The colour of money is changing

THE chasm between South Africa's wealthy and poor shows no signs of narrowing, but the pool of already super-rich people appears to be changing colour.

According to Nedbank Private Wealth, the number of high-net-worth individuals – defined as people who have more than R11-million in investable assets (excluding their primary residence) now stands at 52000 people – and a good chunk of them are women, non-white and younger than 45.

Nedbank Private Wealth boasts almost a fifth of the private-wealth market share.

"There has been a particularly sharp rise in black millionaires," Nedbank Private Wealth manager Sheldon Halcrow said yesterday.

"The black millionaires tend to take up residence in the commercial centres of Johannesburg and Cape Town."

Nedbank Private Wealth breaks down its client base into three needs-based categories: established, executive, and entrepreneurial wealth.

It also found that "more individuals are demanding investments of passion, such as luxury collectables, high-end cars, watches, boats and art".

However, traditional items like jewellery and antiques are still popular among high-net-worth families.

But before the man in the street starts calling them selfish, these wealthy men and women do not just drink expensive liquor and go on exotic holidays – whether it is out of guilt or not, they also display an increasing social conscience.

Halcrow said more families and corporate clients were taking on philanthropic causes.

"This includes investing their assets in charitable trusts and foundations with the aim of supporting social causes such as education, child welfare, food security and climate change initiatives," he said.

If anything, this reminds how big a gap there is between the haves and the have nots.

A study by the University of Cape Town's Unilever Institute of Strategic Marketing classified South Africa's middle class as households earning between R15000 and R50000, with their own transport, a tertiary education, and employment in a white-collar job.

The middle class also own their home or spend more than R4000 on rent monthly.

The study found the black middle class had grown to 4.2 million from 1.7 million in 2004.

It found that the black middle class spent R400-billion a year. - Andile Ndlovu