That’s not right

Tshepang Mailwane: Mr Zungu, October is the month AmaZulu FC celebrates its 91st year. How does it feel being part of the club’s storied history?

Sandile Zungu:

First, AmaZulu is almost like a legacy club. It’s the oldest club right now in the DStv Premiership. We are 91 years old and the next-oldest team is Orlando Pirates, which was born in 1937. We are privileged to be in charge of a team that was founded in 1932 and it’s been going. It’s a team that has one of the best traditions in football in South Africa. We are a team with slogans and our own songs, and they are songs of the Zulu nation. So, it’s a privilege to be in charge of this team and, of course, it comes with a huge responsibility because one knows that it’s not just about managing a team that one has invested in, but the hopes and aspirations of the whole province are in your hands. So far, we have demonstrated that we can be the custodians of such hopes and aspirations.

TM: What has the club done this month to celebrate?

SZ:

To be honest, we made the 91st birthday lowkey in terms of celebrations. We decided to do a lot of outreach programmes. For example, one of our most illustrious names was Ace Mnikati. Those who played football in the ’70s and ’80s would remember Ace. He is an elderly fellow. He is sickly and bedridden. We made a surprise visit to him and gave him some goodies that will put a smile on his face. We celebrated the birthday with him in his home. We took a few players and supporters, and I was there in person, as well as a few members of the administration. We also went to an orphanage in Durban – we celebrated with the kids and brought them some goodies and we brought some hope. Those are the types of programmes we will continue to do, like hand over food parcels and wheelchairs here and there and offer some financial assistance to those who are in need, as part of our 91st celebration. The best form of celebration is to win games.

TM: Before we get into the investment you’ve made into the club, talk to us about your personal history with Usuthu while growing up.

SZ:

I grew up in a home where everybody supported AmaZulu –

maZulu FC turned 91 during the month of October. It is one of the oldest clubs in South Africa, formed by migrant workers in 1932 and originally going by the name Zulu Royal Conquerors. Considered the pride of the KwaZuluNatal folk, Usuthu are steeped in the tradition of the locals. Since taking over as owner from the Sokhela family some three years back, Sandile Zungu has made it his mission to take the club to another

my father, my mother, my uncles. But we as the younger generation grew up supporting the Soweto teams. It was either Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates. I grew up supporting Pirates and I am on record, as I was born with my arms crossed. I thought I would die supporting Pirates, until I bought AmaZulu. Now my blood is green. I’ve always had a soft spot for AmaZulu. I did not support them, but I had a soft spot because AmaZulu has always been a team for the province. There will be other smaller teams that come from KwaZulu-Natal, but the provincial team is AmaZulu. AmaZulu has always had this great brand of players, but it’s not enough. The last cup we won was in 1992. Yes, we’ve played in finals after that, in 2010 against Wits (Nedbank Cup) and in the MTN8 last season against Pirates. Last season was the first time we played in a cup final in a long time. I want us to play in a final every season. We must compete for a cup every season, feature in the final and lift it. That’s the competitive spirit I want in the team. It is my intention that come the year of our centenary, in 2032, this AmaZulu team will be one of the biggest teams in the country.

TM: Three years on, are you satisfied with your investment?

SZ:

ADIE I WOULD THOUGHT “I PIRATES, SUPPORTING AMAZULU. BOUGHT UNTIL I GREEN. BLOOD IS NOW MY HAD A SOFT ALWAYS I’VE AMAZULU.” SPOT FOR

level and it’s been evident in how he has brought in top players in effort to compete with the er boys of South African tball. Of course, a project uch as the one the Zungu amily has embarked on needs time. He wants to ee the side in a position where they are winning rophies consistently. occer Laduma’s Tshepang Mailwane speaks to the mlazi-born businessman out the birthday celebrations, his journey with AmaZulu and why he believes match officials are letting them down.

To be honest, I am very happy with the investment. The first season we did well by coming second. It gave us the impression that we can do it, but we know it’s not easy. It’s a competitive league and teams improve every year. Every game is a tough contest. Then you’ve got the complexity introduced by the officials. I think officiating is terrible. You just can’t plan your game. You’ve got to think about who is going to be officiating and what mood they are in. That’s not right. I mean, you get denied penalties. We played against Polokwane City and we should have got three points, but we walked away with one point away from home. Why? Because we were denied a penalty. We played against (Moroka) Swallows, and it was a proper kind of scrappy affair. Instead of (opposition) guys getting red cards, we actually get red cards. We get punished and we end up playing with less people.

