Almost 30% of South Africa’s super rich have a postgraduate law degree, according to the latest Africa Wealth Report, published by Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.
“Wealth” refers to the net assets of a person and includes all their assets (property, cash, equities, business interests) less any liabilities. The research defines high net-worth individuals (HNWIs) as those with wealth of US$1 million (about R15.5 million) or more. In 2021 there were 39 300 dollar millionaires in SA with combined wealth of USD651 billion.
According to the report, it considers wealth to be a better measure of the financial health of an economy than Gross Domestic Product.
What did they study, what do they do?
About 28% of the country’s super rich studied finance and accounting (BCom, MBA, CA, CFA), 7% studied medicine or science, 7% studied computer and information technology, and 5% studied engineering.
The main industries in which they acquired their wealth are financial and professional services (35%), real estate (12%), and technology and telecommunication (10%).
About 20% of them studied at the University of Cape Town, 18% at the University of the Witwatersrand and 13% at Stellenbosch University.
Goodbye golf estates, hello wildlife
Another trend that emerged is that nearly half (48%) of SA’s super rich either live in or have second homes on so-called lifestyle estates. This is up from 30% in 2011. But there has been a move away from previously favoured golf estates towards wildlife and parkland estates, which became more popular since the Covid-19 pandemic. Retirement estates are also becoming more popular.
“Affluent buyers in South Africa are increasingly moving towards estates that have apartments, so most new luxury estate developments in the focus on apartment living rather than houses,” states the report. “Most developers are now creating small neighbourhoods within their lifestyle estates, as opposed to the old model where houses were spaced evenly around.”
The new model allows for more parkland and open spaces in between these “neighbourhoods” on the estate. Many HNWIs have chosen to work remotely and live in smaller towns like Hermanus, Plettenberg Bay and Franschhoek.
Approximately 4 500 HNWIs have left SA since 2011. Most of these individuals have gone to the UK, Australia, and the USA. Significant numbers have also gone to Portugal, Switzerland, Israel, Mauritius, New Zealand, the UAE, Canada, Monaco and Malta.-fin24
