Safari wins by swimming against anti-Township tide

Published on:

08 Apr 2014, 12:35 pm

Hi there

There have been a few property listings on the JSE lately. But none captures the imagination quite like yesterday's newcomer, Safari Investments. After raising R374m in a private placing of shares to new investors by pitching at a 9% yield, Safari is no patchwork quilt portfolio. It has been slowly built through its own commercial and retail developments over a decade and a half. More importantly, it saw opportunity in areas others shunned. And having dodged the arrows, is reaping the rewards all pioneers deserve.

Safari owns substantial shopping centres in Mamelodi, Sebokeng and Atteridgeville, the old Black Townships surrounding Pretoria. In the early days, Marais battled to get the national chains to support his centres. His argument that locals would save R50m a month avoiding the shopping trek to "town" fell on deaf ears. Safari stuck to its convictions and went ahead and built anyway. After yesterday's trade it is now valued by the market at R1,4bn. Ahead of listing, Marais turned down two takeover offers. Those will surely not be the last. You can access a fascinating interview with CEO Francois Marais on Biznews. Go have a look. An inspiring tale.

Best

Alec