Why? Because officials failed to manage the game. Sometimes you wonder what motivates them, what influences them. For us, it’s a dimension we can’t plan for. In the last three years, I can count at least 10 games where I felt we were cheated. At the very least, we have dropped 20 points. I am not critical of officiating as much as I should, but I am just citing it as one of the dimensions that you don’t know how to plan for. You plan harder, but things don’t change. You complain less, things don’t change. You write letters and referees get suspended, but things don’t change.

TM: Hmmm… SZ:

We cannot wait for VAR. We want VAR because that may be part of the solution. It takes the powers away from individuals whose agendas are sometimes questionable. Be that as it may, we are happy we are in the position that we are in. One of

the biggest surprises for me is how well-managed the League is. We can criticise and that’s how they improve, but in all fairness, it’s one of the bestadministered leagues on the continent and possibly one of the best administered in the world. We need more money into the game. We need to make the game a lot more welcoming to commercial supporters. We need to introduce innovation to encourage more people to flock into the stadium. It’s not about the quality of the broadcast, it’s about the atmosphere at the stadium. If all the games could be like the MTN8 final (between Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns) or the MTN8 final of last year (between AmaZulu and Pirates)… those games stand out. But I’m happy with the investment we’ve made and the return we’ve got thus far. I think we are on the right track. As the Zungu family, we are committed to this project and it’s the best investment I’d have at a personal level.

TM: Is the country in a position to afford VAR though?

SZ:

Yeah, I think we can. We need to train referees. VAR introduces a new crop of referees who sit there and analyse the game and call for a stop (for a decision to be made). We can afford it. We’ve got advanced technology in this country. I don’t know why we’d be scared if we can afford it. Whoever is the broadcast partner should make provision for that. We can afford it. At a simple level, you must make sure you have enough cameras. All our live games have tended to have enough cameras. Every angle is covered and that’s a first that you need to have. Our camera people are good. That’s number one. Number two, you then need to feed and synchronise that to the studio, where the VAR referees are located, and they are able to say if that’s offside or not.

TM: Moving on. As a club, what are the biggest costs the club incurs on a monthly basis? SZ:

The personal costs are the biggest. We employ a squad of more than 30 people and their pay can go… no, I won’t be able to tell you what the average salary of an AmaZulu player is, but we are definitely one of the bestpaying teams in the country. I’d say after Sundowns, Chiefs and Pirates, we are possibly the fourth-best paying team in the country. Not only the players but coaches as well. They are wellpaid. So, that accounts for a large part of our operating budget. They are not only paid monthly salaries, but some of them have image fees and we pay agents who brought them. Then you have travel and accommodation. Those costs shoot up and we don’t have as good a sponsorship, for example, as Chiefs or Pirates who have big brands like Vodacom supporting them, which I’m told is hundreds of millions. We are not complaining. It’s not something we did not anticipate. We will make it work.

TM: When you pay so much on salaries, do you not run the risk of falling into the trap where you end up having to sell the team because the costs are too high?

SZ:

No, it’s not going to happen with us. I cannot talk about other teams. We are here for the long haul and we’ve got the resources to sustain our participation here. We think about it as a business, so we are continuously looking at ways to manage the costs and how we can attract more revenue.

TM: What are your thoughts on how coach Pablo Franco Martin has started his reign?

SZ:

I’m very happy. I think he’s playing a good brand of football and he is commanding the respect that he deserves from the players and he commands the response that he needs from the players. I think we are in a decent position on the table and I think we’ll finish the season in the top four, or hopefully in a position where we can play in the CAF Champions League or Confederation Cup next season. We are playing good football. I just pray the officials stop letting us down. We ask for nothing less than fair officiating.

TM: Lastly, what influenced your decision to appoint Pedro Diaz as Director of Football?

SZ:

When we rejigged the structures of last season, we wanted to introduce a Director of Football because we wanted to do away with the General Manager position, but we also wanted to not have a Technical Director. We wanted something that would combine both the General Manager and the Technical Director roles in one. We wanted someone that can make sure, among other things, there is greater integration of the development ranks and the senior team so that we can be in a position to see more younger players getting promoted to the first team in future and spend less on recruiting from other teams. The Director of Football is critical in making sure that the kind of football we play is consistent from the U13s all the way up to the senior team. It’s also to make sure we have international linkages between the team and other footballing brands in the world. That creates new avenues for players to find themselves playing in other leagues and creating opportunities to realise some value from the players we’ve developed.

TM: Thanks for your time, Mr Zungu.

SZ: Thank you.