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Zamani Saul: We need to show our people we are not in leadership to drown in executive luxuries

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Northern Cape premier Zamani Saul. Picture: Tebogo Letsie
Northern Cape premier Zamani Saul. Picture: Tebogo Letsie

The Northern Cape premier, who is garnering attention for cost-cutting, says it’s time leaders became social activists.

The ANC’s Zamani Saul has been the topic of many a dinner table and watercooler conversation since starting his tenure as Northern Cape premier in May.

The chitchat has taken a different turn from the usual complaints about politicians in the governing party as Saul continues to walk his talk about implementing austerity measures.

Saul has hit the ground running since his election to office and made good on his cost-cutting promises, from ridding his province of the blue light brigade to doing away with red carpets and any other display of VIP treatment at events.

He has also used the budget for purchasing new cars for MECs to buy ambulances for the province.

“We have to show the people of the Northern Cape that we are a nonconformist leadership,” he tells City Press in an interview last week.

“Institutional practices and protocols are what make us, the elected leadership, feel like royalty. We are going to rebel against a system that seeks to distance us from our people.”

He describes the Northern Cape as South Africa’s capital of poverty, citing the province’s high unemployment rate and dependence on social grants.

“Fifty-four percent of all the households here in our province are poor. In effect, this means that every second house is a poor household. And about 50% of the youth here are unemployed,” he says.

This explains why he believes that provincial government should work proactively to overcome the socioeconomic issues faced by most communities.

“We are trying to defy these statistics by being ordinary social activists. To do so, we are taking conscious or deliberate decisions to put ourselves first at less of an advantage. This will enable us to create a much bigger space to address the two huge challenges of unemployment and poverty that we face.”

Acknowledging the scepticism citizens have towards government, Saul says he believes it is time for change.

He makes mention of the various commissions of inquiry that have been set up over the past year to investigate corruption, saying that the revelations made at these hearings have “dented the trust between government and the people”.

“As a result, the immediate challenge confronting us as the Northern Cape provincial government has been to ensure that we build a relationship of trust with our people. We need to show them that we are not an elected leadership that occupies positions just to drown in executive luxuries,” Saul says.

Although many have lauded him for his work, others believe he is a populist leader who only wants to gain political points.

Obakeng Lechuti, the EFF’s provincial spokesperson, has said: “The people around him are not happy about him cutting off tenders. They are not happy about the other things he wants to implement.”

But the red berets in the Northern Cape have said that they have no qualms with Saul, but will always hold him accountable.

“We do not have a problem with how the premier is operating. We even released a statement saying that Saul is implementing our policies as the EFF,” said Lechuti.

Saul believes he is “different” because he is doggedly sticking to his goal: to sort out the province’s socioeconomic troubles.

“There is nothing populist about being practical. You give practical responses to practical problems. I am in Petrusville at the moment, where people have lost all hopes of finding a job. Meeting and speaking to them, I have practical insight into this thing daily.”

The premier visited the small town on Mandela Day, July 18, to encourage matriculants to do their best during their last few months of high school.

He urged them to break the curse of generational poverty in the community by investing more time in their studies.

“Nothing breaks poverty but education. If you don’t get a quality education, your children are likely to be poor as well, which means there will be intergenerational poverty in the family,” he told the students.

The dusty streets of Petrusville hold a special place in Saul’s heart: he was born and bred in this town.

Growing up here was not easy. I was brought up by a single parent. My mom never went to school; she has never had a teacher stand in front of her.

“My dad also never went to school. He was killed in Mooi Rivier in KwaZulu-Natal when we were still very young. So, my mom had the responsibility of raising five children single-handedly.”

While some things appear to have changed in the area, Saul says more can be done, especially with regard to the education system.

He explains that there was no high school in Petrusville when he was young, which meant that children as young as 15 had to move to neighbouring towns or cities to obtain their matric.

Accordingly, he moved to Colesburg and attended Umso High School. There, he was taken in by a family while he completed Grades 10 to 12.

After matriculating, Saul was awarded a bursary by Lawyers for Human Rights to study law at the University of the Western Cape.

He went on to obtain a master’s degree in development studies from Free State University and his doctorate in law from the University of the Witwatersrand in Gauteng.

The trajectory of his political career is impressive: Saul was already a member of the ANC’s provincial executive council by the age of 26.

“I was very young,” he agrees. “I don’t think there is anyone in the country who has broken that record.”

At age 30, Saul was elected the ANC’s deputy provincial secretary in the Northern Cape, and later its provincial secretary, and then chair of the province.

Now 47, the premier says that taking an interest in politics at such a young age was not by choice.

“The circumstances threw you into it. You would get to school, and people were toyi-toying.”

His passion for politics and education has come with sacrifice.

“My wife used to say that she is in a polygamist marriage because I used to work till late and wake up early to do the same. I did not even have to set an alarm.”

Saul is currently working on his second PhD, but doubts that he will pass this time around, given his hectic schedule.

“Academia is a rigorous discipline. That is why I respect people who say they have a PhD.”

When asked what he thinks of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership, he says the president is a visionary.

“You get leaders who are short-termists, leaders who would look at what they can do now based on the current pressures. I do not think Cyril is that kind of leader. He does not lose sight of the long-term vision.

“That is the trajectory Cyril is taking and I am of the view that by doing so, he will assist the country.”

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