Patrice Motsepe
Encyclopedia
Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe (born 28 January 1962 in Soweto
) is a South Africa
n mining magnate and 'oligarch' as he was major beneficiary of the South African governments Black Economic Empowerment
policies. His company, African Rainbow Minerals
, has interests in gold, ferrous metals, base metals, and platinum. He topped the Sunday Times Annual Rich List in 2011, with his wealth estimated to be around R22.99 billion ($3.28 billion at that time).
Since 2003, he is the owner of football club Mamelodi Sundowns
.
.
Motsepe was born to royalty in Hammanskraal to a schoolteacher turned businessman, Augustine Motsepe, who exploited connections to get his children admitted to the best schools available to them. He eventually earned a law degree and became the first black partner in the law firm Bowman Gilfillan in 1994, the same year Nelson Mandela
was elected the country’s first black president. He specialized in mining and business law at a time when the new government had begun the process of promoting black empowerment and entrepreneurship. Motsepe soon founded a mining services venture to glean gold dust from inside mine shafts, implementing a system of worker remuneration that combined a low base salary with a profit-sharing bonus. In 1997, with gold prices at a low, he used his connections and the black empowerment policy to arrange for finance on favorable terms, and set up a firm to begin buying the operating mines that would become the source of his wealth.
Patrice Motsepe won South Africa's Best Entrepreneur Award in 2002.
In 2004 he was voted 39th in the Top 100 Great South Africans
. This accolade was, however granted by the government funded state broadcaster. In 2008 he was 503rd richest person in the world, by the Forbes World Billionaires List. In that same issue of Forbes magazine, it was noted that the source of his wealth was not through any entrepreneurial zeal but through his association with the ruling political party the African National Congress (ANC).
Since 2004, he is also a Non-Executive Director of Absa Group
and Sanlam
and was previously a partner of Bowman Gilfillan
.
Motsepes' African Rainbow Minerals
company's name changed to ARMgold, while joining with Harmony Gold Mining Ltd, in 2002 when is it was listed on the JSE Security Exchange. Motsepe is also the founder of African Rainbow Minerals Platinum (Proprietary) Limited and ARM Consortium Limited which later equally split ownership with Anglo American Platinum Corp Ltd. From 2005, Motsepe ran as the Chairman of Teal Exploration and Mining Incorporated. Motsepe runs as the chairmen of Ubuntu-Botho Investments, Non-Executive chairman of Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd and deputy Chairman of Sanlam Ltd. Motsepe is currently South Africa's president of Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
) is a South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n mining magnate and 'oligarch' as he was major beneficiary of the South African governments Black Economic Empowerment
Black Economic Empowerment
Black Economic Empowerment is a programme launched by the South African government to redress the inequalities of Apartheid by giving previously disadvantaged groups economic opportunities previously not available to them...
policies. His company, African Rainbow Minerals
African Rainbow Minerals
African Rainbow Minerals is a mining company based in South Africa. Patrice Motsepe is chairman; André Wilkens is CEO.ARM has interests in a wide range of mines, including platinum and PGMs, iron, coal, copper, and gold. ARM's Goedgevonden coalmine near Witbank is a flagship of their joint venture...
, has interests in gold, ferrous metals, base metals, and platinum. He topped the Sunday Times Annual Rich List in 2011, with his wealth estimated to be around R22.99 billion ($3.28 billion at that time).
Since 2003, he is the owner of football club Mamelodi Sundowns
Mamelodi Sundowns
Mamelodi Sundowns are a South African football club that plays in the Premier Soccer League.Since 2003, Sundowns are owned by rand billionaire Patrice Motsepe....
.
Personal
He is married to Dr. Precious Makgosi Moloi and they have three sons. Motsepe's father named him Patrice after Patrice LumumbaPatrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese independence leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only ten weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis...
.
