Motsepe's candidacy was announced by the South African Football Association (SAFA) at a press conference in Johannesburg. 

According to SAFA President Danny Jordaan, Motsepe was in self-isolation at home after testing positive for COVID-19. 

"CAF must improve its global standing," said Jordaan. 

"He is the most appropriate person we could offer for the leadership of CAF.

"We do not want any compromise on governance or ethics in football."

The 58-year-old Motsepe, founder and chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, is ranked as one of the richest men in Africa. 

Forbes has valued his wealth at $2.4 billion (£1.8 billion/€2 billion).

He became the owner and chairman of South African football club Mamelodi Sundowns in 2003, which fulfills the CAF Presidential requirement of being involved in football for the past five years. 

Nigerian Football Federation President Amaju Melvin Pinnick, Sierra Leone Football Association President Isha Johansen and Botswana Football Association President Maclean Letshwiti were all in attendance virtually at the press conference and offered their backing of Motsepe. 

Pinnick was expected to run for CAF President himself but has instead put his support behind Motsepe. 

"He has more superior qualities than me," Pinnick said, as reported by BBC Sport Africa. 

"It's not about me, it's about African football. 

"If you have someone with superior qualities, you have to learn from him and queue behind him and wait for your time."

Anouma is also set to run in the election race after receiving the backing of Ivory Coast's Football Federation (FIF).

The 68-year-old is an Honorary President of FIF, which he ran between 2002 and 2011, and was a member of FIFA's Executive Committee, now the FIFA Council, between 2007 and 2015.

He had attempted to become CAF President in 2013 but was thwarted due to a rule change in the governing body's statutes. 

Anouma's role with FIFA meant he sat on the CAF Executive Committee as a non-voting member, but a new rule which only allowed voting members of the Executive Committee to contest Presidential races was adopted six months before the election. 

He lost an appeal at the Court of Arbitration of Sport just days before the election, which saw Senegal's Issa Hayatou continue his tenure. 

Ahmad, who goes by one name, was then elected CAF President in 2017. 

The 60-year-old he announced he had decided to run for re-election after listening to CAF Member Federations in October. 

It follows a statement signed by the heads of Africa’s six regions which revealed 46 Presidents of the continent’s 54 Member Associations had offered their backing to Ahmad securing another four-year term at the helm of the troubled body.

South Africa, Ivory Coast, Botswana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone were among the eight countries that refused to give their backing.

Ahmad's re-election bid could be ended by a sanction for an ethics breach, however. 

He was found guilty of an ethics breach related to a 2017 deal with Tactical Steel by the Investigatory Chamber of FIFA’s Ethics Committee.

The Adjudicatory Chamber could deliver a sanction by the end of next March, it is claimed.

The deal with the little-known Tactical Steel is allegedly worth four times as much as an arrangement cancelled with sportswear giant Puma.

An associate of CAF President Ahmad, who has denied wrongdoing, has alleged links to Tactical Steel.

The deal was among the findings revealed in an independent auditor earlier this year, which labelled CAF’s accounts as "unreliable and not trustworthy".

FIFA effectively took over control of CAF in July 2019 following a series of allegations levelled at Madagascar's Ahmad.

Secretary general Fatma Samoura was placed in charge of a group overseeing day-to-day operations by FIFA President Gianni Infantino. 

Ahmad was arrested over corruption charges in Paris last June and has also been accused of sexual harassment, but has not been charged with any offence.

Tunisian Football Federation (TFF) President Wadie Jary is also set to run for the role of CAF President. 

Compatriot and FIFA Council member Tarek Bouchamaoui had also declared his intention to contest the election, but was dealt a blow after TFF member Hisham Benamran said the national governing body would support Jary.

The election is due to take place on March 12 in Rabat in Morocco. 

Potential candidates have until Thursday (November 12) to formally submit their candidacy.