Johnny Copelyn | |
|---|---|
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office 1994–1997 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Anthony Copelyn 1949 or 1950 (age 73–74) |
| Citizenship | South Africa |
| Political party | African National Congress |
| Alma mater | Witwatersrand University |
John Anthony Copelyn (born 1949 or 1950) is a South African businessman and former trade unionist who has been a chief executive officer of Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI) since 1997. He entered the company as the head of the investment wing of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU), where he was formerly general secretary.
Copelyn's union career began during apartheid at the National Union of Textile Workers, later merged into SACTWU. While running SACTWU's investment wing in the mid-1990s, he represented the African National Congress in the National Assembly during the first post-apartheid Parliament in 1994. He resigned from his parliamentary seat in 1997 to take over HCI, henceforth running it as a private-equity holding company, with his erstwhile business partner, fellow former unionist Marcel Golding. As of 2022, Copelyn's personal stake in HCI was worth nearly R1 billion.