Since his inclusion in the Forbes World Billionaire List in 2008 as the 503rd richest man in the world, South African mining magnate Patrice Motsepe has attracted both admiration and envy.

While branding him as one of the new rich black elite to benefit from Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), critics ignore the fact that he turned from being a successful mining lawyer to a successful mining businessman, winning several business awards before the introduction of BEE. They also ignore an entrepreneurial family background and much hard work, and the fact that Motsepe’s uncle is the leader of a Tswana tribe known as the Motsepe tribe.



Motsepe was born in his mother’s hometown, Soweto, on Jan 28th 1962. He soon moved to rural Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, where the apartheid government had banished his father, Augustine Motsepe. There his father established a successful grocery store and went on to open a beer hall and a restaurant, giving Patrice an early induction into the business and life skills that have seen him achieve many firsts.



Internationally recognised South African solo adventurer, Riaan Manser, pedalled his way into fame by cycling around the African continent, completing the gruelling 36,500km trip in two years, two months and 15 days in December 2005.

He topped this achievement, which won him the Out There adventurer of the year award in 2006, with another world first last year. In July 2009 he succeeded where others had failed by completing an unsupported 5,000km paddle around Madagascar in a little specialised 5.5-metre kayak.

His journey around the fourth largest island, paddling in an anti-clockwise direction, took eleven months. This feat, as simple as it sounds on paper, puts him amongst the top adventurers of the world.

Known as the “Princess of Africa”, the glamorous Soweto-born South African musician, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, has matured from young African pop star to a singer of international acclaim.

She recently received an award in the Arts and Culture section of the Most Influential Women in Business and Government 2009 Awards. She also received the Lifetime Achiever Award at the 2009 MTN South African Music Awards.

Arguably best known for her popular signature song Umqombothi (meaning African beer) our home-grown music diva has produced 20 albums in a singing career that has spanned 22 years, while developing her own record label and expanding her repertoire to include talk radio and television shows as well as acting. But the road to stardom for the award winning Chaka Chaka, considered by many to be a South African and even African icon, was not an easy one.

Sharon was the Guest Editor for Issue 78 of Agenda

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