Dr. Nthato Harrison Motlana (16 Feb 1925 – 1 December 2008) was a prominent

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 ...

n businessman, physician and anti-apartheid activist.

Early life

He was born in Marapyane close to

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. He attended and matriculated at Kilnerton High School, Pretoria. He then attended the

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub ...

and obtained a B.Sc. degree. Furthering his education, he took medicine at the

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

. Banned by the government for five years, he need government permission to attend his graduation in 1954. In 1956 he became a resident doctor at Baragwanath Hospital.

Life under Apartheid

He became politically active at Fort Hare when he joined the

African National Congress Youth League The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NW ...

and later became its secretary. He was tried alongside

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

by the

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

regime during the

Defiance Campaign The Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws was presented by the African National Congress (ANC) at a conference held in Bloemfontein, South Africa in December 1951. The Campaign had roots in events leading up the conference. The demonstrations, ...

of 1951–52. He played a prominent role during the Soweto uprising as a member of the Black Community Programme and the Black Parents' Association which resulted in he and his wife being detained and after the collapse of the Soweto Urban Bantu Council, became one of the members of the Soweto

Committee of Ten The National Education Association of the United States Committee on Secondary School Studies known as the NEA Committee of Ten was a working group of educators that convened in 1892. They were charged with taking stock of current practices in Amer ...

in June 1977. As founding member of the Black Community Programme, its goal was to economically empower black South Africans, and he founded Phaphama Africa Commercial Enterprises, Lesedi Clinic (the first black owned, private up-market hospital in the country), and Sizwe Medical Aid (the first black owned medical aid scheme in South Africa).

Life after apartheid

Following

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, Motlana took a lead role in the formation of the

New African Investments Limited Primedia is a South African media group, headquartered in Sandton, Johannesburg. History Primedia was established in 1994 and its listing on the JSE Securities Exchange was completed in April 1995. Primedia remained listed on the JSE until 1 O ...

, or NAIL, which purchased many previously white run corporations at below market value. These included South Africa's largest newspaper ''

The Sowetan ''The Sowetan'' is an English-language South African daily newspaper that started in 1981 as a liberation struggle newspaper and was freely distributed to households in the then apartheid-segregated township of Soweto, Johannesburg, Gauteng Pr ...

''. Due to his huge success in business Motalana earned the nickname "Father of Black Economic Empowerment."The Lancet, Volume 373, Issue 9665, Page 716, 28 February 2009, Nthato Harrison Motlana
/ref> Motlana served on the boards of

Putco The Public Utility Transport Corporation (PUTCO) is a provider of commuter bus services in the provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo, and the western parts of Mpumalanga in South Africa. PUTCO was established in 1945 after the bus strike of 1944. P ...

, Rand Water Board, Adcock Ingram Group and

Sasol Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa and built on processes that were first developed by German chemists and engineers in the early ...

, amongst other civic and academic institutions.

Marriage

Motlana married his wife Sally Maunye in Soweto in 1953.

Death

He died on 1 December 2008 in a private hospital in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Motlana, Nthato 1925 births 2008 deaths 20th-century South African businesspeople 20th-century South African physicians Anti-apartheid activists Businesspeople in the health care industry