Keith Bothongo
Keith Bothongo (born 3 October 1963) is a South African property entrepreneur and billionaire. He is the founder and chairman of the Bothongo Group[1], a diversified business services, property and leisure holding. The Bothongo Group owns the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve[2] near Johannesburg and part of Canadian biotechnology InnuScience amongst various brands.
Early life and education[edit]
Keith Bothongo was born in Soweto. To avoid the Bantu education system in apartheid South Africa at the time, his parents sent him to Botswana at the age of 7. In 1973, he moved with his parents to Gaborone. At 11 years old he joined Bafenyi boxing club in Gaborone, Botswana, and represented Botswana in boxing tournaments in the SADC region.
After attending primary and secondary school in Gaborone, he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics and Economics from the University of Botswana in 1989. . He then studied at the University of St Thomas, Minnesota, where he received a Master’s Degree in International Management (MIM) in 1991 and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) in 1992. In 2013, he graduated from the University of Buckingham, United Kingdom, with a Bachelor of Law (LLB), followed by a Masters in International and Commercial Law (LLM) from the same institution in 2014. He was awarded the Morayo Atoki Prize for Best Overall LLM student.[3]
Career[edit]
Bothongo returned to Botswana in 1993, where he started a real estate agency. In April 1994, he returned to South Africa to vote in the first democratic elections and became involved in the valuation of land in the North West Province. He was the first black property valuer in South Africa. In 1998, he moved to Johannesburg where he bought his first commercial building and later handled the municipal roll valuations for the City of Johannesburg. In the early 2000s, he built up a property portfolio in the Pretoria CBD and became chairman of the Bothongo Group.[4]
In 2011 the Keith Bothongo Foundation was established, which focuses on funding tertiary studies at South African universities.[5] The foundation also helps out local charities in South Africa.[6] In the same year, Bothongo relocated to the UK to study law and became senior partner in the Bedford and London-based law firm Deo Volente Solicitor LLP.[7]
In 2018 he received a lifetime achievement award from the South African Institute of Black Property Professionals (SAIBPP) to recognize his achievements in the property industry.[8]
Personal life[edit]
Keith Bothongo married his first wife, Etheldreda Molale, in 1988. They divorced in 2005. In 2009 he married businesswoman Olga Bothongo. He has nine children. Bothongo currently lives with his family in Milton Keynes, U.K.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Bothongo Property Management Group thinking bigger in SA". Retrieved 2019-05-27.
- ↑ "Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve (Krugersdorp) - 2019 All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)". TripAdvisor. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
- ↑ Oberholster, Tamara (2019-01-22). "One Man's Big Dreams". www.afropolitan.co.za. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
- ↑ "PressReader.com - Your favorite newspapers and magazines". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
- ↑ "First students on the Keith Bothongo Foundation scholarship programme graduate". www.up.ac.za. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
- ↑ "R145000 to cheer up kids". SowetanLIVE & Sunday World. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
- ↑ "Deo Volente Legal LLP - The Law Society". solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
- ↑ "Keith Bothongo recognised with SAIBPP lifetime achievement award". www.bizcommunity.com. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
External links[edit]
This article "Keith Bothongo" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Keith Bothongo. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
