South Africa’s richest city kissing its biggest taxpayers goodbye
South Africa’s richest city is seeing a decline in resident millionaires, and property experts note that their clients often cite eroding quality of life and a lack of long-term confidence in the city’s administration as the main reasons for leaving.
While infrastructure development is among the city’s priorities, Henley & Partners’ recently released Africa Wealth Report for 2025 shows that the number of high-net-worth individuals living in the financial capital of South Africa has been decreasing.
The Western Cape now has 17,300 millionaires between Cape Town, the Winelands, the Whale Coast, and the Garden Route.
This is larger than the roughly 14,000 millionaires who live in Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Berry Everitt, CEO of the Chas Everitt International property group, said this is due to these HNWIs pursuing a comparatively better quality of life than in Gauteng.
Everitt noted that the quality of life for residents in Johannesburg and Pretoria has continued to decline over the last year amid deteriorating transport, electricity and water infrastructure.
This has been made worse by poor municipal management, relatively high crime levels and general neglect and incompetence from the local government.
Herschel Jawitz, CEO of Jawitz Properties, agreed with Everitt and explained that his clients’ reasons for leaving Gauteng go beyond lifestyle.
“The shift we’re seeing to the coastal regions, especially the Western Cape, is far more around future long-term confidence in the provinces as opposed to sea views and mountain views,” he said.
“It comes down to infrastructure, it comes down to crime, it comes down to schooling. There are a whole host of factors that contribute to long-term confidence and stability of government.”
He added that Johannesburg’s frequent leadership changes contrast with the relative stability in the Western Cape.
“We’ve had five mayors in the city of Joburg in the last couple of years. By contrast, we’re seeing a very different picture in the Western Cape, and people are feeling far more confident about the long-term stability there. That’s what’s driving the shift.”
The city is not doomed
The City of Johannesburg’s draft medium-term budget for the new financial year, released a month ago, proposes small increases for three of the most embattled units that are facing dire infrastructure failures.
The 2025/26 draft budget suggested setting aside a mere 13% increase in spending for City Power. Johannesburg Water also gets 13% more to spend, while Johannesburg Roads Agency receives a 2% budget hike.
“The numbers don’t sound nearly enough to sort out some of the challenges that Joburg has,” Jawitz said when looking at the city’s latest budget allocations for power, water, and roads.
Many of those leaving are heading to the Cape Winelands, which Jawitz described as one of the country’s most attractive destinations.
Security estates also remain a major drawcard. “It’s the default lifestyle if you can afford it. Everyone is tired of the infrastructure woes, wealthy or otherwise, and it’s just a question of who can afford to escape them,” Jawitz said.
He added that the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal is also popular for estate living, while the Winelands continues to draw more buyers than the Cape Town metro itself.
The influx of wealthy buyers is having a clear effect on property markets in these regions.
“People who’ve been living in the Western Cape for some time have seen a really good appreciation in the value of their properties,” Jawitz said.
“Property prices in Gauteng are currently appreciating at about 2.5%, compared to nearly 7% in the Western Cape.”
But he acknowledged this comes with challenges. “It’s all very well selling for a lot of money, but where do you go? Replacement value is an issue.”
“Additionally, Cape Town has proposed certain rate increases to support its infrastructure, which will put homeowners under more pressure.”
“It is a double-edged sword, but most people would agree they’d rather have property appreciation than not, as we’ve been experiencing in Johannesburg for some time.”
Despite the current trend of semigration, Jawitz does not believe Johannesburg is doomed.
“The situation is absolutely reversible. Gauteng has double the population of the Western Cape, accounts for about a third of South Africa’s GDP, and has massive economic potential,” he said.
“It’s simply going to take political will. There’s no shortage of skills, no shortage of money, but we need political stability and leadership. That could reverse the situation in Johannesburg.”
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