Andrew Stegmann
,

COVID Resurgence the Biggest Threat to Economic Recovery, Says SA President Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa says that South Africa’s 13.5% rebound in GDP during the third quarter of 2020 shows that a strong recovery is possible, even as the economy remains below its pre-pandemic levels.

However, he warned that a second coronavirus wave in the country could derail recovery efforts.

Commenting on the data released by Stats SA on Tuesday (8 December), the president said that GDP growth in the third quarter surpassed even the most optimistic market expectations.

This coincided with a surprisingly swift increase in economic activity as most restrictions designed to contain the spread of Covid-19 were lifted, he said.

Gross fixed capital formation also increased at a rate of 26.5%. While GDP contracted 6% year-on-year, the strong increase from the second quarter suggests that the economy is recovering more quickly than expected.

“In recent months, encouraging green shoots have emerged which provide a foundation for economic reconstruction and recovery.

“The mining and agriculture sectors in particular have demonstrated robust growth in the context of favourable market conditions. As a result of large trade surpluses, a record current account surplus is anticipated.”

The president said that a strong recovery in economic activity was made possible by the country’s success in bringing the virus under control.

“The strong rebound in GDP growth for the third quarter provides support for the approach that we have taken both to confront the pandemic and to protect the economy.

“Our task now is to ensure that this momentum is sustained, to enable a full recovery of the economy.

“A resurgence of the virus is now the single most serious threat to the economic recovery that is underway. As we move into celebrating the festive season and spending time with our families, we must remain vigilant to prevent a second wave.”

The president called on all South Africans to wear a mask, keep a safe distance from others, avoid crowded or poorly ventilated spaces and wash hands regularly.

“These simple measures are necessary not only to protect ourselves and others, but to support the continued recovery of the economy,” he said.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann
,

President Buhari: Nigeria to Re-open Land Borders Soon

More than a year after it closed its land borders, Nigeria is looking to reopen them ‘as soon as possible’, President Muhammadu Buhari said Tuesday. Mr Buhari stated this during a meeting with governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja. The president said the closure of the borders was also an attempt to control the smuggling of weapons and drugs from neighboring countries.

“Now that the message has sunk in with our neighbours, we are looking into reopening the borders as soon as possible,” the president was quoted as saying by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu. Nigeria first showed its willingness to re-open the border last month, amid skyrocketing food prices and increased calls for reopening of the borders. The move came after the nation fell into its second recession in five years, according to GDP data released by the National Bureau of Statistics for the third quarter of 2020. Many have attributed the economic recession partly to the border closure that has been in place since August 2019, which, among others, has seen inflation rise to a 30-month high.

Policy experts have said that lifting the blockade will help check the recession, the nation’s worst in decades, and ease the economic hardship faced by Nigerians. Last month, the Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said Mr Buhari would soon receive a report of a presidential committee to advise on the reopening of the borders.

Mrs Ahmed said although the committee set up by Mr Buhari had done an assessment of the gains of the closure and had recommended to the president to reopen the borders, the report had not been submitted. The committee has as members the ministers of finance, budget and national planning, interior and foreign affairs, she said, noting that the report would be submitted “once members of the committee sign the report.

“We have made an assessment. The president set up a committee and we have made an assessment and all the members of the committee agreed and are recommending to the president that it is time to reopen the borders,” she said. “The objective has been met in the sense that we have been able, over these couple of months, to work together with our partners in a tripartite committee and do a joint border patrol together and reinforce the sanctity of the commitments that we made to each other.

“So, each side has learnt its lessons. Nigeria has been affecting our partners in terms of businesses that we have in Nigeria as well. So, we will be expecting that the borders will be reopened very soon. The date will be decided by Mr President.” On Tuesday, although Mr Buhari said the government would act on the border closure issue “as soon as possible”, the president did not specify the date.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann
,

South African President Urged to Use Military Sites to Solve Cape Town’s Housing Backlog

Housing activists have taken the City of Cape Town’s housing backlog dilemma to President Cyril Ramaphosa, urging him to immediately release three large, well-located and vacant military sites in Cape Town for the development of low-income housing.

