Business

Every Afrikaans billionaire and most former Prime Ministers have strong links to one South African institution

Daily Investor • 8 April 2026

Every Afrikaans billionaire and almost every former Prime Minister of South Africa had strong links to the prestigious Stellenbosch University in the Western Cape.

The origin of the university can be traced back to the Stellenbosch Gymnasium, which was founded in 1864 and opened on 1 March 1866.

In 1881, it was officially renamed Stellenbosch College. In 1887, to mark Queen Victoria’s Jubilee, it was renamed Victoria College.

It became a hub for the development of Afrikaans as an academic language, and it started to build a strong heritage.

After the unification of South Africa, the government wanted to establish a single, national, English-medium university in Cape Town.

The Victoria College feared that a single national university would swallow their institution and erase the Dutch and Afrikaans cultural and linguistic heritage.

It was decided that if Victoria College could raise £100,000, it would become the second university in the Cape. Jannie Marais, a wealthy Stellenbosch farmer, bequeathed the money required before his death in 1915.

When it acquired university status on 2 April 1918, Victoria College was renamed to Stellenbosch University.

The university officially opened its doors in 1918, starting out as a modest institution with 500 students and 40 lecturing staff.

Stellenbosch University became a bastion for Afrikaner education and was deeply intertwined with the rise of the Afrikaner government.

Between 1919 and 1978, every South African Prime Minister, the executive head of government, was an alumnus of Stellenbosch University.

Prime Minister	Term in office	Stellenbosch University Studies
Jan Smuts	1919 to 1924 and 1939 to 1948	Literature and Science
J.B.M. Hertzog	1924 to 1939	Law
D.F. Malan	1948 to 1954	Music, Science, and Philosophy
J.G. Strijdom	1954 to 1958	Law
H.F. Verwoerd	1958 to 1966	Theology, Psychology, and Philosophy
B.J. Vorster	1966 to 1978	Law

Every Afrikaans billionaire studied at Stellenbosch University

Stellenbosch University not only produced most of South Africa’s political leaders between 1910 and 1994, but also produced many of the country’s billionaires.

South Africa’s most famous billionaire, Johann Rupert, has particularly close ties with Stellenbosch University.

He studied economics and law but did not complete his degree before leaving to pursue a business career in New York.

However, in 2004, Stellenbosch University recognised his global business achievements by awarding him an Honorary Doctorate (D.Com) in Economics.

He served as Chancellor of the university between 2009 and 2019 and holds the title of Honorary Professor at the Stellenbosch Business School.

Fellow billionaire Christo Wiese, well-known for building Shoprite and Pepkor, graduated with a BA and an LLB from Stellenbosch University in 1967.

His right-hand man at Shoprite, Whitey Basson, also studied at Stellenbosch University, and both lived at the Wilgenhof residence during their studies.

Former Naspers CEO and current chairman Koos Bekker completed an undergraduate degree in Law and an Honours in Literature at the university.

Capitec Bank’s founder and former CEO, Michiel le Roux, graduated with a BCom Law and an LLB from Stellenbosch University.

Jannie Mouton, the founder of PSG Group and a driving force behind Capitec, completed a BCom Honours degree at the university.

This means that all the current Afrikaans billionaires in South Africa studied at Stellenbosch University.

Billionaire	Source of Wealth	Stellenbosch University Studies
Johann Rupert	Richemont, Remgro, Reinet	Economics and Law
Christo Wiese	Shoprite, Pepkor	BA and LLB
Koos Bekker	Naspers	Law and Literature
Michiel le Roux	Capitec	BCom Law and LLB
Jannie Mouton	PSG Group, Capitec	BCom Honours