If any Americans on the forum has title to property in South Africa I would like to hear about the pitfalls, process. All the good, bad and ugly experiences.
Thanks

I am not American but my European fiance and I have just purchased a game ranch in the Limpopo Province and seeing that 90% of my market is US-based I will take the liberty of replying to your post...

Of course the first pitfall to be wary of would be land claims. Whilst the cut-off for all land claims has already expired, there are still several land claims that have not been finalised and even if there is not presently a land claim registered on a property there is the potential of one still being lodged. It works like this:

When South Africans were given the opportunity to lodge their claims some claims were lodged using the traditional indigenous names of the properties as opposed to the farm names given to the properties by the whites. The Land Claims Commission is now in the process of linking traditional names to the "new" names in order to finalise the issue. As far as I know, the President has set a cut-off date for March 2008 when all land claims should be finalised. In other words: even if there is not presently a land claim registered on a property there is the possibility that a land claim may be somewhere in the archives under a different name.

As far as the buying process is concerned it is relatively simple. Many properties are registered in the name of closed corporations or companies and from a tax perspective it makes sense to purchase one of these corporations or companies as opposed to registering the property in your personal name. Should the company be taken over as a running concern Value Added Tax is not payable. But... it is important to check that the company you are buying's VAT returns are up to date and that the company doesn't have any hidden debts such as electricity / telephone bills that are in arrears, mortgages etc.

It is also advisable to purchase shares or membership interests in a company (whether that comprises of all the shares or just a part of it) in the name of a foreign company as opposed to in your personal name - especially if you plan on later applying for permanent residency as there are tax benefits associated.

If you don't plan on living on the property you should have someone dependable to take care of the property while you are away.

PLease feel free to email or PM me if you would like to have more information.

That is very good business information provided by Chris Troskie ....

I would like to add some other general information. My brother a legal born SA resident also in (Limpopo Province) own's TWO private ranches, one ranch has a bona fide land claim which is already processed, but he has not yet been designated to vacated the property, and his other ranch has only been gazetted as a claim, so it is possibly some years away from settlement, whom knows in the present climate as the government seems to be scratching for money to make all the claims payouts

Now what might be worth knowing to potential owners and those considering buying is that some landowners (rightly or wrongly) who am I to say, do in fact go into some (amicable legal share ownership deal) with the CLAIMANTS and they in reality then retain their property and also get a claim payment.

So what I am saying is, there is more than one way to skin a cat (-: it just takes a bit of business acumen and negotiating skills and deals can and are reached between landowner and claimants

Cheers, Peter

In reading the above I must ask what the status of the "B.E.E." program is. Several years ago it was my understanding (or perhaps mis-understanding) that all businesses would soon be required to have at least partial black ownership. I also heard (again, possibly in error) that particularly hunting operations benefited from BEE compliamce since various permits were being allocated based on it. The one I remember being an issue was leopard permits in particular.

Is this true and is it something a potential investor should take into consideration? Balla Balla's idea on partnering with claimants would seem to have some merit in this regard at least in theory. In reality I don't see it working out though. At least not without a very reputable year-round, resident manager.

This was in yesterdays paper:

Cabinet to discuss foreign land ownership
July 24 2007 at 11:51AM

A moratorium on foreign land ownership should be discussed as part of a bigger public debate rather than being implemented immediately, cabinet decided on Tuesday.

The cabinet had an ordinary meeting on Tuesday morning ahead of the mid-year cabinet lekgotla, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said.

A panel of experts presented a report on the development of policy on foreign land ownership to cabinet, Maseko said.

The report included a proposal for a moratorium on foreigners buying land, but cabinet decided that the issue should be discussed publicly when the whole report is released.

The report included several recommendations including compulsory disclosure of a foreign buyer's details, special ministerial approval for certain categories of land being sold and consideration of a long term leasing of land rather than an outright sale.

Maseko said cabinet has asked for a comparative analysis of policy in other countries to be included in the report before it's released for public comment.

He said he believed this would be done within weeks. - Sapa