Sejamothopo "Sej" Motau (born 18 July 1943)[1] is a politician, journalist, communications and corporate affairs expert, and a former Fulbright Scholar. He was South Africa's Shadow Minister of Presidency,[2] and a Member of Parliament for the opposition Democratic Alliance.[3] From 2009 to 2012, he was the Shadow Minister of Energy.
Motau has worked as divisional manager of corporate affairs at Mercedes-Benz South Africa, and as head of corporate affairs at Transnet and Sasol.[4] He worked as an independent communications consultant prior to joining the Democratic Alliance.[4]
Sejamothopo Motau was born in Lady Selborne, Pretoria, on 18 July 1943. He started his working career as a book-keeper with the City Council of Pretoria in Atteridgeville, his current constituency.[citation needed]
A former journalist, he has worked for the Pretoria News, where his beats were education, labour and politics, the hot topics of the day. He then joined the Africa Edition of The Star, covering southern African politics. That sharpened his keen interest in politics but he did not become a member of any political party until he joined the DA in 2008, after which he was made him Shadow minister of Energy in 2009. His diverse work experience has given him a keen sense of what is going on within South Africa and makes him able to point out corruption within Eskom, the state-owned energy provider of South Africa.[6]
Motau is ambassador-at-large and former president of PRISA, the Institute for Public Relations and Communication Management in Southern Africa, and former chairman of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management.
An accomplished public speaker, he has presented papers at conferences and conducted workshops, mainly in public relations and communication in South Africa other parts of Africa and the world.
Personal life
He is married to Ngoatladi, and has three children and four grandchildren.[citation needed]