James Motlatsi (born 5 June 1951) is a Mosotho mining executive and former trade union leader, who has been active in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Born in

Mohale's Hoek Mohale's Hoek is the capital city of Mohale's Hoek District in Lesotho. It had a population of approximately 40,040 in 2016.Lesotho Bureau of StatisticsCensus Pre Results2006. History Mohale's Hoek had first been inhabited by the San who were fo ...

in Lesotho, Motlatsi became a labourer at the

Welkom Welkom () is the second-largest city in the Free State province of South Africa, located about northeast of Bloemfontein which is the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The ci ...

gold mine in 1970. He was gradually promoted, becoming a driller, then a team leader, and eventually working as a personnel assistant. In 1981, the

Council of Unions of South Africa The Council of Unions of South Africa (CUSA) was a national trade union federation in South Africa. History The federation was founded on 14 September 1980 by the former affiliates of the Black Consultative Committee which did not wish to join the ...

resolved to establish a mining union, and Motlatsi met

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...

, who was its main organiser. Motlatsi was enthusiastic, and immediately began recruiting members at the mine. When the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was officially founded, in 1982, he was elected as its first president. The NUM grew rapidly, to become the largest union in South Africa, and moved to affiliate to the

Congress of South African Trade Unions The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the largest of the country's three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions.One Union expelled, ...

. He was fired from his mining job during a 1987 strike, and thereafter worked full-time for the union. In 1990, he and Ramaphosa were both arrested for leading a march during another strike. He stood down from his trade union post in 2000, to work for

AngloGold Ashanti AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a global gold mining company. It was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation. It is now a global gold producer with 21 operations on four continents. The company is listed ...

. In 2005, he purchased 75% of Teba, becoming its executive chair, the remainder of the company being given to its employees. Motlatsi has been awarded the Order of Ramatseatsana, served on the council of the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

, and was a founder of the Adopt-A-School Foundation and the Vaal Reefs Disaster Fund.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Motlatsi, James 1951 births Living people People from Mohale's Hoek District South African trade unionists