South Africa’s eight wealthiest individuals and families have a combined net worth of an estimated R714.8 billion as of 6 January 2026, according to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List.
The ranking, which tracks the net worth of the world’s known billionaires based on share prices, exchange rates and publicly available information, shows little movement at the very top of South Africa’s rich list.
Wealthiest individual
Luxury goods billionaire Johann Rupert remains the country’s wealthiest individual, followed by former diamond magnate Nicky Oppenheimer.
Media and technology investor Koos Bekker, mining entrepreneur Patrice Motsepe, and Capitec founder Michiel le Roux round out the top five – unchanged from the start of the year.
There was, however, some reshuffling further down the list.
Retail magnate Christoffel Wiese slipped from sixth to seventh position in 2025, overtaken by financial services tycoon Jannie Mouton, founder of PSG Group.
Completing the list is Paul van Zuydam, the South African-born businessman behind premium cookware brand Le Creuset.
Despite economic headwinds at home and abroad, the combined wealth of South Africa’s richest individuals highlights the continued global reach and resilience of the country’s leading business figures.
World’s richest
Meanwhile, in terms of the overall world list, South Africa-born Elon Musk remains the world’s richest person with a reported $727.6 billion.
Below, the list of the top eight richest South Africans in the world as of 6 January 2026.
| Rank | Name | Net worth ($) | Net worth (R) | Industry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 161 | Johann Rupert | $16.6 billion | R271 billion | Luxury goods |
| 295 | Nicky Oppenheimer | $10.5 billion | R171.4 billion | Diamonds |
| 1 032 | Koos Bekker | $3.9 billion | R63.6 billion | Media, investments |
| 1 064 | Patrice Motsepe | $3.8 billion | R62 billion | Mining |
| 1 270 | Michiel Le Roux | $3.2 billion | R52.2 billion | Banking |
| 1 727 | Jannie Mouton | $2.3 billion | R37.5 billion | Financial services |
| 2 071 | Christoffel Wiese | $1.8 billion | R29.4 billion | Retail |
| 2 232 | Paul van Zuydam | $1.7 billion | R27.7 billion | Le Creuset |
| $43.8 billion | R714.8 billion |
As at exchange rate of R16.32/$
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