The company called New World Wealth this week released the list of South Africa’s greatest business people in history, featuring Nthato Motlana at number 7.
The man who once led the ANCYL as its secretary, the late Nthato Motlana, has been named as one of the top 10 SA greatest business people.
The New World Wealth released the list on Wednesday this week and Motlana is counted as being one of the 10 South African business people who have had the greatest impact on South Africa as well as the world.
The criteria used to determine the top 10 looked at how the listed individuals influenced the country and the international business community, created jobs, and overcame challenges and obstacles.
Hotel mogul Sol Kerzner is at number one on the list, Liberty Life founder Donald Gordon at number 2 and Soweto entrepreneur Richard Maponya at number 3.
The late mining tycoon Harry Oppenheimer is at number 4, property businesswoman Pam Golding at number 5, Discovery Health founder Adrian Gore at number 6, Motlana at number 7, Sundowns football club boss Patrice Motsepe at number 8, Anton Rupert at number 9 and Auto General Insurance founder Douw Steyn at number 10.

Motlana was born on 16 February 1925 and died in November 2008 at the age of 83.
Motlana, who founded the New Africa Investments (Nail that had a market capitalisation of over R10 billion and profits exceeding R300 million by 1999, is known in history as one of the secretaries of ANCYL.
In 1952, he was elected the secretary-general of the ANCYL and took part in organising the Defiance Campaign and stood trial with Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela in the “Sisulu and nineteen others” trial of 1952.
Motlana obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Fort Hare and then won a bursary to study medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand, as part of a quota of black students.
He qualified in 1954 and opened a practice in Soweto, one of only two private practices, which he ran for almost forty years, initially charging his patients R2 and later giving his services for free, treating those wounded and injured during the uprisings of the 1970s and 1980s.
(edited by MLM)
Send tips to editor@013.co.za