You South Africa – 22 August 2019

OSI,

FACEBOOK/DR-ZAMANI-SAUL-PAGE

Zamanihasdoneplentyof

cost-cuttingsincehe

succeededSylviaLucas

(LEFT)aspremier.RIGHT:

WithPresidentCyril

Ramaphosa.

communities. But he’s quick to add that

he’s an old hand at cost-cutting.

“I got R1 million to buy a car as [the

ANC] provincial secretary, but I used half

of it and bought a second-hand car. Be-

cause I wasn’t the premier, no one said

anything.”

Now that he’s premier, the headlines

are coming – such as when he used the

budget for luxury cars for himself and his

MECstobuy 27 ambulancesinstead.

Theprovincehasalsoadopteda zero-

toleranceapproachtocorruption.

“Ifanyoneofusiscaughtwithour

fingersinthecookiejar,weshouldn’t

expecttheANCtoprotectus.”

HestillbelievesintheANCeventhough

thepartyis riddledwithinfighting.

But,headds,thisisn’ta newphenom-

enonastheorganisationhashadfac-

tionalbattlessinceitsformation.

“Andeverytimewehadleadershipthat

couldrisetotheoccasion.Butif thesec-

retary-general[AceMagashule]andthe

presidentcontinuetospeakpasteach

other,SouthAfricanswilldoubttheca-

pabilityofthisleadership.”

WhattheANCneedsareleadersthat

lookatthebiggerpictureandputtheir

ownambitionsonthebackburner,he

believes.“Untilthenwe’regoingtocon-

tinueasa weakorganisationanda state

thatisatwarwithit -

self.Andthatscares

thehelloutofme.”

HighonSaul’sagen-

da is growing the

economy, creating

employmentandin-

vestingininfrastructure.

Healsohasplans todevelophis

province, which includessettingup

Wi-Fi hotspots for greaterinternet

access and introducingroboticsand

coding as school subjects.

S

AULgrewupwitho

uryinhislife.

Hewasraisedbyhissingle

mom, Nodayephi, in an

informal settlement in

PetrusvilleintheKaroo.His

dad,Msitheli,waskilledwhenSaulwas

sixmonthsold.

“Hewasworkingfora roadconstruc-

tioncompanyinMooiRiverinKwaZulu-

Natalwhenapparentlysomeonecame

andasked,‘WhoisMsitheli?’Andhe

slaughteredhimlikea beast,”hesays.

Thefamilystilldon’tknowwhyhisfa -

ther’slifewastakenandhiskillerwas

neverfound.

AsSaulgrewup,hismomwouldwake

himat4amtoprepareforschooland

walkhimtotheschoolgateeveryday.

“Wealwaysusedto

befirsttoarrive– we

weretherewhenthe

caretakergotthereto

unlockthegate,”he

recalls.

Hissisterrecently

askedhismomwhysheinsistedonwalk-

ingthemtoschool.

“Shesaid,‘I neverwantedmychildren

tobelikeme.I toldmyselfthatwhat

apartheidsucceededindoingtome,it

won’tsucceedwithmychildren’.”

school and “were functionally illiterate”.

His mom made a living brewing and sell-

ing traditional beer, which often got her

intotroublewiththeauthorities.

“Intheearlyhoursofthemorning

police would come to raid our home and

arrest her,” Saul says. “She’d go to prison,

come back and do it again to put food on

the table. She was a fighter.”

Saul was 14 when he became an activ-

ist and a member of the student repre-

sentative body at his high school. His po-

litical education continued when he

went to study law at the University of the

Western Cape. He has a doctorate in law

and jurisprudence and is now busy with

his doctorate of philosophy in multi-

disciplinary studies.

Since taking office, life has been hectic,

he admits. “On Saturdays, if I don’t have

a political programme, I’m sleeping.”

The father of six also enjoys watching

movies, but says, “My biggest addiction

is reading.”

Saul has three kids from a previous re-

lationship – Amanda (22), Sindi (20) and

Emeka (19) – and three younger children

with his wife, Tapsy (47): daughter Kgopi

(11), and sons Dag (8) and G’zinn (4).

Tapsy, a senior manager at the depart-

ment of social development, has been his

rock, Saul says.

“My wife is there to close all the loop-

holes. She knows the Zamani who’s not

a premier, which is good.”

When the family have downtime they

love to visit his hometown to “catch a

breather”.

Wherever he goes, people approach

him for selfies, Saul says with a chuckle

• not because he’s the premier, he adds,
  but because of his resemblance to the
  singer Seal. “Even when I was in Brazil
  I encountered that.”
  And he always obliges. After all, he’s a
  man of the people. S
  EXTRA SOURCES: M&G, SUNDAYTIMES,SABC

‘We’re dedicating

every cent to

improving lives’

ABOVE: Zamani says his mother,

Nodayephi, is a true inspiration w

made many sacrifices for her

children. RIGHT: Zamani with his

wife, Tapsy, and their children, so

Dag and G’zinn and daughter Kgo

you.co.za 22 AUGUST 2019 | (^11)