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Sihle Zikalala, KwaZulu-Natal’s new economic development, tourism and environmental affairs MEC – and the man waiting to become premier after the 2019 national elections – is making himself a cup of tea in the provincial film commission’s boardroom on the 13th floor of Durban’s Musgrave Centre.
Zikalala (42), the ANC’s KwaZulu-Natal chairperson and a key player in its succession process ahead of 2019, may have dumped his trademark yellow T-shirt for an understated pearl-grey suit more appropriate for his new role in government, but he seems oblivious to the entourage and trappings that come with it. The former eThekwini city councillor puts his brew together without waiting for a handler to do it and passes the container of tea bags.
“You have to be independent and do things for yourself. You have to be able to drive yourself and do your own admin,” he says, before leading the way to a corner office with a breathtaking view of the city for a quick interview.
Zikalala was appointed in the reshuffle that saw Senzo Mchunu ousted as chairperson at the ANC provincial conference last year. In May, Mchunu was also forced to resign as premier, with the post taken up by Willies Mchunu (no relation).
Zikalala has just wrapped up a meeting with the heads of the public entities that fall under his portfolio, and that are responsible for regulating and promoting tourism, small and medium enterprises, and the film, music and hospitality industries.
His meeting with the entity heads heralds a major shake-up to boost efficiency and, in turn, job creation and economic transformation. Zikalala also plans to fast-track longstanding projects that have yet to be implemented – in particular, the Drakensberg cable car, the Durban film precinct and the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone – to get quick results in terms of job creation and increasing the number of visitors to KwaZulu-Natal.
“We need to embrace both economic growth and distribution. We need to grow the economy,” he says.
Zikalala also plans to cut red tape, which he believes has stifled economic growth along with difficulty in securing access to land because of racially based ownership and the administrative hurdles raised by the control of land by the Ingonyama Trust Board.
"People are complaining about the processes of EIAs and water licenses. We must put in place a mechanism to ensure that this is resolved with immediate effect. We will be setting up a one stop shop for licensing in the province, in the Metro and in the secondary cities,’’ he says.
"This will centralize the process of applying for permission rather than going to several different places. We must ensure that a person who wants to invest finds it easy."
Zikalala’s other priority is to “ensure distribution” of economic activity by unbundling large projects to encourage the participation of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and cooperatives.
“We need to stimulate the social economy, or second economy. We need to design opportunities for cooperatives and SMMEs. Big business even takes opportunities that are meant for cooperatives, such as school nutrition. We need to assist and coordinate small business and assist in marketing their products through initiatives like agribusiness.”
Zikalala says better value for money is needed urgently from government entities.
“There is going to be a serious shake-up. We met the boards of all the entities today. In the next two weeks, we will meet them all individually ... [and] examine the structure and functionality of each entity, and their progress insofar as whether they are moving towards attaining the goals set at the beginning of the financial year,” he says.
“We will need to be aggressive. Financial management is key. It is not acceptable to explain why you did not succeed. Rather tell us in advance that there is a problem, [so we can] address it. We will not be accepting any failure from any of our entities.”
Zikalala will also start talks with provincial treasury about how to speed up payment processes and with the private sector to provide funding for projects government has identified but does not have the money.
The province’s tourism industry – which made headlines for the wrong reasons this week, with Sodwana Bay Guest House owner Andre Slade’s online disclosure that he would not accommodate black people or government employees – needs transformation, says Zikalala.
“Tourism is the one sector that has not shed jobs and continues to create new ones. The problem with tourism is [the lack of] transformation, in terms of ownership and management. We cannot continue to have a situation where Africans in particular are only employed as general workers.”
This week, Zikalala laid charges of crimen injuria and tax evasion against Slade, who has continued to defend his racist policies, and began a process of having him evicted from the tribal land on which he is operating the guest house.
