What the super-rich love about SA

Cape Town - South Africa has over twice as many dollar millionaires as any other African country, according to the latest South Africa 2018 Wealth Report released by AfrAsia Bank and New World Wealth on Thursday.

The report defines high-net-worth individuals, or HNWIs, as people with wealth of $1m (about R12m) or more.

"Wealth” is defined as the net assets of a person. So this includes all their assets, like property, cash, equities, business interests, less any liabilities.

The number of HNWIs in South Africa increased by 8% to 43 600 by the end of 2017, according to the report. Furthermore, the number of dollar millionaires in the country is expected to grow by 28% to 56 000 over the next 10 years to the end of 2027.

The growth rate in the number of HNWIs in SA was in line with the increase in overall wealth held in the country, which rose from $670bn at the end of 2016 to $722bn at the end of 2017.

The overall wealth of HNWIs rose from $284bn at the end of 2016 to $306bn at the end of 2017.

According to the report the rise was helped by the strengthening if the rand - from R13.70/$ at the end of 2016 to R12.30/$ at the end of 2017.

The JSE all-share index was also up significantly during the year - by 30% in dollar terms.

Things the super-rich like about SA include:

Its lifestyle aspects: wildlife, beaches, weather and scenery:

A good private healthcare system:

Top class private schools for their children:

High-class shopping centers like Sandton City, Gateway, Montecasino, the V&A Waterfront and Hyde Park:

The fact that SA is an English speaking country:

South Africa has a fully developed luxury market, where most of the major luxury brands are available:

SA has a large number of luxury holiday destinations like the Kruger National Park, Cape Town, Umhlanga and Ballito:

Luxury food stores such as Woolworths appeal to wealthy consumers:

Well established luxury areas like Camps Bay, Hyde Park, Westcliff and Umhlanga:

Efficient private security companies:

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