BUSINESS NEWS - Siyanda Dlamini is a dynamic young entrepreneur who knows how to transform a passionate dream into reality.
He is one of a new breed of businessmen who believes in South Africa’s future and is training a new generation of young people to take the country forward in the hospitality industry.
Dlamini used to earn R850 a month when he first worked in a hotel in 2001. Today, the 35-year-old Pietermaritzburg-born entrepreneur is the co-owner and managing director of the R350-million Regency Apartment Hotel in Pretoria. He is the living epitome of what can be achieved in an ever-changing business world when you apply your mind and talent to the business at hand.
Meeting Dlamini for the first time is an overwhelming experience. He is a whirlwind of information, enthusiastically articulating thoughts and ideas about the hospitality industry and how he wants to make his mark.
Brought up by caring parents, he strove to be the best at everything he tackled. The impressive Regency Apartment Hotel in Ashlea Gardens is testament to his philosophy; it caters for a niche market and the idea of giving guests choices in accommodation is catching on fast.
The Regency serves as both a hotel and self-catering units where some of the rooms have been purchased and some are rented. The property also boasts an up-market restaurant and bar, a gym, a conference room and swimming pool.
Dlamini’s story is fascinating and a lesson in how to succeed in business when youth and perseverance are on your side. “I come from Maritzburg and my family are still there,” he said.
“My mother was a teacher and my dad had a little business. When I was in high school I joined the school’s catering club which set the foundation for what I do today. The club catered for events at school, all small scale at the time but big for us.”
He said he took the job too seriously and his mother told him to tone it down because books and learning were more important. “The club was lovely for me because I got to experiment a lot.”
Before reaching Grade 12 he had already made up his mind that he wanted to go into hotel management and he set his sights on achieving this goal. His first venture into the hotel training programme did not go well and “they said I did not have what it takes to be in the industry”.
This was like a red flag to a bull and only spurred him on. “I’m so glad they actually said no,” he recalls, “because I joined another hotel group. I went to Durban for my first interview after finishing my final matric exam paper. I was still in my school when they picked me up and didn’t have time to tell my parents where I was going.”
