Billionaire Patrice Motsepe, chair and founder of diversified JSE-listed company African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), has hit back at the so-called PM27 lobby behind a campaign for him to become ANC president, saying it was an attempt to smear his integrity.
Speculation has been rife that Motsepe, who successfully turned around the fortunes of the Confederation of African Football, will succeed President Cyril Ramaphosa, as a push for his presidency is in full swing under the Savumelana PM27 (Patrice Motsepe 2027) campaign.
PM27 is behind the printing of election T-shirts in Gauteng and the establishment of websites pushing the campaign.
On its website, Savumelana, which claims to be a uniting force for the ANC, calls on supporters to rally behind Motsepe and describes him as a leader who embodies “unity, progress and ethical governance”.
The Motsepe-for-president lobby comes as the party prepares for its elective conference at the end of next year.
Rumours around Motsepe’s “campaign” went into overdrive in February when ARM announced that, in line with JSE requirements, Motsepe would “retire” as the executive chair of ARM but would continue as a director and nonexecutive chair.
The JSE promotes good corporate governance by separating executive and nonexecutive roles in listed companies. The PM27 lobbyists took the resignation as a sign that Motsepe was readying himself to enter active politics.
Motsepe, however, took a dim view of those using his name without his permission. He told analysts on Friday at the group’s financial results presentation for the six months ended in December that becoming a non-executive director in compliance with JSE requirements gave rise to the rumour-mongering.
“Of course, there are people who are very enthusiastic... (who) keep printing these skipas (T-shirts), and I don’t know where they get money from. And now there’s a website, and I am told there are several websites that are being launched,” he said.
He said nothing had changed from when he told the South African National Editors’ Forum last year that he was not interested in succeeding President Cyril Ramaphosa and his biggest contribution and duty was making South Africa a better place, with a future for everybody.
“I’ll always stay within the ANC. I will continue with what we have done; we will make donations to all political parties. I will maintain the historic relationships that I have had across the board because belonging to a political party does not make you an enemy. We are all South Africans,” he said.
The ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) has said no campaigning should happen in the run-up to the 2027 elections.
“There are some people who are funding websites and T-shirts, and the aim is to discredit me by saying, ‘He is not following the rules, and it’s all about himself, and it’s all about these businesspeople, these wealthy people,’” Motsepe said.
He said questions about the presidential campaign would continue.
“I am saying to the shareholders (about getting involved in politics) that I am too old and boring to form political parties.
“(But) it won’t go away, partly because those who think I may interfere with their objectives, their political ambitions, start these websites. They print these T-shirts and say the NEC must make an announcement that Dr Patrice Motsepe is not following the rules. I always follow the rules. My integrity is very important.”
Motsepe, who is seen as a BEE success story, became the first black African dollar billionaire in 2008 after building up his mining empire. He created ARM in 2004 through a merger with Harmony Gold and the acquisition of AngloVaal.
Motsepe has exposure in the financial services sector through his Ubuntu-Botho Investments (UBI). Through UBI, Motsepe also has an interest in financial services group Sanlam, of which he is the deputy chair.
ARM, whose interests include platinum, coal, iron ore and manganese, on Friday reported a 10% increase in headline earnings for the six months ended December. The company declared an R5-a-share dividend, reflecting its commitment to pay dividends to shareholders.
Despite the higher earnings, ARM’s share price closed 6.39% lower on Friday at R214.25 a share.
The group’s performance in the period under review was closely linked to the movement of commodity prices and the rand exchange rate.
While the platinum division shot the lights out with a 200% increase in headline earnings, coal and manganese took a knock due to lower prices. Lower sales volumes at the Beeshoek iron ore mine also hurt the group’s performance.
ARM Ferrous’s headline earnings fell 34% to R1.2bn due to lower contributions from both the iron ore and manganese divisions. The group said the iron ore division’s headline earnings fell by 24%, while the manganese division’s fell 84%.
“Manganese headline earnings declined largely due to lower average realised US dollar manganese ore and alloy prices, lower high-grade manganese ore export sales compared with the prior period, and the absence of molten metal sales during the period,” said ARM.
Speaking at the results presentation, ARM CEO Phillip Tobias said there was a strong rebound from the platinum group metals (PGM) operations, pointing to the recovery of PGMs.
“We see a strong rebound from the PGM operations, while others were actually affected by lower prices and strong exchange.
Through its Assmang manganese mine, ARM is bidding to become a joint-venture partner with Transnet to design, build and operate a new 16-million-tonne-capacity manganese ore export terminal at Ngqura in the Eastern Cape.
“We are advancing rail and port reforms with Transnet, including the request for quotations for the Ngqura manganese export terminal,” said Tobias.
ARM, a member of the Ore Users Forum (OUF), said it was working with Transnet and other industry peers to reform, stabilise and improve the iron ore export rail and port network.
“The collaborative efforts between the OUF and Transnet have helped improve ore rail transport, with Assmang reporting a 7% period-on-period increase in rail performance,” it said.
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