Meet South African Mining Businessman and Billionaire of Tswana Descent, Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe

Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe (born 28 January 1962) is a South African mining businessman and billionaire. He is the founder and executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, which has interests in gold, ferrous metals, base metals, and platinum. He sits on several company boards, including being the non-executive chairman of Harmony Gold, the world’s 12th largest gold mining company, and the deputy chairman of Sanlam. In 2012, Motsepe was named South Africa’s richest man, topping the Sunday Times’ annual Rich List with an estimated fortune of R20.07 billion ($1 billion).^[2]

In 2003, he became the owner of football club Mamelodi Sundowns.^[3]

In 2013, he joined The Giving Pledge, committing to give half of his wealth to charitable causes.^[4]

Early life and education

Patrice was born to Augustine Motsepe, a schoolteacher turned small businessman, who owned a Spaza shop which was popular with black mine workers. It was from this shop that Motsepe learned basic business principles from his father as well as first-hand exposure to mining. His father later became a chieftain.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Swaziland and a law degree from the University of the Witwatersrand.^[5] He specialised in mining and business law.

Career

In 1994, he became the first black partner in the law firm Bowman Gilfillan—the same year that Nelson Mandela was elected as the country’s first black president. While the new government began promoting black empowerment and entrepreneurship; Motsepe founded Future Mining, which provided contract mining services that included the cleaning of gold dust from inside mine shafts for the Vaal Reefs Gold mine, and implemented a system of worker remuneration that combined a low base salary with a profit-sharing bonus.^[6]

In 1997, with gold prices at a low, he purchased marginal gold mines from AngloGold under favourable finance terms. AngloGold sold Motsepe six gold mine shafts for $7,7million allowing him to repay the debt out of the future earnings of the company now known as African Rainbow Minerals.^[7]

This was repeated in a string of deals and Motsepe set up a firm to begin buying the operating mines that would become the source of his wealth. In 1999 he teamed up with two of his associates to form Greene and Partners Investments.

The Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) laws introduced after the 1994 elections have been instrumental in cementing Motsepe’s position in the mining industry in South Africa. A business must have a minimum of 26% black ownership to be considered for a mining license.^[8]

Motsepe won South Africa’s Best Entrepreneur Award in 2002.^[9] In 2004 he was voted 39th in the SABC3’s Great South Africans (SABC being South African Broadcasting Corporation, the government funded state broadcaster). In 2008 he was 503rd richest person in the world, according to the Forbes “Rich List 2018”, then ranked as the 962nd wealthiest person in the world, and the third wealthiest South African for 2019.^[10]

In 2002 when it was listed on the JSE Security Exchange, African Rainbow Minerals joined with Harmony Gold Mining Ltd. and the company’s name changed to ARMgold. 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 was Chairman of Teal Exploration and Mining Incorporated. Motsepe is also chairman of Ubuntu-Botho Investments, Non-Executive chairman of Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd. and deputy Chairman of Sanlam Ltd. Motsepe has been president of South Africa’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.^[11]

He is currently the interim chairman of the Black Business Council and is a founding member and former president of one of South Africa’s most influential business advocacy and lobby group Business Unity SA (BUSA).^[12]

Motsepe and Ubuntu-Botho Investments is to partner with insurance and financial services company Sanlam to found a private equity firm with a focus on African investments.^[1]

Personal life

Motsepe is married to Dr. Precious Moloi, a physician and fashion entrepreneur. They have three children.^[1] He is the brother of Tshepo Motsepe and Bridgette Radebe, and the brother-in-law of both President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister Jeff Radebe.