South Africa
Update September 7, 23: The West is a deja vu of what happened in South Africa!
The West is in the grip of deliberate debasement of currency and as a result, debasement of humanity itself.
Where are the building cranes? What happened to the property enthusiasm? Why are people not investing in their homes? Where did the easily available capital go? Why am I reluctant to wear my watch when I go out or reluctant to purchase a flashy car even though I would like one?
I have watched this happen twice in South Africa and now I see it starkly in the West. People become desperate and criminals become more bold when the economy dies.
Little or no new investment, envy, and real risk to anyone with money or the appearance of money or not part of the “in” crowd. I watched this happen in the number of years as apartheid South Africa crumbled. I watched incredible rebirth and confidence and investment in the five years of Mandela’s presidency and the rundown rot of apartheid yes reverse racism of ANC leadership from Mbeki to now. Little or no new investment, envy, and real risk to anyone with money or the appearance of money or not part of the “in” crowd.
Sitting in my chair in a high-floor hotel room in Dubai and having visited Abu-Dhabi yesterday, I see the exact opposite. I see modern new exciting cities, huge development, high property prices, twelve-lane highways are the norm, six ways in either direction, properly finished motorways, no potholes, new vehicles on the road, 140 km/hour speed limits, efficient government departments, sane laws...
I worry about the influence of OECD and other Western ideologies and who is really now trying to control these Emirates which are booming and have open doors to hard-working people of the world. I see their insidious influence over their banking systems creeping in. (courtesy L.S.)
Update April 2, 2023: South Africa is walking the same path as Zimbabwe, and I POSITIVELY ADVICE AGAINST ANY INVESTMENT in SOUTH AFRICA. If you are white, you are game.....(May 1st, 2017).
Miners are extremely energy-dependent. South Africa is TOAST. IT started the very day they donated the country to Niggers (Nelson Mandela) on a Silver plate. Now SA mining companies are preparing for a total grid collapse. Escom is bankrupt, and South Africa is bankrupt: white and black suffer from the terrible decision made in 1994 under pressure from The Netherlands, Belgium, and the USA. Few people know that in the 1970s, you could top up your car's fuel tank for ONE RAND!
Grid collapse. It's a chilling notion for any South African; the country's largest mining companies are no exception. In the event of a grid collapse, there will be a cascading impact on national infrastructure – like telecommunications, transport, water, sewerage, fuel pipelines, banking, and food – and the potential for wide-scale public unrest could also potentially impede supply restoration efforts. Unlike in Europe or North America, there is limited support from electricity networks of neighboring countries, and the recovery of the South African grid will depend on internal preparations. If a whole black start is required, complete restoration of the national grid will likely take at least two weeks. Load shedding does not bring the system closer to a blackout but is, in fact, a prudent measure to manage the system from increased risk of collapse. Rather, the system's mismanaged balancing of supply and demand can prompt a collapse.
South Africa is TOAST! The ANC and the Criminal patronage have stolen EVERYTHING in South Africa: they have raped, killed, and plundered South Africa: black, white, and Indians,...
South Africa is on the verge of collapse and an all-out civil war - sewers don't work, railroad tracks are stolen for scrap, police don't answer phones, and power is out 8-12 hrs daily. The societal collapse has led to the US government and US embassy issuing a warning to international travelers in South Africa - stock up prepper style on food and water.
Almost every single state-run enterprise (SOE) is defunct. They're literally the spitting image of Zimbabwe. ESKOM - South Africa's only power producer - is dead in the water. Averaging a 50% or less power output. Copper cable theft is a massive issue -- electrical copper cable is ripped from high-voltage lines, underground trenches, and substations. All sold for a bit of heroin or tik. Drugs are the biggest driving factor of copper cable theft.
The South African government has stated they're not constitutionally bound to provide electricity to the republic and, as a result, not bound to end rolling blackouts either. Further increasing societal chaos.
South Africa's railroad is dead. 1/4 of freight has gone in not even 5 years. But it's worse now. The rail just isn't there anymore. It's gone. Stolen. Every piece of available track, copper cable, and scrap metal - gone. The rail network is so dead that land grabbers set up shacks on the tracks.
