1 1. Contrary to the myth, Ramaphosa is not necessarily South Africa’s new savior, although he
may have good intentions and is a capable politician. He was elected as ANC
president by the smallest of margins, with a party deeply divided and with 49%
of the ANC supporting the continuation of a Zuma-family kleptocracy. Ramaphosa is
already hamstrung by having to keep several Zuma appointed, Gupta-tainted
ministers in the cabinet, and he had no choice but to support the ANC’s radical
economic transformation agenda such as land expropriation without compensation,
nationalization of the Reserve Bank and free university education for all.
2 2. The ANC
is being dragged to the left by the EFF, a party whose extreme and populist
Marxist policies have the potential to cause havoc. Firstly, it is forcing the ANC
to move away from the center, but secondly, its potential for destruction is
even bigger if they merge with the ANC or become part of a governing coalition in
2019. The EFF’s dangerous and overt racism and threats against whites, present
an existential threat to the white population. Its hate speech is laced with
genocidal intentions: “We are not calling for the slaughtering of white people,
at least for now”.
. 3. South
Africa remains one of the most unequal society on earth,
with the ANC, in true socialist mode, seemingly hell-bend to drag everyone down
to the lowest common denominator through extreme wealth and estate taxes, land expropriation
and more.
4. South Africa is one of the most violent societies in the world and has the 19th highest murder rate, at 31 murders per 100,000 people. The massive corruption and state capture have not ended with the departure of Jacob Zuma, a few cabinet ministers and the Guptas. Corruption is endemic, from the remaining ‘Zupta’ cabinet ministers which Ramaphosa chose not to fire, to Provincial government, parastatals, and city and town councils. It is estimated that corruption costs the SA gross domestic product (GDP) at least R27bn annually and about R700 billion in state funds since 1994.
5. Expropriation without compensation: According to Julius Malema, who introduced the bill in Parliament, this means the expropriation of all land and that means no private ownership of land and that land owners will only have a 99-year leasehold on land. This is of course unbridled Marxism, derived straight from the writings of Karl Marx and implemented so disastrously by Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Castro, and Mugabe. While it is not sure that the ANC, who supported Malema’s bill, envisage expropriation in quite the same terms, if the bill is implemented as Malema has suggested, it means that private land technically will have no financial value to its current owners, neither to be sold or inherited. Not only will it lead to a massive destruction of wealth in South Africa, but commercial banks will most likely go bankrupt and foreign investment will come to an almost complete and abrupt end. In fact, foreign investment will collapse long before the bill is even finished being debated. Already, South African; farmland prices have drop 32% between December 2017 an July 2018, following the ANC's expropriation folly.
6. The ANC government has a laser focus on radically increasing inheritance and wealth taxes and trusts. This is evident from the rapid increase in taxes on family trusts at a rate of 45% for any income earned and an effective 36% capital gains tax.
7. Foreign exchange controls could soon become stricter. Currently, citizens have a discretionary allowance of R1 million per adult per year and can invest up to R10 million per year offshore with approval from SARS, if they can show a statement of assets, liabilities and proof of the source of capital. SARS is making this more difficult as of June 2017, with required information going back three years, including disclosing all investments, loan accounts and distributions from local and foreign companies and trusts. With the Rand much stronger in 2018 that most of the past three years, renewed outflows may temp SARS to curb outflows and new tougher exchange controls should be expected.
8. This is a great time to take out as many Rands as you can. The currency has strengthened by more than 20% compared to six months ago. This means that taking funds out of the country has become 20% cheaper and instead of getting only U$69,000 for R1 million offshore, you will now get U$85,000. An annual investment of R10 million will now translate into U$850,000 as opposed to U$690,000 or U$160,000 more. This will easily allow you to obtain foreign residency or even a 2nd passport in more than 20 top countries for you and your family.
9. In my book, I list 32 countries would love to offer you residency and or citizenship starting at a moderate investment (or once-off donation – think ‘buy’) starting at U$100,000 plus fees for an individual – a bit more for a family.
10. The residency option, in many cases, will allow you to live, work, receive social services and run a business abroad. In some countries you may have to wait to get citizenship to receive all benefits.
11. The Passport option will give you full citizenship rights (except voting rights in a few cases) and in visa free travel to between 120 and 150 countries which powerful passports guarantee. South African passport holders can only travel to 96 countries without visas.
12. In most cases, taxes are much lower than in South Africa. In most Caribbean islands, tax rates are very low or zero on personal income and almost non-existent in the form of wealth or inheritance taxes.
13. Even if you do not want to leave SA now (perhaps want to give Ramaphosa a change?), a second passport is the ultimate insurance for you and your family in case things go the Zimbabwe or Malema way. You can legally acquire a 2nd passport within a few years by using your foreign allowance on R10 million by buying e.g. a holiday home starting at Euro350, 000 (R5,1 m) in certain areas of Portugal, for Euro250,000 in Cyprus, deposit Can$800,000 in a Canadian financial institution or by donating U$100,000 to Grenada’s Economic Diversification Fund.
How do you go about getting foreign residency or a 2nd passport?
Get an idea of the practical steps to take to become an investor migrant at How to apply.
If you wish to get more information, order the book Residency Citizenship For investors on this website and pay by credit card or with Paypal account, OR order it from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078S3YJRT.
If you wish to get in touch with a qualified investment migration firm, send us an email to residencycitizenship@outlook.com and we will be in touch with a short questionnaire, some suggestions and a personal, no-fee, no obligation, introduction to an investment emigration consultant.
