SAPA – The 20 richest people in South Africa got richer in the past year, but only by 8%, the Sunday Times reported. Steel and mining share prices were dragged down by a sluggish global economy.
Patrice Motsepe, worth R20.07 billion, topped the newspaper’s Rich List for the second year running, but his fortune shrank 13%.
Third-ranked Lakshmi Mittal’s stake in steel giant ArcelorMittal was 38% lower than last year, at R13 billion.
Mining heir Nicky Oppenheimer, in fourth place, has a 2.3% stake in Anglo American worth R9 billion, a 19% loss compared to the previous year.
Despite their hammering, these three still accounted for over a third of the combined wealth of the top 20.
Retail mogul Christo Wiese placed second on the list with R15 226 billion.
Each person on the top 20 was worth more than R2 billion, with the top 30 worth more than R1 billion, based on disclosed investments in listed companies.
Sixteen of the top 20 were entrepreneurs.