Sewage treatment works - more than half are offline. And those that are working aren't effective. According to a long-awaited audit of the country's wastewater, rivers and water bodies across South Africa have become too polluted for use, and the government is doing an increasingly poor job of addressing the situation.
Working roads - what's that? Speaking to the Sunday Times, several infrastructure experts and road analysts say that South Africa’s roads are in crisis, with crumbling infrastructure now having a material impact on road users and the wider economy. Roads in Johannesburg are particularly bad, with some roads over 70 years old. The number of potholes needing to be filled has grown from 4,000 a month to 6,000.
Army, Navy, and Airforce - bases are being looted for copper and scrap, and machines/vehicles are cannibalized for parts. The latest oversight visit has confirmed a string of reports and findings around the SANDF, which showed the country’s forces in disarray and disrepair.
Police force - non-existent. No operational call centers or dispatch. Most police stations don't even pick up the phone. Citizens call them to fetch dead bodies now. Looting has become the national sport. Trucks are targeted (guerilla warfare style) and stopped on uphills. Objects are placed behind the wheels so the driver cannot escape. Looting then begins.
Crime
- 1 rape every 10 minutes.
- 80 murders every 24 hours.
- 3 to 4 children are murdered every 24 hours.
- Average of 70 hijackings a day.
- Average of 2500 home invasions every 24 hours.
South Africa is a precursor of what will happen in the EUSSR, the USA, and Canada.
People who emigrate to South Africa and buy Real Estate are suicidal. Not only will they lose their savings but they probably also will lose their lives...Even if one did buy Real Estate in South Africa, the loss on the exchange rate has not compensated for the higher price of housing. (Feb-2022). South Africa probably has the best Real Estate price/quality ratio in the world. But it comes at a price!
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| Rand versus US-Dollar | Rand versus Euro |
The 80% to 85% loss of the exchange rate does not make up for the higher SA-Real Estate prices. Add to this, that it is not easy to SELL Real Estate in South Africa and to get your currency out of the country.
February 2018 - We advise WHITE people to sell any Real Estate property and to transfer the funds abroad...while it is still possible.
Posted May 1st, 2009 - The Mountainlands not only is paradise, but it also is an adventure... click on the pictures.
The world will always offer niches...click on the picture for your private safari
Update March 20, 2012
Johannesburg - The proposed amendment to the Municipal Property Rates Act recently published in the Government Gazette could sound the death knell for the residential rental property market. Property experts have said the amendment also represents a serious threat for the rest of the housing market – and could put property prices under serious pressure. People renting a property will probably also have to pay more. In terms of the amendment a property used to house people other than the owner for financial gain will, in terms of property rates, no longer be assessed as residential property...What this amounts to is that investors in residential property who let the property will in the future be assessed at the much higher business rate instead of the residential rate.
Ben Espach, a property valuer and expert in municipal property taxation, said the amendment would result in a significant rise in property rates. The property rate for a person letting a Johannesburg property worth R1m will rise from R372 a month to R1 533. In Pretoria, the rate for a property with a similar value will rise from R622 a month to R2 015.
In Cape Town that for an R1m property will increase from R375 to R935. Property experts reckon the proposed amendment could lead to at least two worrying scenarios.
First, investors who bought property to let could flood the market with their properties because the additional expense no longer makes it worthwhile to let the property. Someone in Pretoria letting an R1m house currently receive between R6 000 and R7 000 in rent. If he has to cough up an additional R1 400 for rates, his yield is certainly no longer worthwhile. These units could further swamp the property market, which already has a significant oversupply of houses. Prices would come under pressure....click here for more
Posted January 24, 2011
The bigger group is people who bought holiday homes during a time of easy credit in 2005 and 2006 and overextended themselves. "It was a speculative market that came to a sudden halt during 2007."
