Who is Gugu Mtshali?

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe with his partner, Gugu Mtshali, at the State of the Nation address.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe with his partner, Gugu Mtshali, at the State of the Nation address.

Published Feb 14, 2012

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Helen Grange

She looked elegant and demure in a long, low-backed purple gown. All eyes were on Gugu Mtshali as she accompanied Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe on the red carpet at Thursday’s State of the Nation address. One impressed onlooker said she looked “every bit a future first lady”.

So who is pretty Gugu Mtshali and what is she in Motlanthe’s life? She is often referred to as his “partner” but actually he and the 47-year-old businesswoman have been involved in an extra-marital relationship for years. So “consort” would be more accurate.

Mtshali has attended a number of official events at her man’s side. She was there when the deputy president hosted Prince Charles and his wife at a dinner in Pretoria last November.

Motlanthe and his lady love were first spotted together at Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula’s 40th birthday last October. They met at ANC headquarters Luthuli House in early 2002 when Motlanthe was ANC secretary-general. She had been working there for years as Mathews Phosa’s personal assistant. The relationship had long been an open secret among ANC insiders, and it culminated in the break-up of her 17-year marriage in 2008. After the 2009 elections she resigned to go into business.

Mtshali was in the news in 2009 as one of the handful of black economic empowerment beneficiaries of Imperial Crown Trading, a company linked to President Jacob Zuma’s son Dudu, and who stood to share a total of R9 billion from a controversial mining deal in Sishen in the Northern Cape.

Mtshali also has a number of company directorships, and four years ago she started Mothopele Business Holdings with two ANC colleagues.

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