South Africans rank highly in a recent survey called Global Giving: The Culture of Philanthropy, from Barclays Wealth.
"South Africa was found to be the second most financially generous nation behind the United States, and when it came to measuring which nations were the most generous in giving of their time, South Africa ranked fourth behind list-topping Ireland," said Absa Wealth in a statement on Tuesday.
It was citing a recently released report, Global Giving: The Culture of Philanthropy, from Barclays Wealth.
"The concept of philanthropy is universal, however a strong sense of ubuntu, and the inequality between rich and poor in South Africa, are the driving forces locally," said Nomkhita Nqweni, managing executive at Absa Wealth.
The report surveyed 2000 high net worth individuals from 20 countries around the world, measuring the money and time they invested in charities and causes. It also looked at what motivated their generosity.
Out of those who were most generous with giving money, 41 percent of respondents from the US said philanthropy was one of their top three spending priorities.
This was followed by 37 percent of South Africans and 32 percent of Saudi Arabians.
When it came to giving their time to good causes, Irish and Indian respondents were top of the list, with 20 percent saying they spent five hours a week or more on charity.
US respondents came in at 17 percent, followed by South Africans at 13 percent.
"By plotting these results together the report reveals that the United States, Ireland, South Africa and India lead the way as countries that donate significant amounts of both money and time to charitable causes."
Sourced by SA - The Good News via Sapa
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Steuart has done some 500 talks on South Africa's progress since 1994 and SA's prospects for the future' 
