Where South Africa’s super-rich live

Cape Town is the city with the most centi-millionaires in South Africa, followed by Johannesburg and Durban in a distant third. 

Historically, Johannesburg has been South Africa’s wealth hub, with rich individuals from mining magnates to financiers making the ‘City of Gold’ their home. 

However, in recent years, many have semigrated to the Western Cape for a better quality of life, improved service delivery, and greater safety. 

Henley & Partners recently released its Centi-Millionaire Report for 2024, detailing where the world’s elite live, holiday, and where they were educated. 

The report found that 29,350 individuals worldwide have liquid investable assets of $100 million or more. This number has grown by 54% in the past decade, driven by China and the USA. 

China’s ascent has been the most dramatic, with its centi-millionaire population expanding by 108% over the past ten years — outpacing even the US, whose super-wealthy ranks swelled by 81% over the same period.

New York remains the global hub for centi-millionaires, with over 744 living in the Big Apple. US cities fill out the top three, with San Francisco’s Bay Area taking second place and Los Angeles third. 

Beijing is the only Chinese city to break the top 5, with 347 centi-millionaires living in the capital of the world’s second-largest economy. 

Africa remains a backwater in terms of being a destination for the world’s super-wealthy, with many of its millionaires preferring to live in Europe or the Middle East. 

None of its cities crack the top ten, and only eight make it onto Henley & Partner’s list of cities to watch for the next decade and a half. 

Cairo has the most centi-millionaires on the continent, with 30 living in the Egyptian capital. However, its growth as a wealth hub is set to be timid over the next decade. 

Cape Town is Africa’s second-largest wealth hub, with 28 centi-millionaires calling it home. Its growth is set to be much stronger than Cairo’s in the coming years. 

The Mother City is also one of the most popular holiday destinations for the wealthy elite, with over 100 centi-millionaires having second homes within the city. 

Johannesburg is a close second in South Africa despite having more millionaires than Cape Town. The City of Gold has lost its shine in recent years as mismanagement and corruption have brought it to the edge of collapse. 

A similar situation has occurred Durban, which has a mere 11 centi-millionaires among its inhabitants. Despite big investments in Umhlanga and Ballito, the city’s reputation is yet to recover. 

Other African cities on the To Watch list are Lagos in Nigeria, Kenyan capital Nairobi, and Morrocco’s Casablanca. 

The top five wealth hubs globally are listed below, followed by South Africa’s three richest cities.

City	Centi-millionaires
New York	744
The Bay Area	675
Los Angeles	496
London	370
Beijing	347
Cape Town	28
Johannesburg	25
Durban	11

The fall of Johannesburg

Johannesburg has seen its status as one of the world’s richest cities diminish greatly in recent years, and its role as the heart of South Africa’s economy has become less important. 

While the city is still the largest contributor to economic output among the country’s metro, years of mismanagement and corruption have seen the rich flee the City of Gold. 

Many have left the Western Cape in search of better governance, improved service delivery, and enhanced safety. 

These factors, along with strong economic growth and competitive tax rates, have to be addressed for the city to keep its millionaires and create new wealth. 

Johannesburg is still the wealthiest city in Africa, with 12,300 millionaires, 25 centi-millionaires, and two billionaires. 

However, the number of millionaires living within its boundaries has declined by 44% over the past decade, with many moving to South Africa’s coastal areas. 

Pretoria has seen a slightly less steep decline, losing 30% of its millionaire population over the past decade.  

In contrast, the country’s other centres of wealth, which are spread around the Western and Eastern Cape, are seeing a surge in their millionaire population. 

Cape Town is the largest beneficiary of this semigration trend, with the number of millionaires in the city rising 20% in the past decade. 

Cape Town is on track to overtake Johannesburg to become Africa’s wealthiest city by 2030, and Henley & Partners expects several major Johannesburg-based companies to move their head offices to the city by then.

The company estimates the city’s millionaire population will nearly double over the next decade while Johannesburg’s will continue to decline.