As we continue with our weekly feature – Africa’s Secret Millionaires– , Ventures Africa’s wealth team will continue to uncover several low-key, ultra-wealthy entrepreneurs across the continent. Each of them is worth more than $50 million at the very least. This week, we uncover a South African millionaire you probably never heard of.

SAKUMZI “SAKI” MACOZOMA

Net Worth: R634 million ($71 million)

Age: 55 (D.O.B 12 May 1957)

Residence: Johannesburg

Country of Citizenship: South Africa

Marital Status: Married, 3 Children

Source: Mining, Banking, Insurance

Saki Macozoma is a prominent South African businessman with interests in public companies like Standard Bank, Liberty and Safika Investment Holdings. He is one of the country’s richest men with a net worth of more than $71 million as at October this year.

This net worth is based on his shareholdings in Standard Bank, Liberty and Safika. Safika, where he is a controlling shareholder, holds 25 percent stake in Standard Bank and in turn Standard Bank holds 20 percent in Safika. Standard Bank is Liberty’s parent company.

But Macozoma’s net worth could be far bigger than the amount reflected by his shareholdings in listed companies because he holds significant stakes in private mining companies like Tshipi Entle Manganese and its sister open-pit miner Tshipi Borwa Manganese. He is also the chairman of Andisa Capital, an empowerment financial services company. He leads a consortium which owns 51 percent of Andisa Capital.

He is also a director of Tutuwa Strategic Holdings 2, which is a subsidiary of Safika, which means Safika owns more than 50 percent in Tutuwa. He is also a chairman of Lliso Consulting and a director of VW South Africa.

Because these companies are not listed, shareholder information in these companies is not readily available to the public, making it almost impossible for anyone to see how much money the shareholders make.  Unlike in the US, South Africa does not have a share register, making it hard to get Macozoma’s actual shareholding in other little companies. Attempts to get comment from him drew a blank as he was said to be travelling.

Bio

Sakumzi “Saki” Macozoma was born on 12 May 1957 in South Africa’s eastern coastal town of Port Elizabeth. He is a former South African political prisoner. He studied Political Science and Economics at the University of South Africa and journalism in Boston. He holds a BA degree from Unisa.

After spending five years imprisoned on Robben Island for anti-apartheid activities, he joined the South African Council of Churches (SACC). He also worked for the ANC while at the SACC.

Macozoma’s rise in business has been nothing short of meteoric. After the ANC’s about-turn on economic policy, which saw the ruling party ditch nationalisation policies in favour of conservative economics, he emerged as one of the most committed defenders of the new path.

While government was often hesitant to offer ideological justifications for its economics, Macozoma was one of a few who were unapologetic about SA’s capitalist path. He has often stated that creating a black bourgeoisie necessarily creates economic inequality and that this is a “normal” consequence of capitalism.

Macozoma the businessman

After South Africa’s first all-race elections in 1994, the ANC, under the leadership of the iconic Nelson Mandela, identified a few of its foot soldiers (comrades) that needed to go into business with a mission of transforming it.

Macozoma had become a Member of Parliament in 1994 and he left the Legislature in 1996 to take up a position as managing director of Transnet, South Africa’s transport utility. This is a job he held for five years.

He never looked back as a businessman from there onwards. He is now chairman of Liberty Group, the fourth biggest JSE-listed life insurer in South Africa. He is also chairman of Stanlib, a fund manager that is a joint venture between Standard Bank and Liberty. He is also chairman of Safika Holdings and deputy chairman of the Standard Bank Group. Macozoma is ranked 39th richest man in South Africa with investments worth R634 million ($71 million).

Breakdown Of Saki Macozoma’s Key Assets

Standard Bank

Standard Bank has a 150-year history in South Africa and started building a franchise in the rest of Africa in the early 1990s. It currently operates in 18 countries on the African continent, including South Africa, as well as in other selected emerging markets.

Its strategy is to build the leading African financial services organisation using all its competitive advantages to the full. It will focus on delivering superior sustainable shareholder value by serving the needs of its customers through first-class, on-the-ground operations in chosen countries in Africa. It also connects other selected emerging markets to Africa and to each other, applying its sector expertise, particularly in natural resources, globally. Its key differentiator is people who are passionate about its strategy, wherever in the world they are based.

