Weekly News - 17 November 2008

CONTENTS
1. NEW FEATURED PROPERTIES
2. A RATE CHANGE
3. PRICE TO RISE BY 60% IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS
4. FOUR RATE CUTS EXPECTED IN 2009
5. SA'S FUTURE BRIGHTER THAN EVER
6. UPMARKET RESIDENTIAL SUBURB
7. GARDEN ROUTE DAM
8. NO ALTERNATIVE BUT TO DEVELOP DAM
9. UNPLUGGED 62 MUSIC FESTIVAL
10. SUMMER FESTIVAL AT MILKWOOD
11. LAKE FESTIVAL

NEW FEATURED PROPERTIES

HEROLDS BAY

THE HEROLDS BAY LUXURY APARTMENTS

Access to a beach is undoubtedly the most attractive reason to purchase a coastal property. The romance of the idea of enjoying long sun-filled breaks with your family and friends is appealing to us all. The Garden Route has experienced unprecedented growth over the last few years with an ever increasing demand for prime seaside properties. This has led to a huge increase in the values of front row properties. The Heroldsbay development offers a total of 63 units - 10 Bachelor, 17 One Bedroom, 32 Two bedrooms, 4 Three bedroom.

Hotel suites from R 899000
1 Bedroom from R 1 499 000
2 Bedroom units from R 1 999 000
3 Bedroom units from R 3 399 000

Facilities Include:

- Heated swimming pool
- Cocktail Bar
- Family restaurant
- Undercover basement parking
- Laundry
- Apartment cleaning and rental service

ID3645

FANCOURT GARDENS

TRANQUIL AREA

Double volume home on a large stand. Modern finishes, walled with controlled access. 3 Bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, lounge, dining room, kitchen, laundry, 2 garages and a lovely swimming pool area.

R1 950 000
ID3784

A RATE CHANGE

The central bank's inflation forecasts may soon come to reflect lower growth and inflation risks, and this may prompt it to change its mind enough to lower interest rates in December, which is earlier than generally expected or discounted.
This is the view of chief economist from FNB, Dr Cees Bruggemans, who points out that South Africa's economy won't remain immune.

PRICE TO RISE BY 60% IN NEXT 5 YEARS

South African houses prices will be 60% more expensive in the next five years, a senior official at banking group Absa said on Tuesday.

"In five years' time property is expected to be about 60% more expensive than today, taking into account annual growth of 10% over this period," said Gavin Opperman, managing executive of Absa Home Loans.

As with other industry players, he noted that prices would hit the bottom this year, with price growth projected in single digits.

"This year will most probably be the year to buy property, also as an investment," he said.

John Loos, a property strategist at FNB, expects prices to slow to 8,1% this year from 13.9% last year before picking up slightly to 10,6% in 2009 and 18,9% in 2010. – I-Net Bridge

FOUR RATE CUTS EXPECTED IN 2009

Johannesburg - Interest rates should ease in April next year, followed by three consecutive cuts of 50 basis points each, Standard Bank economist Danelee van Dyk said on Wednesday following the release of inflation figures.
Earlier Statistics SA said that CPIX inflation, which excludes mortgage costs, rose to a record 13% in July from 11.6% in June year-on-year.
Van Dyk said monetary policy decisions were expected to be based on an improved 18-month outlook, "despite the deterioration in the short term inflation profile"

SA'S FUTURE BRIGHTER THAN EVER

It's now more than ever possi¬ble for the DA to become Governing Party, says DA Leader Helen Zille at George breakfast.

"The future of democracy has nev¬er looked as good as it is at the moment, with the ANC's dis-integration, the for¬mation of a new party, and the move away from power abuse to the reali-sation that there is a freedom of choice. The DA is launch¬ing itself on the road towards becoming the ruling party, six years from now in 2014," said DA leader, Helen Zille bristling with opti¬mism at a breakfast held at the George Civic Centre on the eve of the party's re-launch. She said that all the surveys and research re¬vealed that the party was winning ground rapidly.

It was a cheerfully dressed Mrs Zille that switched effort¬lessly from Afri¬kaans to English to Xhosa, speaking eloquently about the brightness of South Africa's fu¬ture. "A window of opportunities have opened up with the current political scenario.

Closed Clique
"When President Thabo Mbeki was thrown out of the ANC, it became clear that his fol¬lowers would have to create a new fu¬ture for themselves as they were effec¬tively shut out from the party.

"The speed with which the new par¬ty, the Congress of the People (COP) was formed, even took me by sur¬prise."

Paradigm Shift
"We need to do a mind shift, from be¬ing the opposition party to the ruling Party.”

Zille explained that if every DA supporter went to vote, it would im¬prove the results to such an extent that the DA would take the Western Cape Province and pos¬sibly even the Northern Province next year.

It would become clear on 10 Decem¬ber how strong the breakaway party, COP is in the 22 by¬ elections in the Western Cape, where a number of ANC members left the party to join the dissidents.

Power sharing
The DA would definitely be look¬ing at coalition sharing with COP if the leaders are strong and princi¬pled. Cape Town is a coalition govern¬ment with 42 per¬cent of the vote - but it makes for com¬plicated ruling. "`n Regstaat is beter as 'n magstaat en `n
geslote party waar net `n kliek gunste en gawes uitdeel."

