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 According
to estate agents, money is ‘no object’ with people able to charge
exorbitant rates, starting from $7,000 a day to top-of-the-range accommodation
SOME of South Africa’s richest citizens will be looking to add further
to their wealth at next summer’s World Cup by renting out their trophy
homes and yachting berths to billionaires travelling to the country for
the tournament.
Estate agents told South Africa’s Sunday Times that money is ,no
object’ with people able to charge exorbitant rates, startingfrom
50,000 rand ($7,000) a day to 4.2 million rand a month for top-of-the-range
accommodation.
The World Cup, which runs from June 11 to July 11, is expected to attract
some of the world’s richest people, including Russian Roman Abramovich,
Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour
bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi ruling family, and Microsoft
co-founder-Paul Allen.
Although Russia failed to make to the finals after it surprisingly losing
to Slovenia in the play- offs, Chelsea owner Abramovich will still dock
his 170-metre long luxury yacht Eclipse, which has two swimming pools
and 24 luxury guest cabins, in Cape Town. According to the Sunday Times
the oil magnate has also leased a high-security house in Johannesburg
where the final takes place in Soccer City on July 11, as well as an apartment
on the Atlantic Seaboard.
Carphone Warehouse founder David Ross and Australian retail billionaire
and Football Federation Australia chief executive Frank Lowy are also
believed to be on the lookout for luxury accommodation in South Africa
for the finals next year. Ian Slot, director of Seeff Properties, said
he had been instructed by an unnamed client to secure the best home in
the province of Gauteng, where the host cities of Johannesburg, Pretoria
and Rustenburg are located. "Our brief is simple," he told the
paper. "Our client requires a minimum of six bedrooms, ultimate luxury,
and a helipad either on the property or not more than 15 minutes away
... and price is no object." Slot estimated the daily rent for such
a house at approximately 100,000 rand a day with a luxury five-bedroom
home in Cape town expected to a daily rate in the region of 80,000.
One of world’s super-rich who obviously won’t be facing any
accommodation problems is South Africa’s own Patrice Motsepe, the
continent’s only black billionaire. The mining magnate and owner
of South African Premier Soccer League club Mamelodi Sundowns, owns properties
throughout the country.
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Newsletter:
3 February 2012 to 10 February 2012 - Krugersdorp, Gauteng, South Africa
