Started From The Bottom, Now He's Here

Siyanda Dlamini, co-owner of The Regency Apartment Hotel Menlyn in Pretoria, talks tenacity and transformation

- Dayle Kavonic

BY THE TIME HE WAS A YOUNG TEENAGER, Siyanda Dlamini already had a very clear view of his future. Hotel management and ownership were where he wanted to be, and he was going to get there no matter what came his way. At 18 he got his start in the industry as a trainee, by 25 he was a general manager, and by 33 he’d been appointed sales and marketing director. Today, the KwaZulu-Natal-born entrepreneur is the managing director of The Regency Group and co-owner of the company’s first flagship property, The Regency Apartment Hotel Menlyn, an R350-million development that’s 100% black-owned and operated.

Dlamini’s perseverance, commitment to youth empowerment and determination to shake up the make-up of the upper ranks of the hospitality sector have made him an inspiration to many. And he’ll tell anyone who’ll listen how deeply devoted he is to pull others up with him.

We got the chance to pick his brain and get the inside story on how he reached the point he’s at now, and where he and the industry are going next.

GQ: There’s quite a distance between having a vision and making it a reality. How did you go about building your career from the ground up?

Siyanda Dlamini: I always knew that I would have a successful career, and as a result, I was very patient at every step of my growth. I was open to learning and present at every level, regardless of how “inferior” the task at hand was. I volunteered to work in areas outside of whatever role I was fulfilling at the time. Nothing is ever real until it’s experienced, and there’s no substitute for experience. I’m also a generous person, both in my professional and personal lives. I believe that giving is the master key to success.

GQ: Did mentorship play a role in your success at all?