Hoarded Wealth, Dignity Denied: Confronting the Country’s Extreme Wealth and Inequality Emergency
Publication Date: 1 October 2026
Authors: Emma Seery, Isobel Frye and Amir Bagherioromi.
With contributions from Pooven Moodley, Susana Ruiz Rodríguez, Anthony Kamande, Emilio del Rio, Pubudini Wickramaratne, Wanga Mkabile- Zembe, Laura Alfers, and Dr. Colette Solomons.
The report, ‘Hoarded Wealth, Dignity Denied: Confronting the Country’s Extreme Wealth and Inequality Emergency’, finds that the richest 1% of South Africans held 54.9% of the country’s wealth in 2024, up from just under half in 1994, while the bottom half of the population now holds negative wealth, meaning their debts outweigh what they own. South Africa’s top 10% hold 85.7% of national wealth, a higher concentration than Brazil (71.9%) or the United States (69.5%).
The report also finds that land ownership remains one of the clearest illustrations of unfinished economic transformation: white South Africans, who make up around 7% of the population, still own 72% of individually owned farmland, compared to just 4% owned by Black African individuals.
Notably, the report finds someone in the bottom 90% of South Africans would need 345 years to accumulate the wealth of the average person in the richest 1%, and sets out a four-point plan to close the gap.
The report sets out five priority actions: developing a National Inequality Reduction Plan, putting women at the centre of economic policy, taxing extreme wealth, investing in care, public services and social protection, alongside international cooperation.
