Less than a third (30%) of South Africans in mid- to top-income households are positive about the future of the country, while 27% say that they are likely to emigrate within the next five years.
These are among the major findings in the latest BrandMapp survey – a dataset that uses a mega-sample of more than 30 000 South African respondents to profile the 12 million adults who live in mid- to top-income households earning more than R10 000 per month, according to Businesstech.
The report also cites data from a 2020 study by the University of Cape Town Liberty Institute showing that while South Africa’s middle class declined by more than half from 6.1 million individuals in 2017 to 2.7 million in June last year, the number of ultra-poor individuals, earning below minimum wage, increased by 6.6 million individuals (54%).
Businesstech notes that analysts and investors have repeatedly warned that the Covid-19 pandemic and repeated lockdowns will also have a disproportionate impact on the middle-class, with financial services company Transaction Capital predicting that as much as a third of South Africa’s middle-class could be wiped out due to the various lockdowns.
Citing credit statistics, wage data and unemployment figures, the group said that overdue debt balances continued to increase, with a R33 billion increase seen in 2020 alone. It said that around 38% of loans were not in good standing.
Transaction Capital said that more than a third (34%) of households in South Africa were forecast to fall out of the middle-class.
Businesstech quotes Hans Overbeek, founder and chief executive of Cyber Finance, as saying that the number of people in debt who were relying on their credit to stay alive had sky-rocketed, leaving the South African economy teetering on the edge of borrowed time.