From activist to municipal manager
2006-02-02
HE has come a long way from leading protest marches to heading the biggest municipality in the province (excluding Cape Town).
Paarl-born Dr Sidima Kabanyane, popularly known as Ta Sdai, has swapped his struggle T-shirt for a dark suit as the newly appointed Municipal Manager of Drakenstein.
He moved into his new office yesterday - not a day too early, as the staff at Drakenstein Municipality have been anticipating his arrival since the appointment was finalised on 15 December.
Kabanyane believes that there are challenges in local government nationally, which do not exclude Drakenstein Municipality.
“Although there remains a huge task to assist all members of our community, especially those poorer areas, I am going to fast-track local government service delivery,” he said this week.
“My management team and I will continue working closely with the ward committees and communities so that we know where we need to deliver service, particularly as we will soon be reviewing our Integrated Development Plan,” he said.
As Municipal Manager, Kabanyane would like all municipal personnel to be geared and ready to tackle the challenge to improve local government.
“I have moved back home from Eshowe in KwaZulu-Natal to take up this job, driven by an impulse to make some concrete differences to the lives of ordinary people,” he said.
He wishes to deliver on the promises made during the struggle, after 11 years of democratic rule.
According to Kabanyane it will not be plain sailing, but attainable, as many policies have been brought about by the government to facilitate the process. “Nonetheless a lot still has to be done at local government level to decrease poverty and reduce unemployment,” he said.
Kabanyane’s involvement in civic politics dates back to his formative years in Mbekweni where he was a leader of the Paarl Civic Association.
“I started my political involvement in 1975 through the SA Student’s Movement (SASM) and was arrested in 1976 while completing matric at Themba Labantu High School in King William’s Town,” he said.
One year later, while doing his first year at the Fort Hare University in Alice, he was detained again and was held for 14 days in Fort Glamorgan Prison in East London. Later, he left the country for Lesotho and obtained a B.Sc. degree at the National University of Lesotho.
In the mid-eighties he returned to Paarl to teach Mathematics and Physical Science at Simon Hebe High School (now Desmond Tutu Secondary).
Here he played a pivotal role in the under ground movement and the launching of the Paarl Civic Association in 1984.
In 1986, the uprisings and the boycotts reached their peak, when the State of Emergency was declared by then President PW Botha. At this time he was detained at the Paarl police station.
“One of the vivid memories I have of my time at the police station was the sign that was put on the door of my cell which read, “Geen Besoek, Geen Boodskap, Hou die deur toe.”
After three months Kabanyane was transferred to the Victor Verster Prison (today known as Drakenstein) where he was kept in solitary confinement for 15 months.
On his release in 1988, he was assisted by his legal representative, the late Dullah Omar, to further his studies at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, in eastern Canada.
He returned to South Africa in 1996 after completing a master’s degree and a doctorate in organic chemistry. He worked as general manager of Sid Horizon Solutions in Ondini when he accepted his new post.
His is married to Princess Gcwalisile Zulu-Kabanyane from KwaZulu-Natal, who herself obtained a doctorate in education from the University of Toronto.
The Kabanyanes’ youngest sons, 11-year old Luyanda and 9-year old Zuzulwazi, are now pupils at Paarl Boys’ Primary School.
Meanwhile, as a former rugby player for Highlights Rugby Football Club, he is still a passionate follower of both the Natal Sharks and the Springboks.
He is a committed member of the Young Men’s Guild of the Methodist Church and spends his Sunday mornings in church before reading the Sunday newspapers.
Kabanyane also enjoys swimming, reading novels and going to movies and is currently working on his autobiography.
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