Shoprite boss tops Rich List as South Africa’s wealthiest get even wealthier
SOUTH Africa’s richest 100 people now have a collective personal wealth of R198.6-billion — equivalent to more than 6% of GDP — even though they represent a fraction of the population.
These details, which are revealed in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, come as strikes for better pay continue to batter the country.
Whereas the average salary in South Africa has grown by about 7.6%, the salaries of the rich have soared.
David Hathorn, head of paper company Mondi, took home R76-million last year — a pay package nearly 400 times that of an average South African. It included R54.5-million he made by cashing in share options.
Hathorn’s package is less than the previous year’s top earner, Michael Yeager, who took home R114-million, or 2010’s highest earner, Whitey Basson, who pocketed R627-million, mostly through share options.
Although in Hathorn’s case Mondi performed well, what will irk the unions is that several top earners scored salaries of more than R20-million despite poor company performances.
Nick Holland, CEO of Gold Fields, which has been mired in controversy over a dubious empowerment deal being probed by the US authorities, was fifth on the list, taking home R45.3-million.
Prakash Desai, former CEO of Avusa Limited, former owner of this newspaper, was ninth with a total package of R40.1-million, owing largely to a R19.1-m golden handshake
Patrice Motsepe also fell from last year’s perch as the wealthiest man on the list, but his wealth still amounted to R22.5-billion.
The top spot went to Christo Wiese, the retail magnate who chairs Shoprite and Pepkor, whose personal wealth amounts to R27.4-billion.
Stephen Saad, founder of Aspen Pharmacare, shot up the list from ninth to third with a fortune now exceeding R10.5billion, thanks to the steep rise in the company’s share price.
Although ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa is still in the top 20, his fortune shrank to R2.1-billion from more than R3-billion the previous year.
Overall, the R198.6-billion fortune amassed by South Africa’s top 100 wealthiest people climbed nearly 10% from the previous year as the value of their shareholdings grew.
Their wealth is probably understated too, because the list only scrutinises people’s shares in companies listed on the JSE and does not include properties, cars and other assets such as wine farms.
The Rich List remains predominantly white and male. Only two women made it — lawyer Sharon Wapnick at 65th, with a fortune of R505-million, and Aspen pharmacare chairwoman Judy Dlamini at 66th, with a fortune of R502-million.