{"id":881321,"date":"2026-10-31T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=881321"},"modified":"2026-10-30T15:52:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T13:52:00","slug":"rich-south-africans-germans-and-brits-flocking-to-buy-homes-in-a-collapsing-coastal-town-spending-up-to-r78-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/property\/881321\/rich-south-africans-germans-and-brits-flocking-to-buy-homes-in-a-collapsing-coastal-town-spending-up-to-r78-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Rich South Africans, Germans, and Brits flocking to buy homes in a collapsing coastal town \u2013 spending up to R78 million"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Knysna has become one of South Africa\u2019s most expensive coastal property markets, and is attracting wealthy local and international buyers willing to spend up to R78 million on homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is despite growing concerns about the town\u2019s municipal governance and the deterioration of basic services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Gail Rimbault, licensee for Seeff Knysna, the town generates more than R2 billion in property transactions annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also the highest concentration of second homes owned by multi-millionaires outside Cape Town\u2019s Atlantic Seaboard, surpassing Plettenberg Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly one-third of homes valued above R500,000 are worth more than R5 million, while premium properties exceeding R10 million can fetch between R52 million and R78 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The market has remained resilient despite local challenges, with transaction volumes last year exceeding those recorded in the previous two years, Rimbault said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most buyers come from the Western Cape, while Gauteng accounts for approximately 30% of purchasers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knysna is also the second-most popular destination for international property buyers outside Cape Town, attracting particular interest from the United Kingdom, Germany, and continental Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The market is driven largely by affluent buyers relocating from other parts of the country, retirement purchases and demand for luxury second homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estates such as Thesen Island, Pezula, Simola, Eastford Country Estate and Belvidere remain popular, with Thesen Island properties averaging approximately R8.4 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demand is also growing for environmentally sensitive developments that offer privacy and a connection to nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One example is Hagedashi Luxury Estate in the Gouna Hills, about 10 minutes from central Knysna. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 24-hectare development, situated within the Cape Floral Kingdom, will comprise just 15 residences surrounded by fynbos, wetlands, natural dams and Afromontane forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rimbault said secure estate living remained particularly attractive to affluent buyers seeking self-sufficiency, tranquillity and long-term capital preservation without sacrificing access to amenities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knysna\u2019s tourism economy also supports a short-term rental market, although returns are influenced by seasonal demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Political instability and toxic coalition arrangements<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The town attracts retirees, remote workers and families relocating from elsewhere while maintaining employment outside the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the property market\u2019s strength contrasts sharply with the municipality\u2019s mounting governance and service-delivery problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knysna Local Municipality has faced recurring water shortages and sewage failures despite operating on a budget of approximately R1.5 billion annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigations into alleged corruption and repeated political instability have added to concerns about its ability to maintain essential services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2025, the Western Cape government attempted to place the municipality under full administration through a Section 139C intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposal was overturned by the National Council of Provinces. Knysna has instead continued receiving provincial support, with between R70 million and R80 million provided over the preceding 24 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ron Weissenberg of The Accountability Group, which supported the administration proposal, said the interventions had failed to address the underlying problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey tend to paper over the problems, and they address urgencies and emergencies on a short-term basis,\u201d he told BizNews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the money ends, and the resources are withdrawn, we are left with exactly the same staff complement, management, and issues around leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The municipality has 1,117 approved positions, but only 633 are occupied, leaving 484 vacancies. Nearly 80% of those vacancies are in critical functions, including plumbing, electrical work, road maintenance and engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weissenberg blamed political instability and coalition arrangements for undermining accountability and effective administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He argued that Knysna needed a majority-controlled municipality in which responsibility for service delivery could be clearly assigned to political leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne thing communities can do is use current legislation and best practice to pressurise those political parties or individual independents into more appropriate action,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos of Knysna <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This town as become one of South Africa\u2019s most expensive coastal property markets despite growing concerns about the town\u2019s municipal governance and the deterioration of basic services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":857102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2116531898063155488","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2255954441891621","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18094730462689150","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12755],"tags":[21245,11693,853,26932],"class_list":["post-881321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property","tag-knysna","tag-seeff-property-group","tag-south-africa","tag-the-accountability-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881321","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=881321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":881326,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881321\/revisions\/881326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}