Keith Bothongo recognised with SAIBPP lifetime achievement award

Keith Bothongo, founder and chairman of the Bothongo Group

“Mr Bothongo’s nomination and ultimate selection was as a result of a public online nomination process that was conducted prior to the awards ceremony,” explains Vuyiswa Mutshekwane, CEO of the SAIBPP. “Once the nomination process was finalised and submitted, the adjudication committee deliberated and made the decision independently based on the supporting information that had been supplied and the judging matrix where Mr Bothongo’s score emerged the highest.”

Bothongo is the founder and chairman of the Bothongo Group. He is the owner of a property portfolio which includes several high-rise buildings in the Pretoria CBD, multiple properties in Dainfern, as well as the well-known Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve in the Cradle of Humankind near Johannesburg.

Long history in property

Bothongo has a long history in the South African property industry. Born in South Africa in 1963, he moved to Botswana at the age of seven. It was here that he first ventured into real estate, after completing his studies in Botswana and the United States, where he earned two master’s degrees form the University of St Thomas in Minnesota.

After South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, Bothongo and his family relocated back to South Africa where he established a real estate company specialising in property valuations. This company was commissioned by the Land Affairs Board to deal with land restitution matters in the North West Province. In 1996, Bothongo was registered as the first black property valuer in South Africa.

Business expansion

In 1998, Bothongo invested in his first commercial building in Johannesburg, and expanded into valuations, facilities management and property sales. His company was awarded the contract to manage the municipal roll for the City of Johannesburg, which included the municipal valuation of Soweto. After 2000, he expanded his property portfolio in Pretoria through purchases from the Sanlam Pension Fund. The Bothongo Group now owns a multi-billion-rand property portfolio as well as several South African and international commercial ventures.

In 2011 the Keith Bothongo Foundation was established. Over the years, the foundation has funded tuition fees for over 50 graduates in six South African universities as well as a master’s student to complete his studies at Oxford University in the UK.

“I am deeply honoured to have been selected for this award by my colleagues in the industry that has been my passion for more than half of my life,” says Bothongo. “At a time at which the question of land, transformation and property ownership is more important than ever, the SAIBPP has a vital role to play in setting South Africa up for a prosperous future.”