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Golf ball ruling to go to Supreme Court
Iol.co.za - South Africa
The Cape High Court has granted a development company and a home owner leave to appeal against the dismissal of an application in which they claimed an excessive number of golf balls were landing on a residential property built on a golf course in Milnerton.

In August, Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso ruled against Allaclas Investments and home owner Alexander Simonis, who brought the application earlier in 2006 against the Milnerton Golf Club.

She said Simonis should have known that the property would be susceptible to being hit by golf alls.

Simonis bought the property in March 2002 and built a house, taking occupation in 2003. But in the following two years he collected more than 300 golf balls that had landed on his property and claimed they were a danger to him and his family.
Iol.co.za

Report: Distribution of farm land lagging
Mail&Guardianonline - South Africa
The South African Land Claims Commission is well behind targets for the redistribution of agricultural land, the Herald Online reported on Monday.

It quoted chief land-claims commissioner Tozi Gwanya as saying that about four million hectares of agricultural land had been distributed since 1998.

An additional three million hectares a year will have to be allocated to meet the government's objective of having 30% of agricultural land in the hands of Africans by 2014.
M&G Online

Narrowing the gap
Business Day - South Africa
Two years ago a study of the township residential property market found that the secondary market in housing barely existed in SA's former black townships.

Though housing stock in the townships was worth R65bn-R70bn, these assets almost never traded. The study found that only 7,5% of houses in former townships had been traded in the previous five years, against a norm of 30% in the suburbs. Of the formal trade, a high proportion was in repossessed houses. Alongside that was an extensive informal market but even with informal sales, secondary market turnover was still no more than about 12%. The study found that though there was a fair amount of trade in newer, privately built developments, the old council houses were almost never sold. And the homes often changed hands for far less than they were worth.
Business Day

Baring their beauty
Financial Mail - South Africa
After 30 years behind a veil of silence, SA's big institutions are to reveal all the details of their R50bn property holdings.

It opens the way to settle the argument about what gives investors the best return: an unlisted portfolio in the hands of an institution, or a listed property fund under the short-term scrutiny of analysts and big fund managers.

The secretive institutions have been under pressure from pension funds adjudicator Vuyani Ngalwana, as well as from aggressive interpretation of the Freedom of Information Act, to increase transparency in the listed property sector, whose market capitalisation is R67bn.
Financial Mail

Ten ways to pay off your mortgage bond faster
Moneyweb.co.za - South Africa
It is the dream of most homeowners to pay off their mortgage as soon as possible and to pay the least amount of interest.

Here are some suggestions to help you achieve this:

1. Pay short-term debt off first - your home loan is your cheapest form of debt and there is no point in reducing that, without first paying off other debt with higher interest rates. In most cases, interest on your credit and store cards is charged at the maximum rates. Find out what your most expensive debt is, pay that off and then be disciplined about using short-term debt tools. …
Moneyweb.co.za