he struggled with the thick files of documents and, having come from underground, the other trainees had a hostile attitude towards him. But Motlatsi soon found an ally in Milton Musuku, a newly arrived teacher from Matatiele. “He knew nothing about mining, but at least he was learned. I knew something about mining, but I was not really learned. So we became friends.” Together they filled in the respective gaps in each other’s knowledge, one teaching the reality of operations underground, the other simplifying the company’s extensive written policies. In 1978 their department welcomed a new head, a Mr Van der Uys. Again
And so his focus has been to go back to the chalkboard, the place that helped him unlock his potential
Motlatsi used his extensive experience to help his new boss, particularly when it came to familiarising him with operations below surface. The following year Van der Uys was promoted to oversee the whole section. Not long after Motlatsi, and his entire team, were shocked when he was chosen as the replacement head of department. He asked Van der Uys why. “They were there when I arrived but they didn’t help me,” came the response. “You did, meaning they don’t have leadership or managerial skills. I am not promoting you because you helped me, but because of these qualities.” This experience was preparation for what came next. In June 1982 he read in the newspapers about the resolution of the Council of Unions of South Africa to form a mining union. In September he was approached by Alfred Mphahlele, a colleague from Soweto, asking if he would consider meeting Cyril Ramaphosa, who had been appointed to set up the union. Motlatsi says he found it difficult to trust Ramaphosa at first, but he believed he was sincere and so decided to help him. He used his network to get Ramaphosa into the mines, to establish contacts and relationships, so they could begin recruiting. In December 1984 Motlatsi was elected first president of the newly formed National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), with Elijah Barayi as vice-president and Ramaphosa the secretary-general. It was a good mix of talents and abilities. Motlatsi and Ramaphosa founded the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) the following year. The union grew in size and influence over the years but suffered a blow during the strike of 1987. The three-week strike meant R250-million in lost revenue for the Chamber of Mines. The response was violent and the final outcome was that 50 000 miners lost their jobs; Motlatsi was one of them.
Page 143
He stayed on as NUM president, and as a member of Cosatu’s Central and Executive Committees, but he also began to involve himself in a long list of other projects. In 1985 he helped start both the Southern African Miners Federation and the Miners International Federation, serving as president and vice-president in each. In the late 1980s and early 1990s he was a member of the reception committees for Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela, as they were freed from prison. In 1997 he became chairperson of the Mineworkers Investment Trust. But he also ventured into non-mining related activities as a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund from 1995, a council member of Wits University from 1997, and as chancellor of the Lesotho College of Education. In 2000 he also joined the South African Literacy Initiatives, a position he holds to date. This exposure to the world of education prepared him for a conversation with Ramaphosa, who approached him in 2000 while establishing the Shanduka Group. Soon after Motlatsi found himself a founding Board member of Adopt-a-School Foundation. The same year he left many of his positions in the mining sector, including NUM and Cosatu. Motlatsi has a lifetime’s experience in the field of human relationships. When he talks about pursuit of the greater good, it is informed by an understanding of what this looks like in practice. His childhood in Morifi revolved around hard work, culture and a healthy community that was focused on collective wellbeing. He has personally initiated and funded different initiatives in Morifi over many years, including Adopt-a-School’s interventions, but still he does not have all the answers. After investing in attempts at change he knows that simply throwing money at a problem is not the solution. And so his focus has been to go back to the chalkboard, the place that helped him unlock his potential. The first step was to mobilise support from various mining companies to assist in building Morifi Community High School. He also used the schools as a means to motivate the same companies to bring electricity to parts of the area. “I built a high school with the support of the mining industry. I did this because I said to myself that if there was a high school in Morifi, I would have been a graduate today … So I wanted kids not to have to leave to get an education, because once you leave and are educated, you will not come back.” And so the man who earned a PhD without having completed matric continues to preach what he believes is possible, echoing the words of Mandela when speaking about the role of education in catalysing change. “There will be no development in any country, without education,” he starts, speaking slowly and deliberately for emphasis. “There will be no development in any community, without education. There will be no development in families, without education. There will be no individual development, without education.”