ON THE COVER: Sandile Zungu

as a black first generation entrepreneur in my family, it is my responsibility to leave a legacy by Nqobile Nene

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f you have had the pleasure of meeting Sandile Zungu, Chairperson of ZICO (Zungu Investment Company) you would know he imprints on you. Not only for an incredible mind, a magnetic personality and remarkable success, but he is also a man of style. So it was no surprise for Beads team to be ushered into his beautiful modern Durban home. Sandile credits his late wife Zodwa Zungu for an elegantly styled living room we were welcomed into. The whole house has the feel of warmth and modern elegance with enough light to make you want to stay just a little longer.

Sandile's roots are deep in KZN, with a mother from Matigulu and a father from KwaHlabisa, both north of KZN. When the two lovers met in church, they moved to Durban. Zungu was raised by working class, God-fearing parents, with Dad a factory worker, and Mom a nurse. He spent his childhood at Section B, uMlazi, a place he considers his home.

Born in 1967, a middle child of three, Sandile's upbringing was somewhat privileged. In the 60s if you had both parents formally employed and moreover, one of them being a nurse, you were considered a privileged child. Sandile recalls people would arrive at his home any time of the day for medical assistance from his mother.

“Growing up I used to admire my mother for the respect she commanded in the township. My esteem was high because I was proud to be coming from such a family," he says.

It's safe to say Sandile's educational journey from primary school was always going to lead him to greatness. Starting his primary school at Mafukuzela Primary in uMlazi, he moved to a then special school called Mafumbuka. Now, when we say special school we don't mean the one you might be thinking. Mafumbuka then was a school for geniuses. All the gifted top achieving children from local primary schools were sent to Mafumbuka. Zungu was one of those. He recalls that while at Mafumbuka there was a time when they didn't have a Maths teacher so he had to move to Vukuzakhe High School and coming from the disadvantage of not having a Maths teacher for a year in the previous school, meant he had to catch up and work harder, and that he did. He achieved the highest marks, enough to earn himself a scholarship by Shell to study Engineering.

As an average African child growing up in the township, he was inspired by only what was around him. Career options he knew were limited to teaching, police or if you do better you would study medicine. His options were limited anyway as his parent, at the time, could not afford to send him to Univesity because his big brother was already at University. He had opted to be a teacher. Proactive a person that he is, he had applied at Amanzimtoti College of Education and was confirmed placement.

When Shell offered him this amazing opportunity, he admits he knew nothing about Engineering but that wasn't going to stop him from finding out. Shell offered Zungu an opportunity to study at the University of Cape Town, but he first had to do post matric studies at Hilton College, one of KZN's prominent private high

schools.This was also paid for by Shell.

“This is where I got a good sense of what was happening in South Africa. Here I was, coming from the township and I get to this environment that had plenty. Everything was bigger and better. But instead of seeing myself as privileged, I asked myself “what about my people? People from where I come from”. That year just sharpened my consciousness." After that year he indeed went to UCT acquired his Degree in record time.

“I became an accidental engineer. Because I was sharp, I believe I could have gone to any faculty and I would have passed”

Six years after graduating and having worked for big companies such as Richards Bay Minerals and Engen, Zungu decided Engineering was not for him. He was there, he saw what was happening in the industry but was not inspired.

“The test was always in the evening after work. I would be watching the news, the most interesting segment of the news for me was the business news, where they'll be saying inflation is up or inflation is down, I became curious, I wanted to know what that meant. To understand that I decided to register BCom with UNISA, I passed that in record time. After which, in 1995 at the age of 28, I applied for my MBA with UCT. I left a paying job and went to study full time. I am the sort of person who knows how to make a sacrifice to get what I want. I am able to sacrifice time and pleasures to get what I want. I understand that if I want something I have to give something,”

Zungu's plan was to change a career within the corporate world and he thought marketing was it because during his employment, he would observe Sales Reps making a lot of money and he thought that's what he wanted. But during this MBA studies, he was persuaded that finance is the way to go. He worked for Merchant Bank for a year in corporate finance. At the end of that year the entrepreneurial bug bit.