Household finances – more than 11m South Africans are now behind on their debt repayments – are being squeezed and widespread job losses are contributing to insecurity, leaving many families desperate to get rid of these properties. Pensioners are also putting their homes on the market. They have seen their income drop as interest rates fall to the lowest levels in decades, with the sharp increase in municipal rates and taxes adding to the pressure...more
Posted January 6, 2009
The real estate bubble is alive and well in SA - the Price outlook bleak
Johannesburg - Year-on-year house price deflation is expected to last well into 2009, according to FNB property strategist John Loos. He says that an expected series of interest rate cuts should have some positive influence on residential demand, although this influence will be partly negated by weak economic growth as the global economic crisis continues. But despite some demand recovery, oversupplies of stock could take a while longer to be mopped up, and as such the FNB House Price Index is expected to show year-on-year deflation for the entire of 2009. "As we go into 2009, the recent history of residential property performance continues to look bleak, to say the least, and year-on-year price deflation is expected to be with us for most of, if not the entire year," Loos said on Monday.
Posted September 5, 2008
Zimbabwe, here we come. Or how politicians will make depression out of a recession!
'SA land not for foreign buyers' Sep 4, 2008, 2:43 PM - Jana Roos
Cape Town - Foreigners may soon no longer be able to own South African property, and will instead have to settle for leasing land if legislation that's been three years in the making is implemented. Thozi Gwanya, the director-general for the Department of Land Affairs, says a policy that regulates ownership of land by non-South Africans is currently being developed and is necessary for the interest of sustainable development.
The department, says Gwanya, engaged the services of a team of experts who compiled a report that recommended that the ownership of land by foreigners should be regulated. The report indicated that stronger foreign currencies (forex) enable foreigners to buy more land, including land that is strategically situated such as coastal and agricultural land," says Gwanya. "It recommended a moratorium on the sale of state land to foreigners. It further recommended that land be leased to foreigners, as opposed to full ownership.
The building sector outlook bleak
Jul 17, 2008, 2:39 PM
Johannesburg - Declining confidence levels among both the residential and non-residential building contractors suggest that the building industry may continue to see a significant slowdown in demand in the coming months, which does not bode well for the overall building industry.
This negative outlook, particularly regarding the residential building industry, will continue to be driven by the upward cycle of interest rates. The probability that rates will increase again in August and October is set to further exacerbate the pressure on the industry. With regard to the non-residential building sector, the negative impact of rising interest rates and input costs is likely to be counterbalanced, to some extent, by the build-up to the 2010 World Cup. Year-on-year real growth in total building plans passed declined significantly in May to -36.2% from positive growth of 9.6% in April. This decline was led by decreases in all three categories namely: non-residential building plans, which recorded growth of -15.6 % in May compared to 84.4% in April, growth in residential building plans declined from -3.1% in April to -45.7% in May and additions and alterations fell to -32.3% from -3.1% April
Crunch time for homeowners (Standard Bank)
Jun 2, 2008, 5:56 PM
Johannesburg - Standard Bank's median house price fell to R520 000 in May from R530 000 in April. This was compared to a median house price of around R599 000 in May last year.
As a result, the year-on-year growth in the median house price for May saw a significant decline of -13.2%. The five-month moving average growth rate in the median house price was -5.5%. The downward trend in the median house price also reflects the large decline in demand for residential property. The far softer demand conditions in the residential property market are in turn primarily a function of the deteriorating health of consumer balance sheets (where else do we see similar conditions!?).
"In our view, we have in all likelihood entered a period of national house price deflation which we see as a correction in house prices to more plausible levels. This trend has merely been exacerbated by rising inflation and higher interest rates in an environment of record-high household indebtedness." The bank cautioned that conditions in the residential property market are likely to deteriorate further in the coming months.
"The SARB (South African Reserve Bank) will in all likelihood increase the repo rate by another 50 bps at the Monetary Policy Committee Meeting (MPC) meeting later this month. There have even been suggestions of an increase of 100 bps at the June MPC meeting," the bank states.
It cautioned however that a further interest rate increase will merely cause more deterioration in the affordability of residential property, which will lead to a further reduction in the volume of new mortgages granted and registered and lead to even softer house price growth. In other words, the Credit Crunch is also active in South Africa. "A prime rate of 15.5% p.a. will mean that the monthly mortgage installments will be approximately 36% more than they were in June of 2006 when the current bout of interest rate increases commenced," it added.
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