South Africa’s property sector has grown into a R5.8-trillion market over the past decade, but the boom has failed to shift ownership or control meaningfully, underscoring the structural inequality that still defines the industry.
Despite its scale and economic importance, transformation remains uneven, with black ownership still lagging behind overall sector growth.
Industry bodies such as the South African Institute of Black Property Practitioners (SAIBPP) and the Property Sector Charter Council (PSCC) say progress is constrained by slow implementation of transformation targets under the broad-based BEE (BBBEE) property sector code.
SAIBPP president Kapei Phahlamohlaka told Business Day that control of capital remains the central challenge in the sector. “While participation in the sector has broadened, control of capital remains concentrated among a small group of established players,” he said.
“The slow movement in ownership percentages is influenced by high barriers to entry in the commercial sector. In 2011, black companies accounted for only 3% (R4.2bn) of the R140bn listed commercial property market.
“By 2024, funds such as the Dipula Income Fund had grown to R10.8bn, yet remain exceptions in a landscape dominated by a handful of major institutional landlords,” he said.
The imbalance is also reflected across ownership and landholding patterns. While the market has expanded sharply from an estimated R850bn to R1.2-trillion in the early 2010s to about R5.8-trillion today, black direct ownership remains disproportionately low, with historical estimates placing it below 1% at the start of the last decade.
The land ownership picture mirrors this broader imbalance.
Government land audit findings have shown that privately held land remains heavily concentrated in a small number of hands, particularly in high-value agricultural and commercial segments, underscoring the persistence of deep-seated spatial and economic inequalities, SAIBPP said.
Phahlamohlaka said transaction structures have also limited meaningful change.
“The reliance on minority equity stakes in established platforms often improves headline transformation metrics but does not necessarily shift decision-making power in the property value chain,” he said.
At company level, the number of black-owned asset managers has increased steadily over the past decade, but most remain clustered in lower asset brackets, limiting their ability to compete for large institutional mandates.
The reliance on minority equity stakes in established platforms often improves headline transformation metrics but does not necessarily shift decision-making power in the property value chain
— Kapei Phahlamohlaka, SAIBPP president
SAIBPP and the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA) have pointed to a growing base of black principals and directors, but few have scaled into multibillion-rand asset managers.
According to SAIBPP, sectoral patterns highlight the uneven nature of participation. Residential property shows the highest level of entry, particularly among first-time buyers, where black applicants accounted for 59% of applications in 2011.
However, lower approval rates and weaker loan sizes continue to constrain upward mobility.
“In retail property, which accounts for about 60% of the institutional index, black participation is largely concentrated in township and rural shopping centres.
“The National Empowerment Fund has deployed more than R393m into property-related investments, largely in township malls and service stations, although many developers exit assets as they scale due to funding constraints,” Phahlamohlaka said.
The office sector remains one of the least transformed, historically recording black ownership below 1%.
Government leasing, long viewed as a key lever for transformation, continues to reflect disparities in participation despite being a low-risk revenue stream for lenders.
The industrial segment, while the top-performing asset class in recent years, remains difficult to access due to high capital and technical requirements, with emerging participation largely supported through initiatives such as the Black Industrialist Programme.
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