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Senior members of South Africa's African National Congress are quietly lobbying Patrice Motsepe, the billionaire founder of African Rainbow Minerals Ltd. and president of the Confederation of African Football, to run for the party's leadership, according to reports published on Nov. 7.
The push comes as the ANC absorbs its worst result in a municipal vote since the end of apartheid. With 99% of ballots counted in the Nov. 4 local government elections, the party had 30.9% of the national vote on Nov. 7, down from 45.6% in 2021 and about 40% in the 2024 general election. The Democratic Alliance was second with 24.6%, followed by the uMkhonto weSizwe Party with 9.6% and the Economic Freedom Fighters with 6.3%.
The ANC said in a statement on Nov. 7 that it "did not do well" and that its support had fallen. More than 100 councils have no party with an outright majority, the statement said. The party is projected to fall short of a majority in all eight of the country's metropolitan municipalities, including Buffalo City and Mangaung, the two metros it controlled outright after the 2021 vote.
Pressure at the top
Motsepe, 64, is the brother-in-law of President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose second and final term as ANC president ends at the party's elective conference in 2027.
Ramaphosa raised the possibility of resigning as ANC leader at an internal meeting after the losses, members of the party's National Executive Committee told the Sunday Times. He told colleagues the ANC could not sustain two consecutive electoral defeats under his leadership without consequence, and said he was prepared to step down on his own if the party's top officials would not leave their posts together. Deputy President Paul Mashatile, Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula and Second Deputy Secretary-General Maropene Ramokgopa persuaded him to stay, the NEC members said. Ramokgopa floated holding the national conference early, in April.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said she had no knowledge of such a discussion. The NEC is due to hold a special meeting to review the results.
Motsepe's response
Motsepe has repeatedly said he is not seeking political office. When a campaign called PM27 urged South Africans in March to back him as Ramaphosa's successor, he dismissed it at African Rainbow Minerals' annual shareholder meeting. "I ignore these things, it's false, unfounded," he said on March 6. "The best place for us to make this contribution is outside politics."
The ANC's NEC condemned PM27 days earlier, saying it broke the party's rules against early leadership campaigning. In September 2025, he said he was not in the ANC leadership race.
A mining fortune
Motsepe trained as a lawyer and built his fortune in mining, starting with marginal gold shafts in the 1990s before forming African Rainbow Minerals, which now has interests in platinum group metals, iron ore, manganese, coal and gold. He stepped down as executive chairman of the Johannesburg-listed company on Feb. 16 to comply with new JSE listing rules and stayed on as non-executive chairman.
He also owns South African football club Mamelodi Sundowns and has led CAF since 2021. Forbes estimates his net worth at $3.6 billion, making him one of South Africa's richest people.
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