Known as much for his philanthropy as for his commercial nous, entrepreneurship, and for being a soccer boss and family man, Patrice Motsepe is a near-legendary figure in South African business.

Motsepe has always followed his instincts – and he’s often been ahead of the curve. Never shy to shake up the status quo, this star law graduate made a deal with Anglo American in the late 1990s, marking the beginning of a series of unique long-term relationships for what would become his African Rainbow Mineral business empire.

As the long-time owner of South African soccer franchise, Mamelodi Sundowns, Motsepe became the president of the Confederation of African Football in 2021, and consequently a vice-president of FIFA, football’s global governing body.

In this unauthorised biography, journalist Janet Smith mines the public archives to try to get to the bottom of what makes this hugely successful, intensely private man tick.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Janet Smith is a former newspaper editor and the author and co-author of seven books, including three young-adult titles, all of which won prizes in the Young Africa Awards. Nonfiction titles for which she was co-author are Hani: A Life Too Short, The Coming Revolution: Julius Malema and the Fight for Economic Freedom, The Black Consciousness Reader and The A to Z of South African Politics.

Patrice Motsepe: An appetite for disruption is published by Jonathan Ball Publishers