From Owning Mcdonald’s to Farming Cattle: How SA President Cyril Ramaphosa Built His R6.4 Billion Fortune
Cyril Ramaphosa started as an anti-apartheid activist and labour leader and became a businessman. Ramaphosa served as the deputy president of South Africa from 2014 to 2018. He was later elected President of the African National Congress (ANC) at the ANC National Conference in December 2017.
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The current South African President has always been commended and recognised for his business-mindedness and successful dealings reaping all the good fortune he has today. With an estimated wealth of R6.4 billion ($450 million), one has to hand it to him – the madala sure knows how to make a deal work in his favour.
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Born in n Soweto, Johannesburg, on 17 November 1952, to Venda parents, Erdmuth and retired policeman Samuel Ramaphosa, the prominent figure would grow up to not only be a successful business tycoon but also lead the country. Briefly News looks at his success and how he built his wealth.
How Ramaphosa first gained public recognition
Ramaphosa first became prominent in the 1980s as the founder and promoter of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), created to improve the rights of black African workers. The union is often described as the country's biggest and most powerful trade union, Wikipedia states.
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In 1991, at age 39, he was elected secretary general of the African National Congress and was the main negotiator with the National Party during the transition to democracy.
After less than three years in parliament, Ramaphosa resigned in 1997, first joining New Africa Investments and then starting the Shanduka Group.
Cyril Ramaphosa's rakes in the rands via his Shanduka Group business dealings
Founded by Ramaphosa in 2001, Shanduka owned stakes in mining entities, financial institutions, McDonald's South African subsidiaries and Coca-Cola bottling plants.
Ramaphosa's excellent connections and strong deal-making skills helped Shanduka build a diverse portfolio with shareholding in businesses in the resources, food and beverage, telecoms, financial, and property industries, My Broadband reports.
Ramaphosa also held many board positions, including chairman of Bidvest, Mondi, and MTN, and non-executive directorships at Macsteel, Alexander Forbes, SABMiller, and Standard Bank.
Ramaphosa steps down from business as he becomes ANC deputy president
According to Forbes, when then-South African President Jacob Zuma appointed Cyril Ramaphosa as deputy president in May 2014, he stepped back from his business pursuits to avoid conflicts of interest.
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He stepped down as chairman of the investment firm Shanduka Group in May 2015. A year later completed the process of selling his 30% stake in Shanduka, which merged with Pembani Group to form a "Pan African Industrial Holdings Group" with $900 million in assets.
Ramaphosa also stepped down from his board positions and sold McDonald's South Africa to MSA Holdings, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, My Broadband states.
Cyril Ramaphosa is strictly a statesman by profession
The 2017 Parliamentary register of members' interests only listed Puma Sports Cars, Ntaba Nyoni Estates, Mondi LTD, and Ntaba Nyoni Feedlot under Ramaphosa's shares and other financial interests.
The register also listed 32 townhouses and flats owned by the President and five trusts – three of which he is a deferred beneficiary.
The President had no remuneration outside of his salary from the state, and he was not involved in any consultancies or retainers.
The companies under Cyril's Shanduka Portfolio
We now look at the companies in the Shanduka portfolio before it merged with Phembani, in which President Cyril Ramaphosa had a stake before becoming deputy president.
According to My Broadband, these companies include many of South Africa's top businesses, including MTN, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Standard Bank, Alexander Forbes, Liberty Group, and Bidvest.
It also had a strong presence in the industrial and resources space, with investments in MPACT, Macsteel, Seacom, Helios Towers, RentWorks, Lonmin, Pan African Resources, Lace Diamond, and Kangra Coal.
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Ramaphosa the cattle farmer at his Phala Phala farm
Ramaphosa is also big on cattle and owns the now popular and controversial Phala Phala farm near Bela-Bela, in Limpopo. He is also the biggest Ankole farmer in South Africa. His interest in the breed of long-horned cattle started during a trip to Uganda.
The farm was in the public eye after former spy boss Arthur Fraser claimed a burglary occurred in 2020 in which about $4 million in cash (around R64 million) was stolen.
The money was believed to be earned from selling game and cattle, News24 reports.
Source: Getty Images
A recent auction held in June 2022 made headlines after it offered six lots from Ramaphosa's Ntaba Nyoni Ankole stud, including one bull, three females, and two lots of embryos - earning him a total of R2.37 million.
It is reported that the highest-priced bull at the auction, sold by Benella Ankole stud from Yonder Hill Wine Farming CC in Stellenbosch, fetched R1.65 million.
Another bull sold for R1 million. According to Veewinkel, an auction house, the highest-priced female was sold for R950 000, while top-priced implanted embryos sold for R300 000.
Although his wealth has come with its fair share of controversy, at 70 years old, Ramaphosa has done very well for himself, to say the least, and there are few doubts that he'll need to lift a finger during his retirement.
President Ramaphosa turns 70 overseas, Sri Lanka throws surprise birthday party with beautiful birthday cake
In another story, Briefly News reported that 17 November marked President Cyril Ramaphosa's 70th birthday. Ramaphosa was in for an early birthday surprise when Sri Lankan Presidnet Ranil Wickremesinghe amazed Ramaphosa with a surprise birthday party and cake at the country's Air force base on Tuesday, 16 November.
A video posted by the Presidency suggests the party was a truly fun-filled affair, with a breathtaking performance from traditional Sri Lankan dancers showing off their skill to vibrant traditional music.
Another video captured a wholesome moment between the two heads of state when a cake was brought out. Sri Lankan and South African officials sang the President Happy Birthday, and a grateful Ramaphosa blew out his candles and cut his cake, smiling from ear to ear.
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Source: Briefly News
