The billionaire who could become South Africa’s next President

South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe has built a business empire in South Africa. He is now promoted as a potential candidate for the next ANC Presidency and, ultimately, the South African President.

While the mining, finance and football tycoon has dodged questions about his political aspirations, speculation about machinations to get him to lead the African National Congress (ANC) persists.

Even without a firm commitment one way or the other from Motsepe, polling shows he is the most popular choice among the ANC’s most likely candidates.

Motsepe was born in 1962 in Soweto, one of seven children of the late Augustine and Margaret Motsepe.

He made his fortune through mining in South Africa, primarily through a string of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) deals after the country entered its democratic era in 1994.

While he built his wealth through the economic policy, it was his astute management and eye for such deals that drove the success of these ventures, with African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) being his flagship business.

Motsepe’s business acumen was instilled in him from a young age, and the billionaire often credits his father for fostering his entrepreneurial spirit.

In a 2006 interview with the National Farmers’ Union, he said he had been getting up early in the morning to help his father from the age of six, and that he was always driven to “be the best”.

This played out in his strong academic and professional career.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Swaziland and then a law degree from the University of the Witwatersrand. In 1994, he became the first black partner at Bowman Gilfillan.

At the time, he specialised in mining law and developed an interest in the industry. He founded a contract mining company, Future Mining, that same year.

Motsepe then formed ARMgold in 1997, which was listed on the JSE in 2002. It rapidly became a prominent mining group, merging with Avmin and Harmony Gold in 2003, and then changing its name to African Rainbow Minerals (ARM).

Motsepe became the founder and Executive Chairman of ARM, and his fortunes grew with the business’s success.

In 2008, he officially became a dollar billionaire, ranking as the first black African on the Forbes list of billionaires.

As of 2026, he ranks fourth among the richest people in South Africa, with an estimated net worth of R59 billion.

South Africa’s potential future president

Motsepe’s business legacy is widely celebrated, with the billionaire frequently ranked among the country’s greatest business leaders.

He has also expanded his influence and management into the field of sport, serving as the President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and as the former long-time owner of the Mamelodi Sundowns football club.

However, it’s a different kind of presidency that has thrust the mining tycoon into the spotlight.

In early 2026, a campaign pushing for Patrice Motsepe to be ANC president launched under the banner “PM27”, sparking speculation that the businessman was making a bid for the position.

It had previously been speculated that amid questions about who would succeed President Cyril Ramaphosa, his brother-in-law, Motsepe, would be a popular choice.

Motsepe distanced himself from the campaign, and the senior government communications figures behind the push also characterised it as a lobby not driven by the man himself.

Motsepe has denied having political ambitions on several occasions, but has always carefully phrased his responses in a way that could not be an outright denial.

Most recently, he told France 24 that “South Africa does not need me to go into politics” and that “I don’t have to fulfil my duty or make a contribution to my country on a political platform”.

However, this is not an abject denial. Apropos, in the same interview, the businessman stated explicitly that “I have no desire or ambition to be president of FIFA” when questioned about that potential ambition.

His proximity to Ramaphosa, his closeness to and support for the ANC, and his relative popularity among voters almost guarantee that the speculation won’t die until the lines are drawn for the 2027 vote.

Until then, polling from the Social Research Foundation shows that South Africa’s pioneering black billionaire businessman remains a contender.

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Pictures of Motsepe and his ARM operations and related media

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