Motsepe was born to royalty in Hammanskraal to a schoolteacher turned businessman, Augustine Motsepe, who exploited connections to get his children admitted to the best schools available to them. He eventually earned a law degree and became the first black partner in the law firm Bowman Gilfillan in 1994, the same year Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
was elected the country’s first black president. He specialized in mining and business law at a time when the new government had begun the process of promoting black empowerment and entrepreneurship. Motsepe soon founded a mining services venture to glean gold dust from inside mine shafts, implementing a system of worker remuneration that combined a low base salary with a profit-sharing bonus. In 1997, with gold prices at a low, he used his connections and the black empowerment policy to arrange for finance on favorable terms, and set up a firm to begin buying the operating mines that would become the source of his wealth.
Patrice Motsepe won South Africa's Best Entrepreneur Award in 2002.
In 2004 he was voted 39th in the Top 100 Great South Africans
SABC3's Great South Africans
Great South Africans was a South African television series that aired on SABC3 and hosted by Noeleen Maholwana Sangqu and Denis Beckett. In September 2004, thousands of South Africans took part in an informal nationwide poll to determine the "100 Greatest South Africans" of all time...
. This accolade was, however granted by the government funded state broadcaster. In 2008 he was 503rd richest person in the world, by the Forbes World Billionaires List. In that same issue of Forbes magazine, it was noted that the source of his wealth was not through any entrepreneurial zeal but through his association with the ruling political party the African National Congress (ANC).
But for all the adulation, in South Africa such success comes with a price: being labeled an oligarch. Even many blacks have complained that the country's 1994 transformation from apartheid to democracy has benefited only the elite few. The criticism stems from laws that require substantial black ownership in certain industries, including mining. A handful of politically connected individuals have grown enormously wealthy as a result. One of Motsepe's sisters, Bridgette Radebe, who's married to transport minister Jeffrey Radebe, heads a mining company and is said to be among the wealthiest black women in the country. "It's called crony capitalism," says Moeletsi Mbeki, 62, brother of South Africa's former president and an outspoken critic of the race-preference laws. "It's an anticompetitive system."
Since 2004, he is also a Non-Executive Director of Absa Group
Absa Group Limited
The Absa Group Limited is the largest consumer bank in South Africa.- Overview :Absa is based in Johannesburg and listed on the JSE Limited and is one of South Africa's largest financial institutions...
and Sanlam
Sanlam
Sanlam Limited is a financial services group in South Africa with its head office in Bellville in the Western Cape. Established in 1918, the Group demutualised in 1998 and Sanlam Limited then listed on the JSE Limited in Johannesburg and the Namibian Stock Exchange. The Sanlam Group conducts its...
and was previously a partner of Bowman Gilfillan
Bowman Gilfillan
Bowman Gilfillan Inc is a law firm based in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, with offices in Cape Town and through its association with Coulson Harney, in Nairobi, Kenya...
.
Motsepes' African Rainbow Minerals
African Rainbow Minerals
African Rainbow Minerals is a mining company based in South Africa. Patrice Motsepe is chairman; André Wilkens is CEO.ARM has interests in a wide range of mines, including platinum and PGMs, iron, coal, copper, and gold. ARM's Goedgevonden coalmine near Witbank is a flagship of their joint venture...
company's name changed to ARMgold, while joining with Harmony Gold Mining Ltd, in 2002 when is it was listed on the JSE Security Exchange. Motsepe is also the founder of African Rainbow Minerals Platinum (Proprietary) Limited and ARM Consortium Limited which later equally split ownership with Anglo American Platinum Corp Ltd. From 2005, Motsepe ran as the Chairman of Teal Exploration and Mining Incorporated. Motsepe runs as the chairmen of Ubuntu-Botho Investments, Non-Executive chairman of Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd and deputy Chairman of Sanlam Ltd. Motsepe is currently South Africa's president of Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
External links
- What a lot he’s got in The Sowetan of 6–7 March 2008.
- Biography in Black Entrepreneur Profile
- African Rainbow Minerals website
- 'Nationalise Motsepe's wealth' News24