based property developer was
the main shareholder of the Angels Way Estate outside Eston,
between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.
The estate is the home of the Durban Skydive Centre and
Rob was an avid skydiver.
In 2005, Taylor was caught speeding in his
Chrysler Crossfire and paid an admission of guilt fine.
On New Years Eve 2006, the same officer, Karen Diedrick-Bishop,
caught him travelling at 207kph in his silver Lamborghini
Diablo near Cator Ridge in KZN.
This time he was fined R20 000 and vowed to never speed
again. He also told a newspaper that, as a self-punishment,
he would lend the Lamborghini to the traffic officer for
a month. She turned down the offer.
Then,
in January 2010, he made headlines when he gave away
his R2m Audi R8 and R20 000 in cash to eight Congolese
car guards at the Table Mountain cable station. |
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He told the guards that he wanted them to
use the gift to help others in need. The classic pay
it forward gesture of goodwill.
At the time, he said that he wished to be
free of attachments to money or worldly things, that he
wished to live in peace with the world, and that he would
like to give most of his money away.
Since then, Taylor has donated generously
to numerous charities, opened several creches in the townships,
and reportedly donated five planes to the Durban Skydive
Centre.
But, the car guards, who initially made
a big hoohaa about starting an NGO called A Future for
All to help others in need, have since sold the car
to an Audi dealership for R1.25m and five of them have fled
the country to return to The Democratic Republic of Congo.
And yesterday, more than a year after he
gave away the car, but only eight days after his death,
as if to confirm the greed and injustice that haunted Taylor,
Terrence Aupiais, a business colleague of Rob, laid fraud
charges against the car guards.
Now that Taylor is gone, Aupiais says that
the vehicle belonged to the Angels Way Trust, of which he
is the sole trustee. He claims in court papers that Taylor
bought the car on behalf of the trust, and is challenging
the validity of the sale.
Taylor was passionate about skydiving and
parachuting, and Table Mountain was a special place for
him.
He referred to the mountain as The Portal to Heaven
and he had often parachuted or skydived from it.
It is only fitting that he chose to experience
the ultimate jump from his Portal to Heaven.
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He wanted out.
Out of his body.
Out of his mind.
Out of this unjust world.
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