{"id":857904,"date":"2026-04-26T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=857904"},"modified":"2026-04-26T17:02:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T15:02:34","slug":"south-africans-moving-to-smart-city-known-as-the-boere-monaco-in-the-safest-country-in-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/857904\/south-africans-moving-to-smart-city-known-as-the-boere-monaco-in-the-safest-country-in-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africans moving to smart city known as the \u201cBoere Monaco” in the safest country in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many South Africans have moved to a place in Mauritius nicknamed the \u201cBoere Monaco\u201d because of the growing South African population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking in an interview with BizNews<\/a>, Brenthurst Wealth Management director Magnus Heystek said South Africans are increasingly relocating to Mauritius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that this is largely due to its highly favourable financial, tax, and business environment compared to South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStarting with the obvious things, Mauritius doesn\u2019t have exchange control. You can bring your money out, you can take it out, no questions asked,\u201d Heystek said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think South Africans really appreciate what foreign exchange controls do to a country. It has an impact on long-term investing, and it also restricts the movement of capital of individuals in quite a severe way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heystek said another draw factor is the country\u2019s significant tax benefits. He explained that Mauritius does not charge estate duty, dividend tax, or capital gains tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He did, however, add that there is talk of potentially introducing a capital gains tax for expensive properties in the future. Personal income tax is also exceptionally low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had this discussion with a guy from Benoni, and he\u2019s now settled in Mauritius, and he says, \u2018You know, I pay 10% tax, maybe 15%. The rest is mine.\u2019 In South Africa, he\u2019d be paying 45%,\u201d Heystek said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mauritian government is also actively encouraging foreign direct investment to grow its economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, preliminary estimates published by the Bank of Mauritius showed that France and South Africa were the top sources of direct investment in Mauritius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These included acquisitions of properties, including luxury villas and apartments, which totalled 18.6 billion rupees (R6.6 billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heystek also noted that Mauritius lacks the “toxic” challenges found in South Africa, such as BEE rules, severe crime, and restrictive foreign-exchange controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He argued that this makes it a much more stable environment for individuals and businesses to commit long-term capital. Crime has long been a listed reason why many South African expats have chosen to live overseas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smart city nicknamed the Boere Monaco<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Cap Tamarin masterplan render<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In contrast, Mauritius consistently ranks as one of the most peaceful countries in the world, and the most peaceful in Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the latest Global Peace Index by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), Mauritius, Botswana, and Namibia are Africa\u2019s most peaceful nations in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of this, Heystek said Mauritius is increasingly attracting South Africans not just as investors but also as workers and entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that many of those relocating are skilled and driven individuals. \u201cA lot of the go-getters in the Mauritian society now are the South Africans who come here. They have to make it work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said many of the South Africans who are everyday workers, like plumbers, locksmiths, and air-conditioning technicians, have relocated to make a living and keep more of their hard-earned money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to this demand\u2014also from Europe and other parts of the world \u2014the government has established a series of \u201csmart cities\u201d across the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why Mauritius is growing, attracting a lot of South Africans. Where I stay in Black River, there\u2019s one that we call the \u2018Boere Monaco\u2019 because it\u2019s just South Africans wherever you go,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city development Heystek is referring to is called Cap Tamarin, a large-scale smart city with various residential and commercial components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the development already features operational amenities\u2014including shops, schools, and health services\u2014it continues to grow as a mixed-use, walkable coastal community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The smart city consists of a retail area (hypermarket Super U), a clinic under the C-Care brand, and an international pre-primary and primary school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also has a secondary school, an international high school, office spaces, 2 senior residences, a cultural centre, a new sports complex, and a 3-hectare park alongside the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heystek has previously explained that the Super U, which has already been built, offers what any Woolworths or Checkers offers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe quality of medical care at the Life Medical Centre is world-class, which I can personally attest to, as it probably saved my life after a health scare last year,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cap Tamarin images <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Image: Pam Golding Properties<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Image: Pam Golding Properties<\/em><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Image: Pam Golding Properties<\/em><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Image: Pam Golding Properties<\/em><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Image: Pam Golding Properties<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Image: Pam Golding Properties<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many South Africans have moved to a place off the shores of Africa, nicknamed the \u201cBoere Monaco\u201d because of the growing South African population.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":857962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[11270,14022],"class_list":["post-857904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-brenthurst-wealth-management","tag-mauritius"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857904"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":858497,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857904\/revisions\/858497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}