Intimidation is rife
In reply to a ques¬tion from a Xhosa DA supporter, No¬mamsi Dlepu, Zille said she had special appreciation for supporters who risked their lives to vote DA. After the meeting, Dlepu said the windows of her home in Lawaai¬kamp had been stoned and all her possessions thrash¬ed last year. She however remained a stalwart admirer of Zille whom she has known in Cape Town already.

Vote rigging
In reply to concern voiced about vote rigging, Zille said the DA would be having in depth talks with the IEC about increasing the power of monitors, especially at the point where voters identify themselves and have their names crossed Doff the voters role. She was aware of a lot of malpractices with bar coded identity documents being handed out at ran¬dom. The party would be taking steps to prevent fraudulent practices from taking place.

Bring the Kids Home
To laughter, she said that South Africa is probably the only democracy in the world where prisoners can vote, but citizens living abroad could not. This burning issue would be taken up.

She advised a woman in the au¬dience, whose chil¬dren have regis¬tered, but who will be working abroad, "... if all else fails, buy them a ticket to come home and vote. Preferably a one-way ticket. It is a sad state of affairs that so many of our children are work¬ing abroad. We are going to be working hard to ensure that this country is one with a future where they will want to live."

UPMARKET RESIDENTIAL SUBURB

The waterfront flats at the planned Garden Route development will at R750 000 upwards - in line with present market values. The price of the erven will be determined by the developer who may opt to build homes and offer a full package.

The higher density sites are located well away from the existing density development along Stander Street and Meyer Street.

Single residential erven with sim¬ilar sizes are in fact proposed on the land abutting these streets, while wide open areas separate the higher density residential pockets from the proposed single residential erven.

This new proposed suburb and waterfront area will be accessible through three entrances, one from Meyer Street and two from Saasveld. This is being planned to alleviate any traffic through the nearby suburbs of Loerie Park and Eden.

GARDEN ROUTE DAM
TO BE TURNED INTO MAJOR ATTRACTION

The city planners involved in the pro¬ posed development of the Garden Route dam foresee that the public will stay in¬volved in this de¬velopment project every step of the way. To ensure that the recreational po¬tential is optimized; a specialist is to be appointed to plan the location of amenities in such a way, that it will not only enhance the beauty of the dam area, but encourage Georgians to enjoy its daily use.

Only 50 hectare of the 120 hectare of municipal owned land will be devel¬oped - the rest will be rehabilitated from the degraded commercial pine plantation land it currently is to return it back to its former beauty. A small lock-up facility for canoeists and a venue for holding prize giving func¬tions are just some of the ideas that were put forward by the public and will be incorporated in the planning.

Major tourist destination

"The proposed wa¬terfront develop¬ment with its restau¬rants and tourist¬-orientated facilities and the hotel should not be seen as sep¬arate entities.

These facilities are complimentary to each other and the success of the one determines the suc¬cess of the other," says senior city planner, Stiaan Carstens in his com¬ment on the final EIA. "By scaling it down to a `nature orientated' facility, both will struggle to survive due to the lack of economy of scale. This is the reason why the higher density for¬mats of residential developments are proposed in close proximity of the waterfront, as num¬bers are necessary to make it viable and successful."

NO ALTERNATIVE BUT TO DEVELOP DAM

No valiable alternatives than to devel¬op the area as a wa¬terfront plus a hotel and a residential area could be found. This is the opinion of the city planning team involved in in¬vestigating the var¬ious usages for the 120 hectare of land lying to the South of the Garden Route dam.

In an executive summary of the fi¬nal Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), George Mu-nicipality's chief city planner, Stiaan Carstens said none of the alternatives were considered vi¬able. Not the idea of creating a 120 hectare park only, nor just creating a waterfront on its own without a res¬idential area. "The municipality cannot justify diverting sizable shares of re-sources and funding for the upkeep of such a park."

UNPLUGGED 62 MUSIC FESTIVAL

The Joubert-Tradauw Unplugged62 (this year on Saturday, 29 November) is an annual unplugged music event held in the beautiful Tradouw Valley at the Joubert¬Tradauw Private Cellar. The event features the finest in South African unplugged music.

Artists performing
The artists performing at the Un¬plugged62 music event on Saturday, 29 November, are James Stewart, Jan Blohm, Valiant Swart, Kent O'Shea and Louise Leggatt (Happy FourTwenty & Rubber Soul), Andrew Hoare and Heather Mac and The Brills.
The fun kicks off at 15:00, with the last performance at 23:00.

Tickets
Tickets, at R275 per person, are available online. Be sure to book at
www.un¬plugged62.co.za

SUMMER FEST AT MILKWOOD

It's summer, a season of festivity and in light of this, DJs and performance artists are descending on Wilderness for the Elec¬tro Sunsets Outdoor Music Festival being held at Milkwood Village on Saturday, 29 November.

For more information, email electrosun¬sets@yahoo.com.

LAKE FESTIVAL

The annual Heatherpark Super Spar Is¬land Lake Festival will this year take place on 7 December.

There will be a Triathlon of 400 m swim, 15 km cycle and 4 km run. The race will start at 07:30 and is organised for 16 years and older athletes.

For more details and entry forms visit www.swdaquatics.sportza.co.zaor phone André at 083-443 0122.