For many South Africans, the current state of the nation is not so grand.

Our municipalities are dodgier than ever, state capture and looting has taken its toll on the economy, and in-fighting in government is delaying progress.

Then there’s the physical fighting amongst MPs, some of whom can’t even make it through a simple intro session without taking a swing at each other.

It’s not doom and gloom for all South Africans, though. At the top of the heap, we have the high rollers, ballers and super-rich.

TimesLIVE reports that the latest wealth report released by AfrAsia Bank and New World Wealth unpacks where the super-rich live, the luxury items they invest in, their top hobbies, and the cars they drive.

A city wealth breakdown for 2018 showed that Johannesburg had the highest number of high net-worth individuals – those with wealth of $1m or more.

That figure is 16,600.

The City of Gold also topped the list when it came to multimillionaires, those with private wealth of $10m or more.

Cape Town and the KwaZulu-Natal seaside towns of Ballito and Umhlanga followed in the ranks.

In total, South Africa is home to nearly 40 000 dollar millionaires – and they’re at “the bottom rung of the wealth ladder”, which is probably imported, bespoke and made by a brand you haven’t heard of.

On the top rungs of the fancy ladder are 2 070 multimillionaires, 94 centi-millionaires (assets of $100m or more), and five billionaires.

Where they live:

Affluent suburbs include Camps Bay, Clifton and Bishopscourt in Cape Town, and Houghton, Sandhurst, Bryanston, Saxonwold and Hyde Park in Johannesburg.

What they do:

Golf and fly-fishing were popular pastimes for rich folk.

“SA is home to some of the best golf courses in the world. Golf has always been a popular sport for SA high net-worth individuals, especially those who are retired,” the report said.

“Golf estate living is also popular in SA, with many wealthy people choosing to live on exclusive golf estates.”

What they buy:

Some of the most popular items among the rich come from the South African luxury sector.

The SA luxury sector – including cars, clothing and accessories, watches, private jets, yachts and luxury hotels and lodges – generated revenue of approximately $2.1bn in 2018.

Top-selling luxury car brands include Porsche, Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin.

Also art, classic cars, top-end watches, and fine wine.

“The global classic car market is valued at around $5bn. According to our in-house indices, classic car prices rose by a strong 150% over the past 10 years (in US dollar terms), making it the best-performing investment class for wealthy people globally.

Popular classic cars for wealthy car enthusiasts included the Mercedes Gull-wing 300sl (1950s) and Porsche 959 (1980s).

According to the report, popular watch brands for SA collectors feature the likes of Patek Philippe, Breguet and Vacheron Constantin – considered the oldest watch maker in the world.

Other things that attract the rich include good private schools (obviously – little Blake can’t mix with ordinary children), well-established luxury areas (they only allow the right sort of people in), top class shopping malls (they’ve priced out the riff-raff), and luxury food stores (it’s not as convenient as popping in to Woolies but worth it for the Kale smoothie).

Enjoy your riches!

[source:timeslive]