David Bullard says returning South Africans are helping drive the WCape’s property boom

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OUT TO LUNCH

My neighbour’s house has just sold for more than twice what I paid for my house in 2013. I had a snoop around it when it was on show and the finishes were better than mine although the kitchen was a little old-fashioned. The house was probably a bit larger, but it was on the same sized plot, so it seemed a reasonable comparison; not that I’m thinking of selling. Other houses have sold on the estate on which I live for prices which seemed absurd only four years ago.

Claudine Viviers, the highly successful agent who represents Harcourts here and seems to retain an iron grip on sales in the area, tells me that the majority of the sales are for cash purchasers. I assumed that these were all upcountry folk moving here from Gauteng and some from the more dilapidated parts of KZN but she told me that an increasing number were South Africans returning from the UK and Europe who have given up hope of a better life there. They are also cash buyers and, at the current exchange rate to the pound of R23.6 to the £1 why would we be surprised when the price of a very modest property in an unfashionable area of Greater London converts to a 450 square metre house on a secure estate with a pool and garden?

Looking at what’s happening to NHS waiting times in the UK where a one year delay for crucial medical care is not uncommon, where there is a massive backlog of court cases yet to be heard, where the police force is more interested in non-crime hate incidents than solving cases of robbery and violence and where the national broadcaster (BBC) appears to be part of a propaganda operation for Hamas who can blame them for gapping it? Add to that the looming threat of war with Russia, the worship of Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity in so many institutions, the clampdown on freedom of speech, the increasing immigrant problem and, of course, the weather and the case for moving to South Africa seems pretty strong. Or rather, to the Western Cape bit of South Africa to be precise. The only bit that appears to work.

As an article on News24 last week pointed out, the downside of all this ‘semigration’ is that the traffic flows become far heavier as anybody who has had to drive into Cape Town will attest. The pressure is also on getting children into decent schools and even the private medical care of which we are so proud down here (while we are still allowed to have it) suddenly has a lot more users. Judging by the number of cranes that have sprung up in the Somerset West/Stellenbosch area it looks like a property boom, with both industrial and residential property benefiting.

The obvious upside is that more businesses will be attracted to an economically thriving area, we will become a magnet for digital nomads and more jobs will be created. The lefty naysayers will say this is a selfish view and that increased prosperity in the Cape is a white supremacist plot to further alienate the poor and dispossessed but that’s lefty naysayers for you.

Up in Gauteng last week, President Frogboiler expressed ‘shock and surprise’ at the state of the province and gave Premier Panyaza Lesufi a sharp wrap across the knuckles for letting things slide so badly in what is, allegedly, the country’s business hub. It does seem odd that the President, who has a sprawling mansion in the suburb of Hyde Park, hasn’t noticed these things until now or has failed to read the countless news reports of the collapsing city.

Maybe it’s the rose tinted windows on the

Presidential limo or perhaps being a multi-billionaire dulls your senses to the problems of the common folk.

Needless to say Lesufi fell reverently to his knees and apologised profusely to the President for the horrific state of Johannesburg; a place that might well merit the famous Trumpian epithet “shithole”. As many on social media pertinently commented, maybe Lesufi (widely regarded as a total disaster as premier) should rather be apologising to the long suffering residents of Johannesburg and Pretoria.

We are always being told that President Frogboiler is playing the long game but the question now has to be asked, how long is the long game?

Since coming to power in 2018 things just seem to have become steadily worse. Admittedly the COVID 19 lockdown farce may have had a lot to do with that although, on reflection, the lockdown may have just provided a convenient excuse to do nothing. The worst betrayal of the people of South Africa was to spend R1 billion on the Zondo commission into state capture and then to completely ignore the findings and allow many of those fingered to serve as members of parliament and even cabinet ministers while pulling a fat salary and enjoying all the perks and privileges of power.

All this while elderly grant recipients get up at three in the morning to queue in all types of weather in the desperate hope that they can get hold of a functioning SASSA card before March 20th. It’s hard to imagine any democratically elected government treating voters with such utter contempt and getting away with it but why would the ANC give a damn because the votes will still come, although they do appear to be diminishing.

Then there’s the utterly useless National Procrastinating Authority whose boss, Shamila Batohi, appears to be cruising towards a well remunerated retirement in 2026. In cricketing terms she will be out for a duck, having secured no major prosecutions since getting the job in 2019.

Paul Hoffman SC, Director of the Institute for Accountability in Southern Africa commented:

“Legally, if she wanted to tackle corruption effectively, she needed to point out to the government that an anti-corruption body independent of executive control is required.

As the leader of the NPA, it was her responsibility to clarify to politicians what the law requires and to explain that the current structures do not meet those requirements. If she failed to secure the necessary reforms, she should have resigned long ago.”

The cynic in me can’t help but wonder if the appointment of Batohi was a deliberate Machiavellian plan to hobble the justice process while, at the same time, appearing to be cracking down on corruption and keeping all those uppity land thieves quiet. Judging by the number of smirking ANC crooks still dodging orange overalls that seems a very fair assessment.

And, as I have mentioned many times before, key ANC figures frequently have to remind dunderheads such as myself that someone is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Of course, if they never make it to a court of law they will remain perpetually innocent, even if they have helped themselves to some VBS funds.

But back to the state of the Johannesburg CBD and the shock and surprise it induced in Pres Frogboiler who has immediately taken steps to sort things out. With his long game, kick the can down the road management style he has announced a ‘working group’ to tackle the problem. Or at least that’s what the website sanews.gov.sa claimed on March 8th but when I went back to check on any details or updates both the page and the website were unavailable. Censorship? Perish the thought comrades.

It’s difficult to know what a ‘working group’ would achieve that plenty of eager ratepayers couldn’t achieve but I assume a working group is a great opportunity to create yet another layer of bureaucracy with well paid jobs and perks for the favoured few. Unlike most other Frogboiler creations though there is something of a degree of urgency on this one since our G20 guests arrive in late November. Whether this will give the working group enough time to convincingly reverse the rot and urban decay that has plagued Johannesburg these past fourteen years remains to be seen but I am not optimistic.

Geordin Hill-Lewis, the go-getting mayor of Cape Town has helpfully suggested that the G20 conference could be moved to Cape Town but one suspects that such a move may highlight DA efficiency and showcase ANC incompetence and corruption in which case it aint gonna happen. I am starting to detect that the patience of long suffering citizens in this country is beginning to wear thin and that isn’t a great look for a democracy keen to persuade the USA that we are not just another African basket case.

Source: https://www.politicsweb.co.za/opinion/its-grim-up-north?utm_source=Politicsweb+Daily+Headlines&utm_campaign=72bb734ac8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_03_05_10_21_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-1e83b748db-140246843

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