Insurance tycoon Douw Steyn’s 250 million rand home overlooks the luxury residential estate bearing his name near Johannesburg, South Africa.
Photographer: Cebisile Mbonani/BloombergLuxury Estates for the Rich Are a Booming Business in South Africa
Housing stock in estates — of varying degrees of luxury — is the fastest-growing segment in the country’s residential property market.
Springbok and impala wander through the parkland at Steyn City, a private residential estate that’s four times the size of Monaco. Nearby, a rider cools down her horse after a morning out at an Olympic-sized equestrian arena, while golfers tee off on a Jack Nicklaus-designed course.
The enclave on the outskirts of Johannesburg — replete with a man-made lagoon, biking trails, restaurants and a school, and where homes are sold for as much as 50 million rand ($2.7 million) — illustrates the efforts of the wealthy to shield themselves from rampant crime and deteriorating infrastructure in the world’s most unequal country.