Op-Ed By Sma Mathibeli- Calvin and Family Group CEO
IN the United States, about 379,000 Americans became dollar millionaires in 2024 alone – more than 1000 a day, in addition to the already existing number of nearly 24 million.
A report by Ramsey Solutions stated that 20-30% of that number was through business ownership.
South Africa, on the other hand, had 37,400 dollar millionaires in 2024 in total, according to New World Wealth. This indicates that while a notable 7% of America’s overall population were dollar millionaires, only 0.6% of South Africans met that criterion in 2024.
While South Africa is painfully behind the US, the young democracy has steadily increased the number of 20,000-dollar millionaires in 1993, according to the Africa Wealth Report, despite a drop in some of the years.
Another feat is the achievement of dollar millionaire status for 45% of the total by those from previously disadvantaged (non-White) groups in the mid 2010s, as recorded by New World Wealth.
This can be attributed to a variety of variables, including the rise of knowledge accessibility, government programs, international investments, private-public partnerships and more.
Consequently, a long list of township millionaires with humble beginnings exists today, thriving in a variety of industries, from fintech to property to software engineering.
However, the success stories of these achievers are not always linear; their journeys are marked with hard work, persistence and leaps of faith.
What Does it Take to Be a Township Millionaire?
I, myself took the bold step of founding a marketing and public relations agency at the ripe age of 29 with a friend after working in the entertainment industry for several years as a television actress and then an award-winning radio producer.
Although I had no experience in running a business, the fortitude instilled in me growing up in Soweto, surrounded by resilient businesswomen, was evident.
My grandmother sold vetkoeks and sweets outside our school gates, my mother later opened a spaza shop, and my aunt was proudly a shebeen queen. All these women had one thing in common: grit, something I was also blessed with. It made me determined to excel in this new arena as I had done in previous roles.
This determination is the common thread I’ve observed in trailblazers with a similar background.
Priven Reddy is another case in point; the tech giant originally hailed from Chatsworth in a low-income household. He celebrated and thrived in modest roles as a car guard and waiter, and then eventually as the founder of Kagiso Interactive Media and now several other investments.
Today, as Group CEO of a company that operates in industries that are far removed from my initial studies, I am reminded again of the unpredictability of the path to success.
I urge young people who find themselves in disadvantaged situations to use their lack as a force to propel themselves out of poverty; to look around their communities and start understanding what entrepreneurship looks like from a local supermarket owner, taxi owner, even the lady at the market selling fruit, and a local farmer, instead of always associating entrepreneurship with air-conditioned offices in high-rise buildings, which comes later in the business for many of us.
Research by Standard Bank’s Township Informal Economy Report last year revealed that the township economy is worth almost a trillion rand.
The survey covered enterprises with annual turnovers ranging from R100,000 to R50 million, confirming that indeed business is booming in the township.
Entrepreneurship is closer, more tangible than we believe it to be, but it starts in excelling at what is within a reachable distance.
In whatever roles they are currently in – whether working in a fast food outlet or employed as a cleaner – people must perform to the best of their ability and grasp the opportunities that can present themselves in a variety of ways; conversations with customers or the free educational material and courses found on the internet.
The truth is not everyone may be an entrepreneur, but we all stand a chance of becoming good leaders when we surrender ourselves to our work, when we bloom where we are planted.
In our collective determination, there is bound to be an emergence of more township millionaires.
Image supplied (Sma Mathibeli- former actress now Calvin and Family Group CEO).
