Rinchi
TechInAfrica – At the beginning of this year, four South Africans held status as the richest in the country, according to Forbes. In 2018, there were three richest South Africans lose their billionaire status during the year. Meanwhile, among the seven South African billionaires listed in 2017, only five of them maintained their status in 2018.
The four richest South Africans are Nicky Oppenheimer, Johann Rupert, Koos Bekker, and Patrice Motsepe. Despite holding the status as the richest South Africans, four of them also experienced big losses during the year. At the beginning of 2019, their combined wealth is worth $17 billion or R246.5 billion according to current rates. Their combined losses are worth $3 billion or R43.5 billion ever since the beginning of 2018.
Among those four South Africans, Johann Rupert lost more with the change of -26.8% or approximately $1.9 billion (R27.6 billion) of the lost wealth. Meanwhile, Nicky Oppenheimer only lost -1.3% of change. Koos Bekker and Patrice Motsepe came as the second and the third with the lost change -21.4% and -16.7% each.
The table below shows the four richest South Africans’ fared for the past twelve months, according to Forbes’ metrics:
| # | Billionaire | January 2018 (US$ Billion) | January 2019 (US$ Billion) | Change (%) |
| 180 | Nicky Oppenheimer | 7.7 | 7.6 | -1.3 |
| 318 | Johann Rupert | 7.1 | 5.2 | -26.8 |
| 986 | Koos Bekker | 2.8 | 2.2 | -21.4% |
| 1143 | Patrice Motsepe | 2.4 | 2.0 | -16.7 |
