Most South African centi-millionaires reside in Cape Town, followed by Johannesburg and Durban. Picture: iStock
Once upon a time, Gauteng was home to some of the richest people in South Africa, with the City of Gold’s Sandton presented as the richest square mile in Africa.
However, tables have turned as Cape Town has been announced as the city with the most centi-millionaires in the country, with Johannesburg second and Durban third.
Henley & Partners recently released its Centi-Millionaire Report for 2024 which details where the richest in the world reside, and where they go on holiday.
Centi-millionaires are individuals with liquid investable wealth of $100 million or more.
According to the report, the city with the richest people in Africa is Cairo, with 30 centi-millionaires.
Cape Town, the Mother City, came in second on the African continent with 28 centi-millionaires living in the city.
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There are only 25 centi-millionaires residing in Gauteng.
The report lists Durban as the third city in the country to have the richest people, with 11 centi-millionaires residing in the area.
The report lists Cape Town as the most loved holiday destination in the country, with over 150 centi-millionaires owning second homes in the city. The Mother City is the only city that shows as the elites’ favourite holiday destination in the country.
Globally, Miami is the most loved holiday destination, with over 650 centi-millionaires owning second homes there, however, there are only 164 permanent residents in the area.
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The City of Gold has in the past experienced deteriorating service delivery, rising crime rate, mismanagement of public funds, corruption, and collapsing infrastructure, amongst other issues.
However, Johannesburg still has more high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), with 12,300 residing in the area. According to the Africa Wealth Report 2024, published earlier in the year, reasons that can be attributed include the city being home to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
“The JSE is the largest stock exchange in Africa by some margin and one of the world’s top 20 exchanges.” The city of Gold also has 2 billionaires. “Cape Town follows closely with 7,400 millionaires, and 1 billionaire.”
Technology plays an important role in the development and wealth of a country. The report highlights how less developed countries will fall behind in the current race for Artificial Intelligence (AI), and its benefit to economic growth.
“Without access to expensive computing power, physical infrastructure, and large AI talent pools, these countries will increasingly need to trade and provide market access in exchange for access to powerful AI.”
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The report also reveals that one of the keys in the reason why most millionaires and centi-millionaire move to other parts of the country is due to political uncertainty. In South Africa, the elites have relocated to Cape Town with the hopes of better governance, improved service delivery and greater safety.
“Other factors that come into play when these wealthy individuals take a decision to relocate includes the economy, the tax environment, business and investment opportunities, and privacy and security.”
All these factors are usually more optimal in politically stable countries and regions, adding emphasis to the importance of political stability.
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New York City is the city with the most centi-millionaires with 744 residents. The second city is the Bay Area (which includes San Francisco and Silicon Valley) with 675, and Los Angeles with 496 super-rich residents.
The reports are complied with by the New World Wealth research firm.
“New World Wealth tracks the movements of over 150,000 high-net-worth individuals in its in-house database. The database’s primary focus is on company founders (50%+ of the database) and individuals from high-value companies who hold the following positions: chairperson, CEO, president, director, and managing partner.”
New World Wealth uses public sources to check city locations, including LinkedIn and other business portals.
“Its stats are therefore mainly based on the work locations of the individuals. Its data also takes into account prime property statistics — specifically, it considers the number of highly-priced homes in each area.”
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