Billionaire Johann Rupert’s incredible charity work in South Africa

South Africa’s richest person, Johann Rupert, is behind hundreds of philanthropic and charitable causes, including giving land and houses to poor communities.

The latest Forbes and Bloomberg billionaire indexes estimate Rupert’s net wealth to be between R210 billion and R250 billion.

Most of his wealth comes from his family’s significant shareholding in the Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company Compagnie Financière Richemont.

Rupert founded Richemont in 1988. The company produces and sells jewellery, watches, leather goods, pens, firearms, clothing, and accessories.

As of 31 March 2024, Rupert was the only significant shareholder. He owns 10% of the company’s equity and controls 51% of the company’s voting rights.

Richemont owns many leading global luxury brands, such as Cartier, Montblanc, Dunhill, Chloé, Panerai, Delvaux, Van Cleef & Arpels, Vhernier, and Watchfinder & Co.

Under Rupert’s leadership, Richemont became the third-largest luxury goods company in the world after LVMH and Hermes.

Rupert also owns a large stake in the South African investment holding company Remgro, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

Remgro has a diversified investment portfolio that includes healthcare and finance, industrial companies, consumer products, and infrastructure.

Very few South Africans do not engage with a company linked to Rupert’s local investments every day.

Through Remgro, he has a stake in Mediclinic, Outsurance, Heineken, eMedia, RCL Foods, TotalEnergies, FirstRand, Discovery, Momentum, and Metropolitan.

Whether you dunk an Ouma rusk, put Selati sugar in your coffee, or feed your dog Epol, Bobtail, or Dogmor, it all forms part of Rupert’s portfolio.

Rupert is also a major shareholder in Reinet, an investment vehicle that holds the family’s interest in cigarette maker British American Tobacco.

Reinet also has other financial interests, including a shareholding in the Pension Insurance Corporation Group, private equity, specialist investment funds, and land developments.

Rupert has won many awards and distinctions, including being voted Most Influential Leader in South Africa an unprecedented three times.

He has also been named Business Leader of the Year on many occasions and was named one of the World Economic Forum’s Global Leaders of Tomorrow.

Rupert is well-known for promoting a healthy society and supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses.

He is a founding member of the Small Business Development Corporation, now called Business Partners, which has created over half a million jobs in South Africa.

While Rupert and his family are known for building a global business empire, they are also leaders in philanthropic and charitable endeavours.

Their charitable projects range from supporting educational institutions and educational programmes to environmental causes.

It started under Johann’s father, Anton Rupert.  He was a founding member of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Peace Parks Foundation.

Anton Rupert’s various endowments have secured his legacy in African and South African conservation.

The Rupert family has supported the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, the SA College for Tourism, and Ikamva Labantu.

Johann Rupert’s Education Foundation supports numerous educational development initiatives in South Africa.

These initiatives have been instrumental in uplifting and supporting children and youth nationwide.

They support numerous projects aimed at developing and supporting teachers and provide academic, psycho-social, and other support for learners.

Rupert has a deep love for sport. He regularly comments on golf, rugby, and other sports under his X profile, Cutmaker.

He is using his wealth to advance sport in society and played a pivotal role in founding the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

The foundation uses the power of sports to improve the lives of disadvantaged young people worldwide.

He also co-founded the Sports Science Institute at the University of Cape Town. It includes a gym, personal training education centre, and sports performance centre.

He was inducted into the South African Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 and the South African Golf Hall of Fame in 2009.

The Rupert Art Foundation, established in 1984, furthers the visual and applied arts in all their facets.

The family is also behind the Rupert Museum, Rupert Music Foundation, Rupert Nature Foundation, and Rupert Historical Homes.

They further support the South African Tourism College, Hospitality Training, Tracker Training, the Herding Academy, and Imibala Trust.

A project Johann Rupert and his wife are particularly passionate about is giving poor communities land and houses.

The Rupert family has sponsored thousands of title deeds in the Western Cape, including Stellenbosch and Graaf Reinet.

They support the Khaya Lam initiative, which helps underprivileged South Africans get title deeds for their houses.

The Free Market Foundation and First National Bank (FNB) launched the Khaya Lam Land Reform Project to give title deeds and create wealth in poor communities.

The project’s mission is to assist communities in converting their apartheid-era leasehold titles to freehold titles.

The Rupert family committed funding to housing and land projects in the Western and Eastern Cape and the Free State.

They have pledged over 10,000 titles through the Khaya Lam initiative, transforming families’ lives by giving them title deeds for their homes.

Owning the homes they live in gives people the ability to improve their value by investing in it, selling it, or passing it on to their children.

That means it will not only change these people’s lives but also help with economic growth. Homeownership is a core ingredient of any thriving economy.

In October 2023, Free Market Foundation CEO David Ansara announced that 10,000 title deeds had been transferred to the rightful homeowners.

“Thank you to Johann Rupert and the many others who helped to make the Khaya Lam initiative a success,” Ansara said.

“10,000 title deeds successfully transferred to homeowners across South Africa since 2013.”

Johann Rupert’s incredible philanthropic and charity work

To appreciate the full extent of Johann Rupert and his family’s charity and philanthropic work, BusinessTech has compiled a list of projects.