Durban businessman Sifiso Zulu has, over the past two weeks, become the city’s Scarlet Pimpernel.
But, unlike the Pimpernel, rumours circulating in the city suggest that Zulu may need the intervention of friendly political aristocrats, rather than the other way around.
The involvement of Zulu’s BMW X5 in a hit-and-run incident on March 29 that left two people dead has triggered suspicions about his political connections. He has been called ”Mr Untouchable” by a source who wishes to remain anonymous.
A close social associate of Zulu, while denying knowledge of the identity of the driver of Zulu’s SUV, says he is ”too big to go down”. The associate adds that while Zulu knows many high-ranking government officials there may be moves from businessmen within the Jacob Zuma camp to push for a prosecution in an attempt to sideline the high-profile Zulu in the future.
Zulu himself has proved elusive — first retreating to Cape Town and then dodging the press at a court appearance on Thursday for a previous drinking-and-driving offence — but not before earlier denying he was driving the BMW at the time of the collision.
A police source close to the investigation says its focus is sharpening on Zulu after information he gave about the identity of the driver proved fruitless. ”All we got [from Zulu] was a name, no phone number or any contact details. We still haven’t found this guy,” says the source.
A man-about-town with a penchant for single malt whisky, Zulu is, together with Elias Khumalo and Don Mkhwanazi, one of the drivers of the Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust, which has been bankrolling the African National Congress president since his sacking from the government in 2005.
However, there are signs that other Zuma-supporting businessmen have come to resent his high profile.
A former president of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry and nephew of King Goodwill Zwelithini, Zulu has strong ties to municipal manager Mike Sutcliffe and members of the ANC’s powerful eThekwini region, including chairperson Bheki Cele.
His fortune has been steadily built on the back of several black economic empowerment deals, including the R30-million tender awarded to his Emtateni Logistics company in 2005 to upgrade the city’s parking meter system.
Emtateni was forced last year to reconfigure its parking meters after being threatened with legal action by the Legal Resources Centre because the meters gave neither change nor parking time in proportion to the money deposited.
Last year the Democratic Alliance established that Zulu was being paid a retainer of R42Â 000 a month by the eThekwini Municipality to advise on event management, while his eThekwini Events Company had a three-year, R1,9-million contract to handle beach events.
Zulu also made national headlines in the 1990s when, during a South African Broadcasting Corporation interview as King Goodwill Zwelithini’s spokesperson, he was manhandled on air by bodyguards of Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi after they invaded the studio.
Cele, who is also provincial minister of transport, safety and security, has denied allegations that his quick appearance at the scene of the collision and subsequent escorting of Zulu to Durban Central police station was part of a cover-up.
But a police source close to the investigation has raised concerns with the Mail & Guardian about the intervention of the eThekwini municipality after initial news reports claimed that a metro policeman had witnessed two men fleeing the scene.
”We believe the metro policeman witnessed the accident but he has since said he didn’t see who the person driving was,” says the source.
The M&G has been told that police are still studying fingerprints taken at the scene from Zulu’s X5 and that there is CCTV footage of the incident.
Zulu, meanwhile, was released on a warning after a court appearance on Wednesday for driving with excessive blood alcohol levels. The provisional court date set for his reappearance is April 22.