One of South Africa’s richest women may come home

One of South Africa’s richest women, Magda Wierzycka, is considering returning home from the United Kingdom (UK) after nearly a decade abroad due to tax reforms that could significantly erode her wealth.

The changes form part of the UK’s overhaul of its tax treatment of non-domiciled residents, or “non-doms”, announced in the Autumn 2024 Budget.

The reforms represent a financial tipping point for people like Wierzycka, who moved to Britain for safety and business reasons.

Under the existing regime, non-doms who have lived in the UK for fewer than 15 of the previous 20 years can legally shield their foreign income and assets from UK tax by placing them in trusts. 

These structures allow non-doms to avoid paying tax in the UK on wealth already taxed elsewhere, as long as the money remained offshore. 

But under the new rules, these trusts will be taxed like any other, including any income or gains from foreign sources, even if those have already been taxed in another jurisdiction, such as South Africa.

“It makes no sense to put any more money into the UK—money which has already been taxed in South Africa—only for it to be taxed some more,” Wierzycka said in an interview with City AM. 

Speaking from South Africa, she said the change has forced her and her family to start making preparations to leave the UK. 

“My husband was hoping to become a tax resident in the UK with me. That’s not happening anymore, and it would have made me a permanent resident in the UK.”

She added that she would have stayed if the UK had offered exemptions, such as protecting existing trusts set up under the current rules. 

“If those trusts that non-doms were encouraged to set up when we moved here were grandfathered, then I would stay,” she said. But since that appears unlikely, a return to South Africa is on the cards.

Big shift for Wierzycka and other wealthy South Africans

The shift is a significant step for Wierzycka, who left South Africa amid threats and what she described as state surveillance, stemming from her outspoken criticism of political corruption.

A critic of the Gupta family’s influence over the South African government and of former president Jacob Zuma, Wierzycka was vocal in exposing state capture and unethical practices. 

Concerned for her safety, she relocated to London in 2017, where she co-founded Braavos Investment Advisers, a private equity firm, in 2019 and continued her work in the financial services sector.

Wierzycka was born in Poland in 1969, where she grew up in a cramped two-bedroom flat with her parents, siblings, and grandmother. 

In 1982, the family fled to Austria due to Poland’s economic collapse and political turmoil. A year later, they arrived in South Africa with only $500. 

She completed her schooling at Pretoria High School for Girls before enrolling at the University of Cape Town, where she studied actuarial science on a bursary. 

Wierzycka began her career at Southern Life and later joined Alexander Forbes, where she helped build the asset consulting division for retirement fund clients. 

Although she was trained as an actuary, she discovered a passion for investment and asset management.

In 1997, she took a chance by joining a then-small asset manager called Coronation as its 14th employee. 

In her memoir, Magda: My Journey, she described her role in helping to grow Coronation into a major player in South African finance. 

Later, she co-founded Sygnia, which expanded into a financial powerhouse managing over R318 billion in assets under her leadership.

With political winds shifting in South Africa following the 2024 elections, she is considering returning home. 

The elections saw the African National Congress (ANC) lose its majority and usher in what many see as a more stable coalition era, which Wierzycka said has made the country feel more welcoming again. 

The improved political climate, combined with the looming tax changes in the UK, has drawn her attention and reportedly sparked a broader trend of return migration among wealthy South Africans. 

“There’s now a years-long backlog in the country’s revenue services because so many are coming back,” she said.