JP Morgan vice-president Francois Marais lists among his hobbies performing as an illusionist, magician and fire-eater. One could be forgiven for thinking that he doesn't have a day job at the world's second-biggest bank.Marais is head of Global Security & Investigations for sub-Saharan Africa at JP Morgan, where he heads investigations into money-laundering and insider trading across the bank's sub-Saharan operations. But at home in SA he juggles his free time to volunteer to fight crime.
Between addressing residents' association meetings, popping into strangers' homes to assess their security risks and representing the security industry in its dealings with government, Marais is an active police reservist. He lectures law at the police college and holds a number of high-profile positions in the security industry, including being the SA co-ordinator of an international public-private security initiative called Project Griffin. "I'm available 24/7," he says.
One area where Marais has built up unique expertise is in advising ex patriate employees how to "survive their African experience".
"One bad incident involving an expat can affect a company's ability to attract international talent for a number of years," says Marais.
Using analysis of crime statistics and experience on the ground, Marais advises foreign employees on everything from choosing properties in relatively safer areas to buying cars that are at less risk of being hijacked. He also undertakes a lifestyle analysis and educates expats on how to avoid crime.
"If they're paranoid, we help dispel the myths," he says. "If they aren't aware enough, we help educate them."
In the past 9½ years, the bank's expat employees have had limited "incidents".
An experienced crime fighter - Marais first joined the police reserve in matric - his free presentations have helped hundreds of South Africans learn how to prevent and survive hijackings and armed robberies.
Marais also helped set up Sandton as an improvement district in 1996, focusing on three pillars that help prevent crime: keeping the area clean, green and safe. He's now doing the same in nearby Illovo.
"People tend not to think that their contribution will make a difference, but we've passed the point where we can hold government and the police accountable for crime. Unless communities pull together, there's little chance individual efforts against crime will succeed."
The SA police reserve now consists of nearly 45 000 people, most of whom volunteer to fight crime for around 24 hours a month. But in the build-up to 2010, Marais would like to see the number of reservists more than double.
"Any crime solution we come up with will have to be sustainable beyond 2010," he says.
Among his hobbies are performing as a magician and fire-eater.