Saki Macozoma, a former member of parliament and prominent South African businessman, is an anti-apartheid leader and political figure. He is also recognized as one of the country’s wealthiest individuals.
Born on May 12, 1957, in the coastal town of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Macozoma’s activism against apartheid began in the mid-1990s when he worked as an organizer for the South African Students Movement. At 19, he was arrested for leading a student protest. He spent five years as a political prisoner on Robben Island, developing a lifelong relationship with Nelson Mandela, who became his mentor.
After his release from prison in 1982, Macozoma played a crucial role in establishing several anti-apartheid organizations, including the United Democratic Front and the Mass Democratic Movement. In 1994, he joined the African National Congress (ANC) as a member of parliament and assumed the role of chairperson for the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications. The following year, he was elected to the ANC National Working Committee.
Macozoma emerged as one of the committed defenders of the ANC’s new path after the party’s shift in economic policy, which embraced conservative economics over nationalization. He openly supported South Africa’s capitalist path and acknowledged that economic inequality was a “normal” consequence of capitalism resulting from the creation of a Black bourgeoisie.
In 1996, Macozoma left the legislature to become the managing director of Transnet, South Africa’s transport utility. During the same year, he founded Safika Holdings, an investment holding company. When the South African government mandated that major businesses ensure a certain percentage of their shareholding be owned by Black individuals, Safika became the preferred Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) partner for several prominent South African companies.
Safika Holdings strategically acquired stakes in various companies through BEE deals, often utilizing vendor financing, which involved selling shares to BEE partners and lending them the funds to purchase the shares. Safika built an impressive portfolio in the industrial, mining, gaming, financial services, human resources, telecom, media, and technology sectors.
Safika Resources
Among Safika’s significant investments, Safika Resources is its largest and most successful asset.
Safika Resources is a South African-based company focused on mineral exploration and mining with a keen focus on manganese. It holds shares in a number of subsidiaries and associated companies and enters into strategic partnerships with other mining firms.
The company’s largest and most profitable asset is a 39.66-percent stake in Ntsimbintle Holdings, which owns a large shareholding in the famous Tshipi Borwa manganese mine, an open-pit manganese mine situated in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province.
Ntsimbintle Holdings is a mining investment firm that was established in 2004 when Macozoma and eight other Black South African groups formed a company to pursue manganese mining opportunities.
The company was awarded prospecting rights over portions of the farm Mamatwan 331, on which the prolific Tshipi Borwa manganese mine is located today.
Since its establishment, the company has grown from a junior miner applying for prospecting rights to being the majority shareholder of the single largest manganese mine and ore exporter in South Africa. Ntsimbintle Mining (Pty) Ltd., in 2012, through its subsidiary Tshipi Manganese Mining (Pty) Ltd., created the multi-billion rand manganese mine which is situated in South Africa’s Northern Cape.
Tshipi e Ntle Manganese Mining, in partnership with Australia’s publicly listed Jupiter Mines, Tshipi Borwa mine. Production began in 2012, and today, the mine produces more than 3 million tonnes of manganese per year. It is now Africa’s largest exporter of manganese.
Ntsimbintle Holdings owns a 74-percent stake in its subsidiary Ntsimbintle Mining, which in turn owns a 50.1-percent stake in Tshipi e Ntle Manganese Mining (Pty) Ltd., the operator of the highly prolific Tshipi Borwa mine.
While Ntsimbintle Mining owns 50.1 percent of Tshipi e Ntle Manganese Mining (Pty) Ltd., the other 49.9 percent of the company is owned by Jupiter Mines, an ASX-listed mining company. Jupiter’s 49.9-percent beneficial interest in Tshipi is held through its wholly-owned subsidiary Jupiter Kalahari Pty Ltd., which has a 49.9-percent shareholding in Tshipi e Ntle. Jupiter’s 49.9-percent shareholding is its sole asset. As of closing on Friday, the market capitalization of Jupiter Mines of $261.6 million.
Valuation of Safika’s stake in the Tshipi Borwa mine
Ntsimbintle Holdings owns a 19.9-percent stake in the ASX-listed Jupiter Mines. That stake is presently worth $52 million. Considering that Macozoma’s Safika Resources holds a 39.66-percent interest in Ntsimbintle Holdings, that connotes that Safika indirectly owns a $20.6-million stake in Jupiter Mines.
Since Jupiter Mines’ market capitalization presently sits at $261.6 million, and its sole asset is its 49.9-percent stake in Tshipi e Ntle Manganese Mining, Billionaires.Africa extrapolates that the entire value of Tshipi e Ntle Manganese Mining (Pty) Ltd. – and by extension, the Tshipi manganese mine is a multiple of 2.004 of the current market cap of Jupiter Mines, hence a valuation of $523.1 million.
Ntsimbintle Holdings’ 50.1-percent stake in Tshipi e Ntle Manganese Mining (Pty) Ltd. is worth $262 million.
Since Safika Resources owns 39.9 percent of Ntsimbintle Holdings, Safika’s indirect stake in Tshipi é Ntle Manganese Mining is currently worth $104.5 million.
Adding the value of his indirect state in Jupiter Mines, which is now worth $20.6 million to his indirect stake in Tshipi e Ntle Manganese Mining (Pty) Ltd. worth $104.5 million, Macozoma boasts of a holding in the Tshipi Borwa manganese mine that sits at $125.1 million.
The Tshipi manganese mine is a world-class manganese mine with an open pit mine designed to produce 2.4 metric tonnes per annum of manganese ore grading 37 percent. The mine has been producing and exporting manganese ore since December 2012. Tshipi Borwa is one of the largest and lowest-cost manganese exporters globally.
Safika Resources’ other assets
The Tshipi manganese mine might be its most valuable asset, but Safika Resources also holds a nine-percent shareholding in the Hotazel maganese mine. It also has substantial exploration rights in the Northern Cape.
