Taking shisa nyama to the world
THAMSANQA “Mjay” Zama is the cool entrepreneur behind Eyadini Lounge in Umlazi, a growing shisa nyama (Zulu slang for “buy and braai”) tourist attraction that has become a hit with socialites countrywide.
Eyadini attracts as many as 2 000 patrons on a busy Friday night and it’s Zama’s goal to make his restaurant and entertainment venue synonymous with the Durban experience.
“People must say when they come to Durban that they have to go to the beach and to Eyadini lounge,” Zama said.
Zama has partnered with Michelle Lewis, founder of the Shisa
Nyama Festival and Awards that debuted during heritage month last year, with a plan to host not only a bigger and better event at Eyadini this September, but they are also looking to take the festival to a national and international level.
Zama has turned the fact that socialites want to be seen at Eyadini into a marketing campaign. Patrons from Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Empangeni and from as far afield as England and Australia have flocked to the venue after discovering it on social media.
Zama has harnessed social media to create hype so that a highlight of a guest’s visit is the glamorous Eyadini “walk in” where they have their photograph snapped in front of his branded banner wall by his full-time photographer who instantly uploads it on to the internet. He has 277 000 followers on Instagram and 133 296 Facebook fans.
Successful
But it was in construction that Zama cut his teeth when he started Jiggaman Civils with 15 staff as a sideline venture while was still working as a policeman in the early 2000s.
He eventually quit his job when the business proved successful.
Now known as Jiggaman Civils and Plant Hire, the business employs 18 staff in the construction firm and Zama has 30 permanent staff and 60 temporary employees at Eyadini lounge, which he opened in 2010.
Metro FM and other major radio stations regularly broadcast from his venue which attracts artists such as Black Coffee, AKA, Cassper Nyovest and Ricky Rick.
Zama built the restaurant on a prime site in Umlazi when, after visiting pubs and clubs in the city, he saw the potential to incorporate the
shisa nyama concept with live music events. He also recognised his good braaiing skills that have received the compliments of family and friends.
“I saw there was a big opportunity to do better than the existing
shisa nyamas. I thought people like to go to those places so I will make it if I do it in Umlazi,” he said.
Zama can be found on any weekend night overseeing operations at the braais and in the kitchen and making sure everything runs smoothly to ensure a quality experience for patrons who he describes as “big spenders who like to have their pictures” taken. He launched the photo shoot concept in 2014 when he needed to attract customers to grow the business.
“Nobody was supporting me at that time, just a few hundred, but luckily people from around the province – Empangeni, Pietermaritzburg and Newcastle – liked this place more than the people from Umlazi. Other shisa nyamas weren’t doing pictures but now they are doing it,” Zama said.
“Customers are very happy to be at my place. They feel safe. They enjoy what they are eating, they enjoy the music and that’s what I like because that’s what makes people trust my place,” he said.
Now, together with Lewis, he is hoping to draw up to 5 000 people to this year’s Shisa Nyama Festival. Eyadini won the popular vote at last year’s festival where Zama decided to partner with Lewis to grow the event.
“We are looking forward to having a big event. I know most of the people who are doing shisa nyama all over the province and most want to join. We want to do it in Johannesburg and Cape Town because the other shisa nyamas want us to do it there,” Zama said.
The pair is speaking to the organisers of the Oktober Fest to seek advice on growing the event on an international scale.
“The Shisa Nyama Festival has the ability to be an internationally recognised event. It celebrates our culture, shisa nyama, and we have all our own award-winning beers and wines. We have all the things that make up the parts of an unbelievable festival,” Lewis said.
“As South Africans we keep thinking that everything from outside should be brought in but we have got it. The Spanish have their tomato-throwing festival and Rio has their carnival and this will be South Africa’s Shisa Nyama Festival,” Lewis said.