Residential Facilities for the Elderly in South Africa 2025

Introduction

In South Africa, the number of adults aged 60 and over has grown to over 6.6 million or more than 10% of the population in 2025.

• As the demographic shift accelerates, demand for elderly care is increasing.
• This creates opportunities for investment in assisted living, frail care, home-based support, and integrated health services.
• Challenges include disparities in access between urban and rural communities, affordability constraints, varying standards of care and elder abuse.

Opportunities

Affordable life right housing and rental units for the mid-tier market. Dementia-specific care, including public-private partnerships to expand subsidised care. Home-based care services. Providing pet-friendly facilities. Real estate investment, training programmes and facilities management services in Mauritius. Supplying technologies such as telemedicine and remote medical monitoring, wearable fall-alert devices, and voice-controlled lights. Upscale lifestyle retirement estates catering for high-income retirees, foreign retirees and expatriates.

Challenges

Financial insecurity, with most South Africans reliant on modest pensions or grants. Inequitable access to care, notably in rural areas, townships and informal settlements. Mismanagement of facilities and corruption, including contractual violations and exploitation of life right holders. Shortage of professional healthcare providers, support staff and caregivers. State funding for non-profit services is declining and community-based programmes are underfunded and under-resourced. The prevalence of elder abuse.

Outlook

As growing numbers of older people face health challenges, mobility limitations, isolation, and economic insecurity, demand for care services is expected to increase.

• Demand for assisted living, frail care, palliative care, and community-based support services is likely to rise across all income levels, especially state pensioners.
• New subsidised facilities are unlikely to be built in the near term due to funding constraints.
• There is expected to be a greater focus on home-based care, community caregiver training, and expanding capacity in existing facilities.
• Demand for middle- and high-end retirement properties is expected to accelerate.
• The retirement real estate sector is widely regarded as under-supplied.

Report Coverage

This report on residential facilities for the elderly in South Africa includes information on state-funded nursing homes and frail care centres, home-based support services, assisted living options and retirement villages and estates. It provides information on life expectancy, subsidies, facilities and services, funding, retirement village models, private retirement property sales, mismanagement and corruption, retirement savings and affordability, notable players and corporate actions. There are profiles of 33 notable players including non-profit organisations such as AFM Welfare, Flower Foundation Retirement Homes Neighbourhood Old Age Homes (Noah) and The Association for the Aged (Tafta), private companies such as Medwell SA, Evergreen Lifestyle, Devmark, Oasis and Life Nkanyisa.

Trends

Growing demand for specialised dementia care. High-end retirement lifestyle villages and estates targeting affluent retirees and foreign nationals are expanding and increasingly providing premium resort-style amenities. Long waiting lists for subsidised care facilities reflect growing demand in the low-income segment. Policymakers are facing increasing pressure to expand subsidies, regulate standards, and support community-based care models. Retirement villages increasingly offer integrated services spanning independent living, assisted living, frail care and palliative care. Rising demand for formal care across income groups is being driven by longer life expectancy and changing family structures. The retirement property market is experiencing cross-sector convergence of real estate, healthcare, hospitality, and technology. There is growing demand for affordable mid-tier retirement housing, including rental units.