Patrice Motsepe: South African Billionaire Donates Half His Fortune To Charity

Joining Bill Gates’ and Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge, South African billionaire, Patrice Motsepe, announced that he will be donating half of his company’s assets to combat South Africa’s poverty, advancing women, and reforming education, health and unemployment, report Forbes.com.

“[My wife] Precious and I will contribute at least half of the funds generated by our family assets to the Motsepe Foundation to be used during our lifetime and beyond to improve the lifestyles and living conditions of the poor, disabled, unemployed, women, youth, workers and marginalised South Africans, Africans and people around the world.”

With a Forbe’s estimated net worth of $2.65 billion, Motsepe is South Africa’s richest Black man. His announcement Wednesday was attended by King Goodwill Zwelithini of the Zulu nation, South Africa’s Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and Rabbi Warren Goldstein, among others.

Read more from Forbe’s below:

Motsepe is the first African to join the Giving Pledge, a campaign spearheaded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to encourage the wealthiest people in the world to make a commitment to give at least half of their wealth to philanthropic causes.

Motsepe said that his decision to donate a fortune has been a long time in the making:

“I decided quite some time ago to give at least half the funds generated by our family assets to uplift poor and other disadvantaged and marginalised South Africans, but was also duty-bound and committed to ensuring that it would be done in a way that protects the interests and retains the confidence of our shareholders and investors,” Motsepe said in his pledge.

Bill Gate’s applauded Motsepe’s altruism, but recognition is not on the billionaire’s agenda. Motsepe said that he simply wanted those in difficult circumstances to know “we are not going to allow you to suffer alone.”