The Patrice Motsepe bid for ANC Presidency. The jury is gathering.

This was published in the Sunday Times of 10 May 2025

The world is undergoing a process of creating a convergence of private sector efficiency, public sector leadership legitimacy, political, and democratic criteria in how societies, countries, and, more acutely, governments are led. This has been an ongoing experiment for several years, and an emerging consensus is that the context of political leadership is inextricably linked with the dimension of interests as the currency of politics underlying all societies.

The entry of billionaires into the political leadership arena, where competition standards extend beyond the traditional 'it's about the people' criterion, is a new phenomenon that countries with a significant inequality gap, such as South Africa, must reconcile. Leaders have transformed into brands. As branded figures, whether icons, legends, philanthropists, or others, their character ultimately reveals itself during their time in office, influencing the return on voter investment. The direction of their legacy will determine how a society or nation envisions its growth and development.  

Patrice Motsepe's muted candidacy to lead the ANC, and potentially South Africa, warrants examination. The ANC cannot avoid societal perceptions related to its technical capabilities and ethical leadership. Its continuation will hinge on the calibre of leadership it showcases to enhance its public image. This initiative will decrease its susceptibility and eventually enable it to recover from its challenges since May 2024.  If Patrice Motsepe's entry aligns with this and considering his undeniable track record in corporate social investment, his candidacy, potentially as part of a grand coalition led by the ANC, could enhance South Africa's position in global competitiveness. 

Suppose the conclusion of the moment of leadership includes raising leaders with business transactional prowess, which the world seemingly demands. In that case, South Africa might be on the right track with the Patrice Motsepe breed, even if Patrice is the person who generates a different discourse. On the other hand, the breeds that have been on display for the longest time in the politics-specific leadership pageant, of which Patrice has once entered and exited active involvement, may be appropriate for other criteria that might emerge in the course of raising hands. 

 

What is real, though, is that the ANC remains the pole organisation with the social and political capital, even in its current compromised state, to provide a platform for newer leadership breeds to rise to the leadership challenge. This does not diminish the omnipresent advantage of coalition arrangements in mitigating the risks that the country has been subjected to. This includes breeds that stubbornly believe in the correctness of South Africa's entire past before the May 2024 moment.

 

If Patrice's entry was a planned strategy, the social and political capital he now commands to lead the country has been meticulously accumulated. The journey to his current position has been long and profoundly sophisticated. Consider the Motsepe Foundation's corporate social investment in various areas of societal impact. Through the foundation, the faith-based community, particularly the Judeo-Christian faith, has seen tangible interventions made by the foundation that have contributed to its continued growth. 

It is no secret to South Africans that Patrice, the person, has cordial and invested relationships with leaders of several large churches. Some are political constituencies of note in their own right. He does not need an open endorsement; history with such organisations is enough of an endorsement. The success of Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club has earned him the endearment of soccer fans, including those from rival teams. The contributions his entry to soccer, local and continental, have earned him a reputation for being a delivery-oriented person. His social investment successes, including his donations to schools, youth activities, and the science and innovation safaris led by his wife, set him apart from those muted for raising a hand for candidacy. 

In the business world, the transaction defined terrain that has made a decisive entry into the domain of political leadership, Patrice records several self-initiated successes not dependent on the state tendering system. The completeness of his international trade experience defines him as an appropriate C-Suite candidate, and the form and character of the RSA's democratic and constitutional order might be ready for it. If there is still a trust deficit between capital and the state in South Africa and the continent, Patrice Motsepe's accumulated experience in both worlds diminishes the deficit. It could introduce a new breed of trust surplus with a social conscience that the economic order requires. 

He brings tangible experience of organised business, notably the profoundly self-made business constituency he led as President of NAFCOC. He also led the Black Business Council, which declares as its purpose lobbying the government on policy-related matters and plays an advocacy role where policies are in place to accelerate the participation of black businesses in the mainstream economy. The absence of his name, including as a noticeable footnote, in corruption and state capture investigation reports, introduces into the political contestation context the ability for society to sharply raise this matter as a criterion for political leadership selection. 

As the saying goes, "few are angels, many who are saints become so in the afterlife" Patrice Motsepe's entry into this contest, whether he raises his hand or it is raised about him, has made him the proverbial baboon on the tree of politics. The higher he climbs the tree with state power as the prize, the more what has never attracted the attention of society about him will be in the open and on display.

Leaders bred from the foundries of private sector leadership shaping furnaces are not known to have a tolerance for the decision-making meanderings associated with democracies of the kind South Africa is. It is not given that success in a corporate and bottom-line-driven leadership environment is generally applicable elsewhere. The unfolding case study in the United States of America does not inspire confidence for his breed. 

Interestingly, his investment company is delisting and going private. Without insinuating anything about the business merits of the decision, the brute truth is that his entry into politics might subject his publicly listed interests to scrutiny of a special type. Notwithstanding, the jury is gathering around Patrice Motsepe as a leadership breed for politics. His public trial as the candidate is about to begin. Only his confirmation that he is in the race is outstanding for him to enter the pigsty. CUT!!!