Ex-mayor now runs pizzeria

Former Buffalo City mayor Zintle Peter now runs her own business

Former Buffalo City Mayor Zintle Peter may have made a quiet exit from the political scene after being sacked last December, but she has re-emerged as a resourceful entrepreneur, writes Xolisa Mgwatyu.

Peter is co-owner of an East London branch of Cappuccino Cafe and Pizzeria at the new upmarket Hemingways Mall.

The restaurant was officially opened on Peter’s birthday two weeks ago.

“I needed to move on and being offered an opportunity of a lifetime by our head office (Cappuccino Cafe and Pizzeria in Johannesburg) and Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), I grabbed it with both hands,” she said.

The 43-year-old Peter is a qualified radiographer and started shaping her political career through the trade union movement as a shop steward.

Her career in the municipal council took off when she started as a councillor in 2000 and became ANC Whip in 2005.

She became the first female mayor of Buffalo City in 2006 —  albeit amid controversy.

Peter’s woes began when fellow ANC councillors called for her head over her handling of the controversial waste tender scandal.

However, she said her removal as the mayor was just one of the challenges that had moulded her into the person she is today.

“It was a problem that needed to be sorted at that moment, it was not personalised,” said Peter. “I do not have any grudges with anyone. For now what is important is to develop as a new person in the business sector.”

For the full story, read the print and online edition of the Saturday Dispatch.