Standard Bank Group is listed on the JSE and the Namibian Stock Exchange. Normalised headline earnings for 2011 were R13.6 billion ($1.9 billion), total assets are over R1 497 billion (approximately $185 billion) and it employs approximately 52 000 people (including Liberty) across all geographies. Standard Bank’s current market capitalisation is more than R177 billion ($13.4 billion).  It opened its 500th branch in the rest of Africa during this year and in total Standard Bank has 1 222 branches, including loan centres, and 7 945 ATMs on the African continent. Macozoma owns 1.591.64 million ordinary Standard Bank shares and 52.9 thousands preference shares. Standard Bank’s share price is at 111.00 rands.

Liberty

Liberty is an African wealth management group which, for more than fifty years, has delivered innovative long-term solutions that assist customers to achieve financial stability in their chosen lifestyles and throughout their life cycles.

As a group of companies, Liberty offers an extensive, market-leading range of products and services to help customers build and protect long-term wealth. These include life and health-related insurance, investment management and retirement income facilitation. Customers have flexible choices and the input provided by Liberty’s advisers equips them with the knowledge and expert advice they need to make the right decisions with confidence, no matter what their stage of life.

Safika

Safika Holdings is a South African investment holding company with a broad range of interests in the industrial, mining, gaming, financial services, human resources, TMT telecommunications, media and technology sectors of the economy

The company is well positioned in the market place and is in a period of expansion aimed at broadening and intensifying positions in carefully selected investment areas. Safika is also expanding beyond the borders of South Africa.

Safika’s business philosophy is to take active roles in the companies in which it invests and to vigorously add value to the enterprises. Its management style is designed to foster talent and encourage initiative at all levels.

Tshipi é Ntle Manganese Mining

Tshipi, as the company is affectionately known, is a mining company which also has a new open pit manganese mine in the Kalahari Manganese Field (KMF) in the Northern Cape.

The new Borwa mine is a modern low cost manganese producer that has set the benchmark for how mines should be constructed, managed and operated in the New South Africa.

The Tshipi Borwa open pit mine has been designed to produce 2.5mtpa of manganese ore grading 37 percent, and the 163mt of open pit resources should ensure that the mine will continue to deliver economic benefits to the surrounding communities for many decades to come. The manganese ore is railed to the ports of Durban or Port Elizabeth before being exported to clients predominantly located in the Far East.

Ntsimbintle SPV presently holds 50.1 percent of Tshipi’s equity and Jupiter Mines owns 49.9 percent. Ntsimbintle SPV is 74 percent owned by various BEE groupings including Safika Resources and Nkojane while OMH holds 26 percent of Ntsimbintle SPV.

Andisa Capital

A consortium led by Saki Macozoma and Moss Ngoasheng of Safika Holdings and Ronnie Ntuli of Nduna Trust owns 51 percent of Andisa Capital and the Standard Bank Group owns 49 percent. In line with Andisa Capital’s skills development strategies and affirmative action plans, the company continues to be black controlled in terms of ownership and operations.

Andisa Capital acquired from Standard Bank the agency business of SCMB Securities, the bank’s stockbroking arm, as well as the bank’s treasury outsourcing business, Standard Risk and Treasury Management Services (SRTMS), including its wholly owned subsidiary that recently started operations in Botswana. Andisa will also be establishing private equity and corporate finance divisions.

Editor’s note:

The Ventures Africa wealth team will uncover, identify and profile African multi-millionaires with net worth of over $50 million through Africa’s Secret Millionaires- an illuminating new weekly feature on Ventures Africa.

The idea behind Africa’s Secret Millionaires is quite simple. We will traverse across the continent seeking out immensely successful, yet low-key tycoons and business leaders who have been largely under-reported, and then tell their stories. We will look through financial reports, track equity holdings around stock markets, identify specific shareholding structures in privately-held companies and consult with everyone from fund managers to investment bankers, realtors and financial analysts to find information that was has not been made public, and then we will place accurate values on the assets of these ultra-high net worth individuals.

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