The ongoing deteriorating economic system in South Africa has caused concern amongst the country’s high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and provided them with more reason to look for an alternative route for economic safety and business opportunities through citizenship by investment.

The enquiries from South Africa in relation to CBI or Golden Visas rapidly increased through the second half of 2017 and accelerated throughout 2018. From the enquiries, the most searched countries are within the EU, including Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Malta and Cyprus. The majority of those queries came from Gauteng and Western Cape, indicating that most of the people are HNW individuals.

The majority of people do not just want to emigrate but they want to obtain the benefit of having a dual citizenship. This is because they want to be able to invest and have a blossoming working life and enjoy their freedom of travel, but they would also like to be able to come back to their home country and meet with their family often.

One report found that South Africa has over 40,000 dollar millionaires, of whom about one-third are considering emigration. A South African passport is one of the weaker passports of the world, only allowing visa-free access to 102 countries, and excluding the UK, US, Canada and Europe’s Schengen Areas.