Magnus Heystek’s message to anyone choosing to stay in South Africa
Despite some positive sentiment towards the country in recent months, South Africans who choose to stay must understand the risks and make smart financial decisions to protect themselves and their families.
This is the message from Brenthurst Wealth Management director Magnus Heystek, from his address at the 2026 BizNews Conference in Hermanus.
Heystek co-founded Brenthurst in 2004 with Brian Butchart and Sue Heystek. At the time, it was a 3-person team working from a small office in Johannesburg.
The company has shown exceptional growth and now employs 60 people, has eight offices in South Africa, and has one international office in Mauritius.
Brenthurst Wealth manages R17 billion on behalf of its clients and has focused strongly on investing offshore with significant success.
Brenthurst has been ranked among South Africa’s leading boutique wealth managers for seven consecutive years in the Intellidex Private Bank and Wealth Manager awards.
Heystek said in Hermanus that the country has repeatedly been rescued by periods of economic good fortune, even while politics moved in the wrong direction.
As Heystek put it, South Africa has long been a place that “prospers through political mismanagement or political disasters and economic windfalls.”
He pointed to the discovery of the Free State goldfields as one of the biggest examples of this.
He said it generated so much wealth, so much industrial activity, roads, railways, ports, that it helped build the country into “a very, very industrial, wealthy country” despite its political failings.
He said South Africa was at its economic peak from the early 2000s to 2008, when the economy was growing at 4% to 5%.
During this time, debt levels were low, and the country was enjoying the benefits of China’s commodity boom.
He added that by 2008, all three ratings agencies had assigned South Africa investment-grade ratings, while the rand was significantly stronger and public finances were in far better shape.
Offshore is still the best strategy
However, Heystek argued that the country has since drifted back into decline. He said the “political disaster started brewing” in the Zuma years.
He said the economy has since become trapped in a cycle of stagnation, with growth repeatedly disappointing and debt continuing to rise.
“Our economy is stuck in the doldrums,” he said, adding that South Africa has been stuck in a rut for more than a decade.
Heystek also warned that South Africa’s structural problems run deeper than many investors appreciate.
He pointed to mining as an example, noting that it has shrunk dramatically as a share of GDP and employment.
More importantly, he said investor confidence in the country’s long-term prospects is fading, and that capital is fleeing South Africa without policy certainty, reliable infrastructure and a stable investment environment.
Heystek stressed that this is why choosing to stay in South Africa should not mean keeping all your wealth here at home.
He said a major turning point came on 1 April 2015, when exchange control rules were eased to allow South Africans to take far more money offshore legally.
Heystek added that this policy change fundamentally altered the financial future of many South Africans.
It meant investors were no longer forced to tie their long-term financial security entirely to South Africa’s economic and political path.
For that reason, he was emphatic that he is not bringing money back to South Africa simply because the rand or the JSE has had a good run.
Heystek’s message was that there may be short-term opportunities in South African markets, but long-term capital should still be positioned globally.
He noted that he will not bring a cent of his own money back to South Africa. “As far as I’m concerned, it still remains offshore with your long-term capital,” he said.
His advice to South Africans staying in the country is to build resilience and not dependency.
He said financial planning today is about building a durable life around tax and estate planning, currency exposure, and long-term asset allocation. “If you are going to stay in South Africa, you need to stay prepared,” he said.
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