This is one claim that cant be backed up and certainly is just you own opinion, which i disagree with.
You make a claim that even if South Africans have to pay double taxes in the USA for 5 years they would do it.
As a South African i can say that this is not true, cant speak for everyone but despite what people might think its not so bad here. Yes our old president was utterly incompetent, and he helped destroy our economy, currency and got us our credit ratings downgraded to Junk. Zuma was a representative of the Zulu people (The largest ethnic group) He was not presidential and yes he did think that you can cure aids by taking a shower amongst a number of things, another was that if you dont vote for the ANC then you will go to hell, but if you vote for them you secure a place in heaven, and boy did that **** work! people in the townships ate that **** up like you wont even believe.
But now we have a new president, one who owns many businesses, he knows how the economy works, he knows how to deal with investors etc. he is the first president in many many years who actually has the political and economic ability to grow this country. He has been elected by his party, so he has to serve their mandate. So unfortunately you guys will hear stuff like "The expropriation of land without compensation from white people in South Africa" but i dont believe he actually supports these policies, his party needs to secure elections next year and this is one of those power grab things that will come at the expense of our economy. he wants to grow the economy because he is a business man (Owns the rights to Mcdonalds in SA) and he knows what is needed to create a good environment for businesses. Thats the matter of our president resolved.
I wont take up the hypothetical deal you just proposed. And if i ever HAD to move it definitely wont be to the USA. It would be to Europe. South Africans generally migrate to England, Australia, and New Zealand.
You say if an american was offered $100 000 to come live in south Africa then they wont take it.
Do you even know how much $100 000 is worth in South Africa? That would make you an instant millionaire here. I would immediately buy two houses with that money, stay in the one house and rent the other out for a passive income. You would live in our "first world" areas, cities and territories. The majority of people in South Africa lives below the poverty line and that has to be changed over the coming years (even slowly) with a good economy, but those that live in the middle class and up does have lives comparable to any other first world country you wont be able to prove me wrong on this. I dont know why every one has the impression that South Africans wants to flee the country.
The other thing i want to point out requires me to pose you a few questions.
What makes international investors decide to invest in developing countries?
Is it the possibility to "Buy low, sell high" ?
Is it that because they have the better currency that they can invest in a cheaper environment?
Is it the potential that they see?
do they want to exploit the people?
How i see it is a mixture of the above, we are developing, you guys in the USA and the UK can come and buy property here at a cheaper rate than you can in your own country. You can invest in a small business or in property.
The majority of the population currently lives way below the poverty line. If South Africa follows the historical trend in the world of becoming a truly developed country. then slowly but surely those millions and millions of people will start entering the consumer markets. So if these investors buy property now, the most there is a great chance for a good return on investment in the long term.
Lets say you invest in property, as the economy grows and more people enter the middle class they will start to boost the local economy by basically buying more products at lets say the super markets as one example. They will also drive urbanization. There already is a shortage of accommodation that makes the prices spike. If about twenty million people own nice houses or land now then the demand will greatly increase once more of the 30 mil living below the poverty line starts entering the middle or upper classes. If you can buy land now here in SA then you will be well set up for the future because we all know that if demand is more than the supply creates increased prices. Landowners in South Africa has reason to be smiling because they are in a good position to either sell for huge numbers or rent out and build their portfolio of assets. Exactly this potential is what drives investors both local and international. Its not so fictional as this demand has been steadily increasing since 94 and almost everyone will sell their property for more than they bought it for.
Once the prices start spiking the people entering the middle class wont really be able to buy but rather they would need to rent, this is where the land owners will just become richer while housing prices will become even more out of their reach. Think of it in the same context as millennial trying to buy houses in America in a hyper inflated housing market, or the Australian locals who cant even buy houses in their own cities such as Melbourne because the Chinese has a huge demand for Australian property thereby increasing the prices and forcing Australians to rather rent.
So $100 000 to come and stay in SA sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
@themole25 what was you experience of Stellenbosch? Was there crime all over the place? how did you experience the standard of living in the western cape compared to the USA? Would you say that specifically areas such as Cape town or Stelenbosch lags behind the USA in terms of standard of living and the wealth of the people?
