Black South Africans own 60% of household wealth, study finds

The results of joint research by Unisa and the Momentum group are bound to stir up a hornet’s nest of controversy, not in the least among politicians who harp on about our country being dominated by wealthy white people.

The reality is that, according to the research report, black Africans own almost 60% of the household wealth and two-thirds of household assets in South Africa.

Whites, by comparison, hold 32.2% of household wealth and 19.7% of household assets.

There are a few caveats to the research. Firstly, the numbers are only about household wealth and not the wealth of businesses, many of which are still whiteowned. Secondly, the wealth ownership is still skewed when placed alongside the race demographics, which have black Africans at 82.1% of the total population and whites at just 8.6%.

The other worrying aspect about the research is that it indicates that South Africa’s “Gini co-efficient” – the measure of the gap between the richest and the poorest – is still one of the highest in the world.

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The report said: “The wealthiest 1% of households possessed 37% of the wealth, while 76% of the wealth was in the hands of the top 10% richest households.

“In addition, 51% of households had a negative wealth position, meaning their debt exceeded their assets.”

However, while the report indicates there is still a big gulf between rich and poor, it is becoming less easy to attribute that mainly to race. Perhaps rabble-rousing populist politicians need to take that on board…

The research also shows that, under an ANC government, things have definitely been getting better for their main constituency – black Africans.

Since 1994, the black middle class has exploded on the back of employment equity and black economic empower policies.

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South Africa is changing… too slowly for some, maybe, but black people are better off now.