How Cyril Ramaphosa made his billions
Cyril Ramaphosa, an anti-apartheid activist, former trade union leader, business tycoon, mine boss and current President of the Republic of South Africa, is one of the country’s wealthiest individuals.
Although recent figures have been scarce, Forbes Magazine estimated Ramaphosa’s net worth to be around R6.4 billion (US$D450 million) in 2015.
This has fluctuated over the years, going from ~$275 million in 2011, to a peak of ~$700 million in 2013 – building his wealth through various black empowerment initiatives and business ventures in prominent companies.
Looking at a brief history, Ramaphosa was born on November 17, 1952, in Soweto, Johannesburg.
The second of three children of Erdmuth and retired policeman Samuel Ramaphosa, he attended local schools and completed his matriculation at Mphaphuli High School in 1971, where he led the Student Christian Movement.
In 1972, he studied law at the University of the North (Turfloop). During his university years, Ramaphosa became active in student politics, joining the South African Students Organisation (SASO) and the Black People’s Convention (BPC).
His activism led to an eleven-month detention in solitary confinement in 1974 for organizing pro-Frelimo rallies. In 1976, he was arrested again during the Soweto unrest and held for six months.
After his release, he worked as a law clerk in Johannesburg while completing his legal studies through UNISA, earning his Bachelor of Procurationis degree in 1981.
After completing his legal qualifications, Ramaphosa joined the Council of Unions of South Africa (CUSA) as an advisor in the legal department. In 1982, CUSA requested that Ramaphosa start a union for mineworkers.
This is where Ramaphosa gained national prominence in the early 1980s, becoming the first secretary general of the newly-founded National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
As NUM secretary general, he was instrumental in establishing the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and played a prominent role in the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM) when COSATU joined forces with the United Democratic Front (UDF).
In 1991, Ramaphosa was elected ANC secretary general under Nelson Mandela and was the ANC’s chief negotiator in the apartheid negotiations.
After South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, he became chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly, with some viewing him as Mandela’s likely successor.
However, he left politics in 1996 and dipped his toes in what would become incredibly successful and lucrative business ventures.
Business dealings
His primary source of wealth was the Shanduka Group, a pioneering black economic empowerment (BEE) company.
As executive chairman of the group, Ramaphosa facilitated investments across sectors including mining, energy, real estate, and telecommunications, leveraging his union experience to excel as a deal-maker.
Another big break came in 2011 when Ramaphosa acquired a 20-year master franchise agreement to operate 145 McDonald’s restaurants in South Africa and became a member of the Coca-Cola Company International Advisory Board and the Unilever Africa Advisory Council.
By 2014, Shanduka was valued at over R20 billion, with the Ramaphosa family’s Tshivhase Trust as its majority shareholder.
In addition to his role at Shanduka, he chaired Bidvest for 9 years and MTN for over a decade, and from March 2007, Mondi, an international paper and packaging group.
His non-executive directorships included positions at Macsteel Holdings, Alexander Forbes, SABMiller, Lonmin, Anglo American, and Standard Bank.
Another business dealing was sparked during a 2004 visit to Uganda, when Ramaphosa became interested in Ankole cattle.
However, due to disease control issues, he could not import them directly. Instead, he bought 43 cows from Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, sent them to Kenya for artificial insemination, and then transported the embryos to South Africa for transfer to quarantined cows.
His stock has flourished since, and in March of 2024, Ramaphosa’s Ntaba Nyoni cattle auction at his Phala Phala farm earned almost R15 million in sales.
Return to politics
Ramaphosa returned to political leadership in 2012, receiving nominations for ANC Deputy President ahead of the ANC’s 53rd National Conference.
Supported by then-President Jacob Zuma, he won the deputy presidency on December 18 with 3,018 votes, compared to Mathews Phosa’s 470 and Tokyo Sexwale’s 463.
Following his election as deputy ANC president, he divested from his business interests to avoid conflicts of interest, stepping down from various boards and selling McDonald’s South Africa to MSA Holdings.
In May 2014, after Jacob Zuma’s re-election as state president, Ramaphosa became South Africa’s deputy president.
By then, Shanduka was valued at over R20 billion, and the Tshivhase Trust was its majority owner.
In November 2014, Ramaphosa announced his disinvestment from Shanduka (which included major companies like MTN, Standard Bank, and Coca-Cola) and merged with the black-owned firm Phembani in 2015.
According to Forbes, though the deal terms were not disclosed, Ramaphosa was expected to earn between $200 and $300 million from the sale.
Ramaphosa last declared his business interests in 2017, stating he received no income outside his government salary and had limited stakes in several entities.
Ramaphosa ran for the ANC presidency in 2017 after Zuma’s ANC presidency term had ended.
His main rival was Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, endorsed by Zuma. In December 2017, Ramaphosa was elected ANC president at the party’s 54th National Conference.
After Zuma’s resignation as President in February 2018, Ramaphosa was elected unopposed as South Africa’s president by the National Assembly.
In the 2019 general election, Ramaphosa’s ANC won 57.5% of the vote, leading to his unopposed election for a full term.
He was re-elected for a second term on June 14, 2024, with the support of various political parties after the ANC failed to secure a majority.
According to the most recently available statistics, Ramaphosa earns an annual salary of R4.2 million (excluding perks) as president.
He has previously declared that he has donated his salary to various organisations, such as the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Ramapohsa’s business dealings have not been exempt from scrutiny during his Presidency.
Most notably was after $580,000 was stolen from a couch at his Phala Phala game farm, a situation highlighted by former spy chief Arthur Fraser, who alleged a cover-up related to Ramaphosa’s 2022 ANC presidential campaign.
ANC MPs blocked a parliamentary investigation into the funds, and the Acting Public Protector concluded that he did not breach ethical guidelines by not reporting the incident to the police.
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