Popo Simon Molefe OLS (born 26 April 1952) is a businessman and former politician from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Early life

One of eight children, Molefe was the son of a laborer and a

domestic worker A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...

, though he was raised largely by one of his aunts, Sanah Tsatsimpe. He attended Naledi High School in Soweto. He became involved in political activism as a student, joining the Black People's Convention in 1973, and the

South African Students' Movement The South African Students' Movement (SASM) was an anti-apartheid political organisation of South African school students, best known for its role in the 1976 Soweto uprising. By 1976 it was strongly identified with the Black Consciousness Mo ...

in 1974. While a member of the latter organization, he participated in the

Soweto Uprising The Soweto uprising, also known as the Soweto riots, was a series of demonstrations and protests led by black school children in South Africa during apartheid that began on the morning of 16 June 1976. Students from various schools began to p ...

of 1976. Molefe is a member of the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

of South Africa.

Political involvement

Molefe was one of the founding members of the Azanian People's Organization at its formation in 1978 and became the first chairman of the Soweto branch in 1979. He left the group in 1981 as a result of a dispute over the role of white Africans in the anti-

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

movement, and the following year he became one of the ''Committee of Ten'' within the Soweto Civic Organization, serving in that capacity until 1984. He also was involved with the founding of the United Democratic Front in January 1983. In August 1983, he became the UDF's National General-Secretary. Molefe was arrested on several occasions as a result of his political activities. A 1985 arrest resulted in three years of detention without bail, followed by court proceedings in the

Delmas Treason Trial The Delmas Treason Trial was heard in the Supreme Court of South Africa from 16 October 1985 to 18 November 1988. In one of the lengthiest political trials in South African history, the apartheid state pursued treason charges against 22 activi ...

.Wren, Christopher.
South Africa Sentences 4 Dissidents
, The New York Times, 9 December 1988. At the end of that trial, Molefe was one of eleven men convicted of anti-apartheid activities, and he drew a prison sentence of ten years from Judge van Dijkhorst, the second-longest sentence among the men convicted. His sentence was overturned by the

Supreme Court of South Africa The Supreme Court of South Africa was a superior court of law in South Africa from 1910 to 1997. It was made up of various provincial and local divisions with jurisdiction over specific geographical areas, and an Appellate Division which was th ...

in 1989. Following his release from prison, Molefe became a member of the newly-legalized

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

. After advancing through various party offices, he became

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

of the

North West Province North West ( ; ) is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre and province of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of ...

in 1994. He held this position until April 2004, when he resigned from politics citing a desire to tend to his "personal health and family".South African Press Association.
Popo Molefe quits formal politics
, Independent Online (South Africa), 22 April 2004.

Business appointments

*In July 2004 - Anooraq Resources Corporation, a

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

mining and exploration company, as co-non-executive chairperson.Popo Molefe joins Canadian platinum miner
, Creamer Media's Mining Weekly, 13 July 2004. *In August 2004 - Chancellor of

North-West University The North-West University (NWU) is a public research university located on three campuses in Potchefstroom, Mahikeng and Vanderbijlpark in South Africa. The university came into existence through the merger in 2004 of the Potchefstroom Univer ...

. *

PetroSA PetroSA (The Petroleum, Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa ( SOC) Ltd.) is the national oil and gas company (NOC) of South Africa. Its main activities are the extraction of natural gas from offshore fields about 89 km from Mossel B ...

- Chairman of the Board of Directors - 2002-2010 * Chancellor House - Trustee * PRASA - Chairman of the Board of Directors - 2014-2017 *

Transnet Transnet SOC Ltd is a large South African rail, port and pipeline company, headquartered in the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg. It was formed as a limited company on 1 April 1990. A majority of the company's stock is owned by the Department ...

- Chairman of the Board of Directors - since May 2018

Marriage

Molefe was married to Boitumelo "Tumi" Plaatje, with whom he had four children. The couple divorced in 2003, after she alleged that he had molested his ten-year-old daughter.South African Press Association.
Ex-wife accuses Molefe of molesting child
, The Daily Dispatch, 15 March 2003. Molefe denied the accusations, and attributed them to what he termed Plaatje's "unstable history of making false allegations".South African Press Association.
Molefe's sex probe dropped
, News24, 15 September 2003. Police investigated Plaatje's claim but declined to prosecute, citing a lack of sufficient evidence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molefe, Popo 1952 births Living people Politicians from Johannesburg South African Tswana people Azanian People's Organisation politicians African National Congress politicians Premiers of North West (South African province) South African corporate directors Recipients of the Order of Luthuli People convicted of treason against South Africa Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2004–2009