Land reform and depreciation

[ians]

A large portion of my saving is in property ... with small outstanding bonds.

I am thinking it is time to bond the properties to the max and invest the money in other places or rather unload it while it is still worth something ... watching property prices around me dropping by the sale ... it is becoming rather concerning.

[ians]

Something else to consider ... we went from a crime free suburb ... to a high risk crime riddled unsafe hell hole ... after more than 30-50 horrific house invasion (not 100 % sure of the exact stat ... they are not shared in public because they dont want to scare the community) ... which resulted in a neighbourhood being formed and with patrols by armed response teams and locals.

The crime has reduced drastically ... but we still experience armed robberies in the middle of the day ... people are attacked in their homes and robbed.

Speaking to an old friend ... after returning from 2 tours to Irak ... he decided that KZN is no longer a safe place for his family (after his family were being robbed on more than 1 occasion while he was away) ... he has moved to the Cape ... so I decided to take a 10 000 km round trip to the Cape to get and idea of what it is like down South ... my first impression was wow is this another country ... by the time I got back to KZN I realised what he was talking about. KZN is a real shyte hole if you compare ... people talk about Durban beachfront as a spotless crime free environment ... you just have to walk down one alley and it transforms into plastic dump site ... when you open your eyes and look around ... you will see how bad it really is.

World news (media) doesnt paint a pretty picture ... but rather exposed humans for what we really are ... what has changed since the days of kings and queens ... the only difference ... we dont use swords and shields to fight.

[Blurock]

I was fortunate to grow up in the Western Cape. It is still the best part of the country, but has also deteriorated to a great extent in the past 20 years.
The Ain't No Consequences party wants to take over at all costs and is bussing their supporters in at an alarming rate. The result is overpopulation and a shortage of services that needs to be subsidised by tax payers, increasing utility bills. Vagrants, migrants, and political in-fighting is pulling Cape Town down to the 3rd world with train services and buses suspended due to violence etc etc etc.

However, the country side is still pristine, but the rot can be seen in many of the small towns where municipalities are not able to maintain the previous high standards of clean and effective governance. Is that the reason why the Western Cape is now advocating for independence?

[tec0]

I was fortunate to grow up in the Western Cape. It is still the best part of the country, but has also deteriorated to a great extent in the past 20 years.
The Ain't No Consequences party wants to take over at all costs and is bussing their supporters in at an alarming rate. The result is overpopulation and a shortage of services that needs to be subsidised by tax payers, increasing utility bills. Vagrants, migrants, and political in-fighting is pulling Cape Town down to the 3rd world with train services and buses suspended due to violence etc etc etc.

However, the country side is still pristine, but the rot can be seen in many of the small towns where municipalities are not able to maintain the previous high standards of clean and effective governance. Is that the reason why the Western Cape is now advocating for independence?

We can only hope that we will be able to retain ownership of homes, investments and the like. Many has worked very hard to have what little they do have. Not sure what the UN is going to do with 50 million or so Asylum seekers? Maybe they will step in?

[ians]

This is why I am starting to rethink my strategy ... I need to find a better way to save for the future and what I actually waste money on.

I am busy doing a massive clean out in the workshop ... and as I dump shyte ... I can just see R100 notes going to waste.

I need to stop collecting "things" ... wasting money on quality products and machine which will last for years and years ... but not supported ... like Hilti which have become disposable products (10 years you throw them away because they are no longer supported.) ... rather look at machine which are way cheaper and have support locally.

After all that 4 attempts for Hilti to get it right (still leaking oil) ... the machine is in the dustbin ... the replacement cost is around R25 000 ... I can buy a pile of makita machine for that price ... in fact I can replace all 10 of my 3 amp/hr makita batteries and buy 2 new machine for that price