Tokyo Sexwale
Mosima Gabriel (Tokyo) Sexwale. Photo courtesy World Economic Forum
After spending 13 years in prison on Robben Island, Sexwale was appointed the first the premier of Gauteng, from 1994 until 1998, in a democratic South Africa. He then founded a resources company, Mvelaphanda, which he built up into a multibillion-dollar entity with interests across the world before returning to politics in 2009 under President Jacob Zuma as minister of human settlements.
Sexwale was born in 1953 in Orlando West, Soweto, and grew up in the midst of South Africa’s political tension. He got the nickname Tokyo from his involvement in karate as a youngster. Sexwale was initially attracted to Steve Biko’s Black Consciousness movement in the late 1960s, and in 1973 he joined Umkhonto weSizwe (Spear of the Nation), the armed wing of the African National Congress.
Sexwale completed a diploma in business studies in Swaziland, and also underwent military training in the then-Soviet Union. Upon returning to South Africa, he joined a cell working to train other ANC cadres, but was arrested in 1976 and charged with terrorism and conspiracy to overthrow the government. In 1977 he was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Robben Island.
Thirteen years later, in 1990, Sexwale was released under the Groote Schuur Agreement. The ANC began to roll out its democratic structure planning later in the year. In September 1991, he was elected as head of the Gauteng region for the ANC. He was Gauteng premier from 1994 to 1998 following South Africa’s first free elections, tumultuous times for a politician in South Africa, particularly one responsible for administering the most important province.
Sexwale is remembered for putting a stop to the political violence then plaguing the hostels on the East Rand (Ekurhuleni). He also famously secured the release of a warder at Modderbee Prison, talking the prisoners into a state of calm and reclaiming the facility from the warlords who had taken over.
The secret to Sexwale’s great charisma is that it comes from the heart. He is a man whose great personal ambitions are matched by a love for his countrymen. He once said: "If blacks get hurt, I get hurt. If whites get hurt, that's my wife, and if you harm coloured people, you're looking for my children. Your unity embodies who I am."
He has headed up Team South Africa in A1 Grand Prix, hosted the South African version of the programme, The Apprentice, and was a member of the organising committee for the FIFA World Cup.
Sexwale is ever the philosopher, and takes time out of his days for quiet contemplation. Sitting in his office at home, with a guitar and piano to one side and volumes of books lining the walls, he once mused, “The challenge of existence is to fall in love with life and come to terms with all its joys and sorrows.”