http://www.drum.co.za 22 AUGUST 2019 | (^11)
‘Wearededicating
everycentto
improvinglives’
communities.Buthe’squicktoaddthat
he’sanoldhandatcost-cutting.
“IgotR1mtobuya caras[theANC]
provincialsecretary,butI usedhalfofit
andboughta second-handcar.Because
I wasn’tthepremier,noonesaidany-
t h i n g .”
Nowthatheispremiertheheadlines
arecoming– suchaswhenheusedthe
budgetforluxurycarsforhimselfandhis
MECstobuy 27 ambulancesinstead.
Theprovincehasalsoadopteda zero-
toleranceapproachtocorruption.
“Ifanyoneofusis caughtwithourfin-
gersinthecookiejar,weshouldnotex-
pecttheANCtoprotectus.”
HestillbelievesintheANCeventhough
thepartyis riddledwithinfighting.
But,headds,thisisn’ta newphenom-
enonastheorganisationhadfactional
battlessinceitsformation.
“Andeverytimewehadleadershipthat
couldrisetotheoccasion.Butif thesec-
retary-general[AceMagashule]andthe
presidentcontinuetospeakpasteach
other,SouthAfricanswilldoubttheca-
pabilityofthisleadership.”
WhattheANCneedsareleadersthat
lookatthebiggerpictureandputtheir
ownambitionsonthebackburner.
“Untilthenwe’regoingtocontinueas
a weakorganisationanda statethatis
atwarwithitself.And
thatscaresthe hell
outofme.”
HighonSaul’sagen-
da is growing the
economy, creating
employmentandin-
vestingininfrastructure.
Healsohasplanstodevelophisprov-
ince,whichincludessettingupWi-Fi
hotspotsforgreaterinternetaccessand
introducingroboticsandcodingat
schools.
S
AULgrewupwithoutanyl
uryinhislife.
Hewasraisedbyhissingle
mom,Nodayephi,inanin-
formalsettlementinPetrus-
villeintheKaroo.Hisdad,
Msitheli,waskilledwhenSaulwasjust
sixmonthsold.
“Hewasworkingfora roadconstruc-
tioncompanyinMooiRiverinKwaZulu-
Natalwhenapparentlysomeonecame
andasked‘whoisMsitheli?’andhe
slaughteredhimlikea beast,”hesays.
Thefamilystilldon’tknowwhyhisfa -
ther’slifewastakenandhiskillerwas
neverfound.
AsSaulgrewup,hismomwouldwake
himat4amtoprepareforschooland
walkedhimtotheschoolgateeveryday.
“Wealwaysusedto
befirsttoarrive– we
weretherewhenthe
caretakergotthereto
unlockthegate,”he
recalls.
Hissisterrecently
askedhismomwhysheinsistedonwalk-
ingthemtoschool.
“Shesaid,‘I neverwantedmychildren
tobelikeme.I toldmyselfthatwhat
apartheidsucceededindoingtome,it
won’tsucceedwithmychildren’.”
schooland“werefunctionallyilliterate”.
Hismom made a living brewing and sell-
ingtraditional beer, which often got her
introublewiththeauthorities.
“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
thetable. She was a fighter.”
Saul was 14 when he became an activ-
istand a member of the student repre-
sentative body at his high school and his
political education continued when he
went to study law at the University of the
Western Cape. He has a doctorate in law
andjurisprudence and is now busy with
hisdoctorate of philosophy in multidis-
ciplinary studies.
Since taking office, life has been hectic,
headmits. “On Saturdays, if I don’t have
a political programme, I’m sleeping.”
The father of six also enjoys watching
movies, but “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
withhis 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 has 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.”
Andhealwaysobliges.Afterall, he is a
manofthepeople.
EXTRA SOURCES: M&G, SUNDAY TIMES, SABC
Zamani has done
plenty of cost-cutting
since he succeeded
Sylvia Lucas (LEFT)
as premier. RIGHT:
With President Cyril
Ramaphosa.LEFT: Zamani
says his mother,
Nodayephi, is a
true inspiration
as she made
many sacrifices
for her children.
RIGHT: The
premier with his
wife Tapsy, and
their children,
sons Dag and
G’zinn and
daughter Kgopi.EMILE HENDRICKS, GALLO IMAGES/BRENTON GEACH, GALLO IMAGES/SUNDAY TIMES/MASI LOSI, FACEBOOK/DR-ZAMANI-SAUL-PAGE