The Pros and Cons of Life in The Country South African Style

In 1994 many people feared that our cities would be overrun with the previously disadvantaged and this gave rise to a mini-exodus to the country. Places like Darling, Riebeek-Kasteel and Porterville that had always been considered as little country backwaters suddenly began to appear more and more frequently in the property papers, and prices began to rise. The white group who had always enjoyed the top jobs and cracked the whip began to see the writing on the wall; they did the only thing they could under the circumstances: they moved to the country and opened guesthouses.

By 1996 retrenchment had become the buzzword; more and more forty-five year olds were taking golden handshakes to make room for the upwardly mobile new South Africans. The second Great Trek had begun. The old-style commercial hotel that catered for travelling salesmen began to disappear and be replaced by the boutique’ hotel, the little antique’ shop and the trendy restaurant. Areas and places that had just been names on a map were becoming places to live in, and a new industry started to appear.

By 1998 this movement had given rise to new magazines like Country Life, the four-wheel drive vehicle was beginning to come into its own, and the property papers were beginning to flight new sections specially designed to cater for the interest in rural dorps’. Naturally, the prices, which had been steadily rising in the country areas since 1994, really took off as the interest peaked at the end of the 20th century.

Because the Rainbow Nation’ had become a reality, foreigners also started to take an interest in South African property and, in most cases, they found that our relatively low prices and the favourable rate of exchange meant that they could buy a substantial property in this country for the same amount that they would pay for a double garage at home. So the swallows’ began to leave Europe during their winter to enjoy our summer.

But all was not wine and roses; many guesthouses’ were simply not up to scratch and failed to make a living; many restaurants opened and closed in a very short time because the local populace could simply not support them. Visit any of the little country towns today and you will find, if you ask, that most of the guesthouses and restaurants are on the market because the struggle for survival simply is not worth the small income that they can generate.

Steadily from 2000 onward, the interest in this type of property waned as, on one hand the prices became unrealistic, and on the other, life in the cities was not as frightening as many had thought it would be. Also, the orgy of retrenchment was over, the golden handshakes had all been taken; the market had become saturated.

So today, in 2006, most people are simply looking for an opportunity to escape.

In today’s climate and with prices having gone sky-high the purchase of holiday homes has become more of a luxury than in the past; there is also the matter of tax on the sale of a second home to consider, and that, together with a rather dubious security situation, makes ownership of such a home both a responsibility and a worry. In the last year prices of all properties have levelled off, if not decreased by a small percentage, and because it is now only the very rich who can really afford to run two homes, demand has also decreased. The demand for these houses has always been primarily at the coast and secondarily in the mountains of the interior. However, most coastal areas are now ‘resorts’ and have become almost punitively expensive whilst buyers hope, for some reason, to own a property with mountains all around, a river running through the garden, and roses round the door. Unfortunately, this is Africa and such properties are extremely rare.

There are definite advantages to life in the country: there is space, fresh air, tranquillity, a slower pace to life which is definitely beneficial. Many people today opt for these advantages, especially since we live in an age where communication via the Internet is more the norm than the exception. It is actually possible now to live and work from one’s home.

There are also disadvantages, which need to be carefully considered: the nearest shopping centre is often at least twenty kilometres away; the neighbours have fewer interests to amuse them and therefore your lifestyle and its peculiarities will soon become public knowledge; whilst property is often cheaper in the countryside, the cost of transport and telephones is much higher than when living in town; the country-dweller is often a farmer, necessitating irritating annual events such as crop-spraying and noisy harvesting; while wildlife abounds, you may not be so keen to have it invading your house regularly, and you need to be prepared for this. If there is to be a cold winter, the rats move into the roof; ants come up the drainpipes before rain and devour everything in sight; bats often make their home in your bathroom or passage, and with the coming of spring, there is usually a plague of some sort of horrible fly from which the only escape is to stay indoors with all the windows closed firmly!

So, beware! Every garden has its snake, and what may appear to be idyllic on a daytrip assumes altogether different proportions when it is a way of life. Hwever, negative as all the above may sound, if you are prepared for a totally different kind of life, then the country would get my vote any day. The only problem is, once you have made the choice and the move, it is almost impossible, mentally and financially, to move back to an urban lifestyle - so look before you leap!