During his admittedly modest football career back in university, Sandile Zungu says that lightning pace was his greatest attribute.
In fact, Zungu says that his speed during that heyday could be likened to that of Helman Mkhalele.
Mkhalele, affectionately known as the ‘Midnight Express’, is a legendary figure whose mere presence for Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates hit unsuspecting defences like a freight train both in Mzansi and on the continent.
ELECTRIFYING PACE
But even with his electrifying pace, Zungu agrees that he was never a serious footballer or sportsman.
Coming from a family where education precedes sports, Zungu gravitated towards the library instead of a sports field.
“I was never a professional footballer, I played soccer at university, and I played for UCT,” Zungu tells FARPost.
“I was never a professional. I played as a winger because I was very fast. I was a sprinter at school.
“If you watched Helman Mkhalele, that’s the kind of speed I had during my playing days.”
The former Hilton College student never took sports seriously, with academics taking precedence.
“I was very academic. I qualified as an engineer [completed his BSc Mechanical Engineering degree at the University of Cape Town [UCT] in 1988]. So, at school, I was always involved in the National Science Olympiads and Math Olympiads,” he says.
With education highly exalted in the Zungu household, it is perhaps no wonder that the Mlazi-born businessman was a top 10 participant in the erstwhile KwaZulu regional finals of the Old Mutual National Science Olympiad in 1983.
However, some might wonder how a self-professed bookworm and number cruncher could end up at the helm of AmaZulu, one of the country’s oldest footballing institutions.
Perhaps the key to unlocking this puzzle may be that Zungu, a childhood Orlando Pirates fan, has always been a keen follower of the beautiful game.
EASY DECISION
“It was a very easy decision. I had wanted to be in soccer for quite some time. I didn’t find the right vehicle to unlock the doors for that.
“I grew up supporting Orlando Pirates all my life. For me, the only two teams that made sense to buy were AmaZulu and Pirates.
“I knew Pirates was not for sale, so buying AmaZulu made sense because I come from KZN, and I see the passion for football in the province.
“My entire family – father, mother, and uncles are all AmaZulu. Only us – my generation – were born to the rise of Kaizer Chiefs and Pirates.
“We were attracted to those brands because they were winning. When the opportunity came to buy the team from the Sokhelas, I jumped at it,” he adds.
When Zungu Investment Company acquired AmaZulu in 2020, a speculative investor looking to make a quick buck off the world’s most popular and lucrative sport might have thought it was Usuthu’s risky investment.
SELF-MADE BUSINESSMAN
After all, for the best of two decades, they were South Africa’s yoyo club, flirting with the topflight and the lower rungs of football in Mzansi in equal measure.
Zungu is a self-made businessman who, after decades of experience in the business world, already knew how to build an organisation from the ground up.
“I did an MBA [at the UCT Graduate School of Business in 1995] after working six years as an engineer. I intended to change from engineering to marketing. I then got attracted to finance,” he explains.
That stint was followed by a corporate advisory role in a bank, and it got him keen to start something of his own.
“A trade union SATAWU hired me to run their investment company. I did it for four years, and then I went to study at Harvard [in 2000, he completed a Program for Global Leadership certificate at the Harvard Business School in Boston, USA].”
In 2000, he was given the Outstanding Business Strategy award at the 6th World Young Business Achievers finals in Florida, USA.
His name also made it into the Financial Mail’s Little Black Book, profiling South Africa’s 300 most influential blacks.
BUILDING AMAZULU
“After that, I started my company. I built the company from zero in 2002.
“Now I’m building AmaZulu for the future. It’s a project for the long haul,” he says.
Since Zungu took over, the Durban outfit has become a force at home and in Africa.
Key to the revival of Usuthu has been the ability to attract big-name professionals with established reputations in South African football.
In the recent transfer window, they signed, among others, Gabadinho Mhango from Pirates, George Maluleka from Mamelodi Sundowns, and the Kaizer Chiefs duo of Dumisani Zuma and Ramahlwe Mphahle.
Bafana Bafana star Ethan Brooks also packed his bags to eThekwini from TS Galaxy.
“We’re contributing to a soccer culture; young people must say, I want to play for AmaZulu. Already we see that. To get Rama Mphahlele and George Maluleka, it’s a great testimony,” the Usuthu supremo says.
Unlike some owners, who only rule their clubs from the boardroom, using results-based analysis to hire and fire their coaches, he has a hands-on approach.
He runs over the performances of his team with a microscope. For example, after the highs at the start of the season, he is still confident they will turn the corner now that things have become tougher.
A decade before the club, formerly known as Zulu Royals, celebrates a century of existence, Zungu is clear about his objectives for the club.
Chief amongst them is increased sporting success on the field, with the greater ambition being the elevation of Usuthu into one of the continent’s most feared and respected sides.
“I want AmaZulu to be a top-four team. Ideally, you start with AmaZulu in alphabetical order.
“If you say give me four teams in the country, you’ll give me AmaZulu and three other teams.
“It’s not going to be because we have a good profile. But it’s going to be because we’re winning games, trophies, and we play the kind of football which is watching worthy.”
On September 30, he was elected Chancellor at the Mangosuthu University of Technology. Nonetheless, the 12-year vision he cast when he took over AmaZulu remains intact.
After all is said and done, he believes, without a shadow of a doubt, Usuthu will be a force to reckon within and beyond the borders of South Africa!
