Patrice Motsepe Biography : The Soweto Lawyer Who Turned “Rejected” Mine Shafts into African Rainbow Minerals and Led CAF

Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe

Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe’s story begins far from boardrooms and stadium VIP seats. It starts in Soweto, where he was born on January 28, 1962.

As a boy, he watched mineworkers up close through his father’s business—seeing how the mining economy fed families, broke bodies, and powered South Africa. That early exposure planted a question in him: if mining is this central, why are so few Black South Africans owning the engines of it?

He chose law as his first weapon—studying, qualifying, and rising in corporate legal circles until he became a partner at a major Johannesburg firm (a breakthrough moment in that era). But Motsepe didn’t want to stay on the sidelines of deals; he wanted to own the deal.

Then came the move that created the legend: in the late 1990s, when gold prices were low, he began buying “marginal” mine shafts—assets many saw as tired and unexciting. He believed they weren’t useless; they were simply mismanaged. He rebuilt them with hard systems, incentives, and relentless efficiency—and that strategy became the foundation of what would grow into African Rainbow Minerals (ARM).

Over time, Motsepe became known as South Africa’s first Black billionaire in mainstream global business profiles—proof that Black ownership at the very top of mining could exist, scale, and last.

But he didn’t stop at mining. His name also became tied to broader South African corporate power—through investment vehicles like Ubuntu-Botho (and later African Rainbow Capital) and board-level roles in major financial institutions.

Then he entered another arena Nigerians and Africans follow with passion: football. Motsepe has been connected with Mamelodi Sundowns leadership/ownership since the early 2000s, and in March 2021 he became President of CAF.
In March 2025, he was re-elected unopposed for a second four-year term, extending his leadership to 2029.

Today, his biography reads like a full circle: a Soweto-born lawyer who walked into mining, built an empire from “rejected” assets, expanded into investment and philanthropy, and later became one of the most influential administrators in African football.