Tycoons flock to Jozi for holidays

22 September 2014 - 02:01 By TJ Strydom
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TOP CITY: Joburg is fast, fun and furious
TOP CITY: Joburg is fast, fun and furious
Image: Simphiwe Nkwali

The rich love buying their second home in Cape Town, on the Garden Route, or on the KwaZulu-Natal coast - but many tycoons spend their holidays in Joburg.

As many as 400 multi-millionaires have second homes in the City of Gold, according to a recent report by the New World Wealth consultancy.

The consultancy classifies you as a multimillionaire if you have net assets of at least R100-million.

About 2060 South Africans have a fortune this size and about 2500 foreigners with a similar pile of money own a Mzansi-breakaway property.

Cape Town scored tops in the report among South African destinations, with 2100 multi-millionaires having invested in leisure pads there, many of them on the Atlantic seaboard.

Camps Bay is second home to 220 of them, neighbouring Clifton to 160, Bantry Bay to 150, and Fresnaye and Llandudno to 130 and 60 each.

Most of these buyers hail from Johannesburg, followed by the UK and the EU, says New World Wealth.

But although Joburgers shop around for holiday homes in other parts of the country, foreigners like the city's hustle and bustle.

It is more popular with multimillionaires than Knysna (320 second homes), KZN's Umhlanga (250), Plettenberg Bay (180) and Stellenbosch (170).

Most of those preferring Sandton's shopping to Cape Town's Atlantic beaches are from the rest of Africa, according to the report.

Most millionaires prefer London above any other city, with 22300 picking the financial centre for a second home, followed by New York and Hong Kong. Cape Town is number 17 on this list, just below Sydney.

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