PROFILE: Sinenjabulo Zungu is chief of the AmaZulu soccer tribe

“You need balls to be a woman in football,” says Sinenjabulo Zungu. 

She’s the daughter of club “president” (the title is unofficial) Sandile Zungu, who bought the club through his industrial holdings company Zico in 2020. A year after that she took the reins of the oldest club (established in 1932) in the Premier Football League (PSL).

In her office above the club’s AmaZulu Experience store at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium, she is all business. “We didn’t come in from a philanthropic angle,” she says. “This football club is meant to be a business and we are running it as one. We want the club to get recognition locally, continentally and globally.”

To reach that goal might take a little longer than expected, she says.  

“We wanted people to work around us, but we soon learnt that we needed to work around it [the game]. We took a step back. We want to implement governance and to professionalise the game from an administrative point of view, but there are nuances you can’t overlook. There’s a culture that no corporate can control,” she says.

She quickly learnt that the world of football is one where you need to pivot fast. It’s fast moving and no two days are the same.  Her approach has been to keep an operational mindset. Instead of occupying a desk at Zico’s Joburg head office, she remains in the driving seat in Durban.

“I had to roll up my sleeves, go to branch launches, speak to supporters and do the running around. For me to understand the nitty-gritty of the world of soccer, I had to experience it myself.”

She says that, three years into the job, she still loves working with people, engaging with supporters and working in a team. She continues to learn. “You don’t know everything, and you must be prepared to ask for and accept help and advice from people who have walked the journey. Fortunately for me, we preserved our human capital and many of our people are very experienced.”

Her role, which includes the securing and management of sponsorships and partnerships, stakeholder relations and the marketing and commercialisation of the business, is a perfect fit for her. She has had an eclectic career that has spanned everything from fast-moving consumer goods to technology and advertising. 

Born and raised in Durban, Zungu completed a business science degree at the University of Cape Town. She found herself stuck in Spain during the height of the pandemic while completing an MBA. She returned to resume her position as CEO of a forensic auditing firm before moving to AmaZulu as a consultant.  

The role of women in sport is changing, she says, especially now that women’s rugby, football and cricket are becoming more popular. What is missing is having more women in decision-making positions and in sports administration, she says. 

Football clubs’ revenues are generated through sponsorships; grants from the PSL, based on TV rights; and the sale of players. Adding revenue streams requires creativity and  she believes an app that allows for affiliate marketing is achieving this. She’s come up with an idea for a retail merchandising outlet that is different from those of other clubs — the AmaZulu Experience store.

While Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates have merchandise outlets, this store offers an upper deck with offices and meeting rooms that can host everything from club activities to prize presentations.

The idea started when fans complained to Zungu that it was difficult to find and buy replica AmaZulu jerseys. “We soon realised that we needed a shop plus a space to which our supporters could go, a space where they could pride themselves in being part of AmaZulu. This is that meeting point,” she says.

Zungu is adamant that all merchandise, whether replica jerseys or branded athletic and leisure wear, is made locally. “We don’t want AmaZulu to just be a football club. It is part of a community, a club for the people that assists economically where it can.”

It is this potential that keeps her in the game.

“I believe this club has one of the biggest followings. That’s because the name AmaZulu is backed by people in one of the most populated provinces, the Zulu nation itself. One of the things that I took for granted at first is the giant brand that AmaZulu is. For a long time, it has been a sleeping giant. Now, together with the board, I have the huge responsibility of awakening that giant,” she says.