In an open letter penned by the Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC), Development Action Group (DAG), Legal Resources Centre (LRC), and Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) they have cited Ysterplaat, Wingfield and Youngsfield as having potential to combat Cape Town’s affordable housing crisis and alleviate the most harmful effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

NU Researcher Michael Clark said: “The rise in the number of land occupations in Cape Town and other cities, soon after the imposition of the national lockdown, is an example of the extent to which the need for land has reached a breaking-point.

“The state, at all levels, therefore has a legal, moral and public health obligation to expedite the release of well-located public land to enable the urgent development of affordable housing.”

Clark said they have outlined in their detailed submissions to the presidency, the National Coronavirus Command Council, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister, Human Settlements Minister and Defence and Military Veterans Minister.

The submissions detail how the identified land could be released and advocated for the sites to be incrementally developed through a “package of plans” that already exist in the housing programmes.

“We have included schematic plans for the development of each sites, along with careful analyses of the opportunities and constraints of each site, and proposed guiding principles and implementation imperatives that should underpin any development of the sites.

“In our detailed submission, we have therefore presented a compelling case for why these sites should be released and how to practically do so,” he said.

larke said in releasing the land, the national government can build up to 67 000 low-income houses in Cape Town.

DAG’s executive director Aditya Kumar said: “The three parcels are located within 10km of Cape Town city centre, very well-placed relative to all the amenities (such as schools, hospitals, economic centres etc) and comprise 670 hectares of prime land. ”

The Presidency’s spokesperson Tyrone Seale told the Cape Argus: “The Presidency has referred this matter to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure who have indicated to the civil society formations that Minister De Lille will give attention to this matter.”

According to the Department of Public Works, Ysterplaat is allocated and utilized by the Department of Defence as an Air Force Base.

Youngsfield is currently utilized by the Department of Defence as the Military Base and Wingfield is currently utilized by as a Naval Base.

Last year, De Lille announced that the government has identified 20 land parcels in the Western Cape to be released for the purposes of human settlements.

De Lille said: “I will set up a meeting with all the concerned stakeholders next week to discuss their issues and I am committed to discussing the government’s land reform and redistribution programme with the groups. Thereafter I will engage them on a regular basis.”

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann
,

The 10 Most Popular Estates in South Africa to Retire To

New data from analytics group Lightstone shows which estates in South Africa are drawing the most retirees.

According to Lightstone, which has been tracking the retirement property industry for the last 20 years, the sector has evolved from limited options to now include an array of lifestyle estate options, sectional title or lock-up-and-go as well as the upmarket coastal home.

In a view of the total volume of properties transacted over the last decade the group noted that the majority of transfers were conducted in Gauteng with the most transactions (2,883) in 2013 with Western Cape showing a slight peak in 2017.

Esteani Marx, head of real estate at Lightstone said that the trend of Gauteng enjoying the most collective transfers is not surprising as the most property transactions across demographics and value bands transpire in this province.

“When we investigate the value bands in the retirement category, the view is rather different over the last decade,” Marx said.

Gauteng enjoyed higher transfers in value from 2010, and remained the front runner for the next six years. From 2015, transactions in the higher value bands started to climb in the Western Cape and continued to do so until late in 2019.

During 2018 the variance in value between Western Cape and its closest competitor, Gauteng was more than R1,000,000 and compared to Kwazulu-Natal over R2,000,000.

Lightstone has consistently reported that the property market in the Western Cape has been higher in value vs volume over the last several years.

“In a holistic view of the top ten most popular estates for the 60+ market in terms of volume, five are located in the Western Cape making the Mother City the most attractive retirement destination with 754 transactions since 2018,” Marx said.

Analysis of South Africa’s top 10 most popular estates in the retiree age bracket (over 60) indicates that Waterfront Residential Estate had the highest volume growth since 2018 with 320 transactions, followed by Euphoria Golf Estate located in Modimolle with 314 transactions and thirdly, Urban Ridge South Retirement Estate based in Midrand with 232 transactions.

In the Western Cape, estate living is the most popular property type in contrast to Gauteng and Kwazulu Natal where sectional title is the most sought after option, and a much smaller percentage of transactions occur within estates.

As indicated in the below graph, Marx notes that freehold properties, which are usually the most popular choice across age and income groups is far less attractive to this age group with a fractional volume compared to the other two options.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].