Less than a third of middle-class South Africans (30%) are positive about the future of South Africa, while 27% say that they are likely to emigrate within the next five years.<\/p>\n
These are some of the major findings in the latest BrandMapp survey<\/a><\/strong> – a dataset that uses a mega-sample of more than 30,000 South African respondents to profile the 12 million adults who live in mid-to top-income households earning in excess of R10,000 per month.<\/p>\n While the findings should be understood in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is the latest dataset that points to a shrinking middle-class in South Africa as a stagnating economy and multiple lockdowns take thier toll.<\/p>\n Data published <\/a><\/strong>at the end of 2020 by the University of Cape Town Liberty Institute shows that South Africa’s shrinking middle-class has been years in the making, declining from 6.1 million to 2.7 million individuals between 2017 and June 2020, translating to a 55.73% reduction.<\/p>\n On the other end of the spectrum, the number of ultra-poor individuals, earning below minimum wage, increased by 6.6 million individuals (54%).<\/p>\n Analysts and investors have repeatedly warned that the Covid-19 pandemic and repeated lockdowns will also have a disproportionate impact on the middle-class.<\/p>\n