- Zinhle Mqadi, daughter of Max Mqadi, has taken over Max's Lifestyle Village in uMlazi.
- The 29-year-old says although she is nervous, she is excited to usher in a new era.
- We speak to her about her plans for the establishment and her new role.
Kwa Max recently announced that there’s a new sheriff in town.
Zinhle Mqadi, who happens to be Max Mqadi’s eldest of 12 children, has announced that she will be taking over from her father as CEO of world-class establishment Max’s Lifestyle Village.
From humble roots, Max’s Lifestyle Village started out as just a butchery and shisa nyama in a one-room shack near a stream built in front of the former taxi rank in 2002. Now, they are a world-renowned tourist attraction that international visitors want to experience.
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Zinhle took to social media to share a statement announcing her new role in a post captioned:
“And so it begins… The time has come to take the baton for the next generation.”
Released at a time when she had already assumed the role, the statement welcomes and wishes her well into her new role.
“We have no doubt that Ms Mqadi, who has been part of this award-winning trendsetter for many years, is not only equal to the task of taking this brand to this next level but that under her stewardship, the future of Max’s Lifestyle Village will be even brighter,” the statement reads.
And so it begins… The time has come to take the baton for the first generation. ?? ???? pic.twitter.com/fKP26DdyjE
— Zinhle Mqadi (@ZinhleMqadi1) October 12, 2022
TRUELOVE got in touch with the new CEO of Max’s Lifestyle Village to find out more about her role and what the future looks like for KwaMax.
“The new role as CEO is basically just overseeing the business, specifically with the management, so working with them and making the decisions that my boss would have been making. I still do, however, report a few things to him, I do also communicate things we’ve changed and are planning to change just so he’s up to date with what we’re doing. So, he’s no longer making those day-to-day decisions, or his signature necessarily being needed because I’m here, I can sign those things off. [I] come up with new ideas, what I would like to change so yeah for now what we’ve just focusing on is just upgrading the business internally.”
Sharing he academic background, she says, “I studied at UKZN Howard College, Bachelor of Social Science, majoring in business management, marketing, human resources and media studies.”
Before her appointment, Zinhle was dabbling in various functions of the business. She tells us that she had her hands in various pieces of the business such as marketing, events, finances and general management, however, she says the new role is still nerve-wracking as she has got big shoes to fill.
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“It’s very nerve-wracking, overwhelming but I feel like it’s also exciting because I’m working with a team that I’m happy to be around and very supportive since its family, they’ve shown a lot of support and they’ve made me feel very comfortable in being in the role.”
“Yes, the shoes are very big and he’s laid quite a sturdy foundation so, for now, it’s just adding value to what’s already been done,” she adds.
On what she’s looking forward to in her role, Zinhle says, “I’m looking forward to seeing visible change. Also, there’s quite a big generational gap between myself and my father so things were done differently. Not just what people were seeing but within the company, things were very old school because naye he didn’t go far with school, he didn’t finish matric so the way he did things is so different to the way we see them.”
What Max has done by having his eldest daughter take the reigns of the business is what some might consider as unconventional. Zinhle says she hopes families can take a page out of her father’s book and empower their daughters by putting them in leadership positions.
She says, “I just want women to know that we are also worthy of being in great positions, going to board meetings with high-class people, we’re worthy to of being in those rooms. We’re very smart and I know that women they have this thing that 'oh no, they can’t do specific things because yinto yabafana (this is a man’s role)'.”
“I think what excited the public about the announcement was that 'wow this is not what we’re used to seeing', we don’t see families saying their girl-child can lead their family, their girl-child can make decisions for their generation. Just for parents also, in general, they must trust their children to lead. They mustn’t think that just because intombazane (she’s a girl) she won’t lead as strong.”
On what’s next for the establishment now that she’s in charge, Zinhle says they plan to take things to the next level with the types of events, the experience and working on fixing their reputation by ensuring patrons are and feel safe, following last year’s shooting.
“So, we also just want that when they say people can come here, from other countries, they must feel safe, regardless of the situation that happened,” she says, “So those are the types of things we want to want to prove ourselves through to people - we don’t want to be the generalisation of Umlazi that they think, we want uMlazi to be known, through us, ngegama elihle (for a good reputation).
Max’s Lifestyle Village also has a foundation that was never formally launched but Zinhle says they now want to start doing the work on a bigger scale by assisting and developing the community they operate in and building things that benefit the community.
“We want ukuthi la esikhona (to start where we are) to bring value mostly to these people that are here around us,” she concludes.
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