Sandile had worked, managed and headed a number of big organizations in South Africa. He had made tons of money for them, but time had come. At the age of 30, the moment was upon him to do exactly what he had been doing for those organizations only now he was doing it for himself. That's when ZICO was founded.

“When ZICO was just starting up I received many employment offers.This is a critical time in an entrepreneur's life, this is when there is no certainty of success. I was very lucky to have a strong support system in my wife. She believed in me, she was my number one supporter, my number one cheerleader, but also my critic. In those times of confusion and hesitation, its my wife who would say to me “Sandile it took a long time to get here and I know how we rejoiced at you saying yes to running your own company, do you really want to sacrifice your dream?” and with just those words I was able to get back on track and not deferred on my dream. I thus then said to myself yes I'm starting up with ZICO, yes there's no certainty where the money is going to come from, but the question I have to answer was “Do I believe in myself”. Inside each person there are two competing voices, one says go for it, one says don't try.The decider of the one that wins

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“Inside each person there are two competing voices, one says go for it, one says don't try. The decider of the one that wins is you” On The Cover | BM

At the age of 30, Zungu started his first investment company. “In my advantage was the fact that I was young and I had the technical knowledge. I understood how business works. So I didn't have a lot of trial and errors. I have never started a business and failed.This was also because I decided to go on a less risky venture. In a holding company you invest and take a stake in successful companies, hold it for a while and sell it for a profit and create a balance sheet at the center. So by the time I started my own businesses I had a strong balance sheet so if I failed I wouldn't feel the shock too much,”

Zungu has been involved in many businesses.Amongst those businesses is a gaming company called Crazy Slots. From small, it is now probably worth about 200 Million Rands. He sold it to a gaming company called Goldrush. They started a company called Qhubeka Forensics doing forensics Investigations. The company now own 96% of Shooter and Shooter Publishing Company. Zungu Investment has just bought an ailing engineering company they've put in money, they've put in people and are turning it around.

When in business the view is different than you envisioned. Zungu was not immune to hard business times. Sometime between 2002 and 2008, there was a time when cash flow was tight and in that time the company was using so much money his numbers said at the rate the company was going, in three months' time they would be out of cash. His finance people advised him to close down the business, retrench people and manage the portfolios he had himself.

“My response was that the difference between me as an entrepreneur and him as a skilled professional was that I use my gut feeling. It helped that I have the technical skill and I know that my gut feel is not irrational. But when I know I can make it, I listen to that voice that says I can make it”

Zungu describes himself as a free-spirited person, a positive person, an optimist always looking at the brighter side of things. He is also driven and chooses not to complain, not because there is nothing to complain about but because he has learned to take charge and limit things to complain about.

Sandile says if you are going to succeed, you need to know what you are succeeding in. If you are taking a journey, you need to know where you're going because that would define the steps you take, the pace you take and what you need to carry through your journey.

He says Kwa-Zulu Natal has great opportunities still available. It depends on the level one is playing. For those playing at a high level, the question would be why are people not forming partnerships with international partners and set up shop at the Dube Trade Port for export. Why are people not forming consortiums to approach big companies to buy stake? No one is going to call people and say here are opportunities but people must look around them.“Just now the government wants to work with level 1 and 2 BBBEE so why don't you approach companies that are levels above that?” he asks.

However, Zungu does acknowledge that access to funds is still an issue as people are sent from pillar to post to access funding. The climate and environment is now less talk or discussion of such issues.

“I am not driven by money; I see money as a means to an end, an enabler for good things but not a good thing itself. If money was my driver I would have retired but I am not done. I want my grandchildren to see my picture and find inspiration in many ways. I still want to run the comrades marathon just to inspire them. If you look at international successful enterprises you will recognize that they are generational. I owe it to my future generation to build something they would take over from, especially as a black first generation entrepreneur in my family it is my responsibility to leave a legacy. I am working on it” BM