Mining magnate Patrice Motsepe has topped the annual Sunday Times Rich List for the first time, the newspaper reported on Sunday.
Motsepe, the chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, was now worth R22.99 billion.
Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, who had been number one for several years, dropped to second with R20.87 billion, according to the Sunday Times.
The list was complied by Who Owns Whom.
Researchers analysed the holdings of directors of all Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies. It was based on publicly available information.
According to the report there are now 28 billionaires in South Africa compared to 31 last year.
Others who made the list were: Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson, non-executive director at Octodec Investments, Sharon Wapnick, who was the only woman among the 100 richest people, Transnet's former acting CEO Chris Wells, Nicky Oppenheimer, South African-born Marius Kloppers, CEO of mining group BHP Billiton, and Bernard Kantor, the managing director of Investec. - Sapa