Hollow Block Making Machine

Hollow Block Making Machine is one of our main area of manufacturing. Mussan Group is directly envolved in this business  since 1973. Hollow brick manufacturing is an easy process if you have fast equipment and know how to work with hollow block making machine. This business area will let you build your own house for almost free of charge in one year. Brick Machines are recommended for companies who construct buildings, in order to decrease costs on hollow bricks.

With high quality modules, equipment to make homogeneous concrete mixture, you are able to produce strong, durable hollow blocks in a high speed. Construction companies will save money for hollow bricks, which will bring the cost of machine down to zero. Lately, when there is no construction inquiries, they can continue brick, paving stone, concrete border manufacturing and start selling high end products for city development agencies.

Hollow block making machines are able to produce up to 10 thousand prices a day. It depends on automated equipment you order. Some of them are panmixers – to speed up homogeneous mixture production, convey band – to put the concrete into machine, even pallet dispensers with pallet collector robots to level up your factory volume.

Brick Making Machines for Sale

We are working for a qualified service for our clients in the Brick Making Machines Industry. We, Mussan Group, tries to be perspicuously when someone has a search on web to Priquet machines, priquet machines price or priquet machines production. We make all of our spesifications clear in order to avoid any misunderstanding.

All of the technical informations, warranty disclaimers, product informations and prices of our products are provided to our clients in our website as a digital catalog. Also you can have look to our second hand priquet machines too in our website.

Our company wants to satisfy our clients and wants to be a leader in the industry. Mussan Group offers low prices thanthe others in the sector and gives 2 years of warranty. Our principles in the brick making machines sector are to produce high quality machines and satisfy our clients. Our prices are lower than the other. To have information about our machines and prices contact us. Click here for information.

Convey band for brick machine

Convey band for brick machine is a very useful upgrade for your small business. Manufacturing concrete blocks takes a lot of time if you mix with hand. Though process might speed up if some extra modules are used. Some of them are: panmixer, convey band, pallet dispenser.

Usage of panmixer speeds up concrete block or cobblestone production and quality of the mixture, which increases brick’s durability. Pallet dispanser lets use one less worker, who regularly should input pallets to print bricks on. 
Usage of Convey Band lets you speed input of concrete mixture up, by pressing one button. Convey band has special relief developed to be flexible and able to keep mixture in the center of it without dripping out.
Convey band not only speeds production up, but also lets you use 2-3 worker less.

Cement Brick Making Machine

Cement Brick Making Machine is a good product to start a new business. Our factory in Tukey produces Turkish bricks machines under its name Mussan Group with two-year warranty. Our models of cement brick making machine are named according to the abbriviation – MG, of Mussan Group.
In our factory models of concrete block making machines differ in size, in speed and functional capabilities. For example, some of the machines work as cement brick layers, which press on dry concrete mixture in molds directly on the ground. Bricks lately can be collected and put in warehouses to dry. Those machines are recommended to be used with automatic concrete mixer with forklift car for full speed maintaining. Those kind of machines can produce up to 5000 pieces of concrete blocks per day.

Concrete bricks could also be used as thermal isolation forhouses. Thermal isolation blocks has two concrete walls and styrofoam isolation between. The styrofoam is able to isolate heat and sound by decreasing vibrations in walls. The cement brick making machine which produces styrofoam isolation blocks, is one of the most complicated static machines. This one differs fromot hers by need of human hand to put styrofoam in brick molds.

Concrete brick making machine

Concrete brick making machine is a brick making machine, which compresses mixture of with sand or small light particles in special form. The forms for brick machine for brick manufacturing are named as Brick Molds. The fly ash brick machine or paver making machine, which we produce in Turkey according to a custom request, can have extra brick molds in order to make bricks, borders, pavers in different size or shape. Brick molds may be chrome casted to extend their exploatation time and flatness of brick surface.

As you might have notied concrete brick making machine price may vary from a couple thousands to hundred thousand of USD depending on production speed and accuracy of the machine. Concrete brick making machine may produce 600 pieces of bricks a day, but some automated factories can finish up to 10000 bricks per day.

Concrete brick making machines we produce are fully customizable, upgradable, with standartised sizes and modules. By calling us we can manage to have a deal including prices with machine type according to your requirements. With some extra 10% of a price Mussan Group factory gives a warranty for two years on a product you order.

Bricks making machine

Bricks making machine is a good financial startup for short time period for any small house builder. Because after construction is finished, you can sell it again. Block or brick production is profitable type of a small or large business, which depends on construction rates in the city you would serve in. Trend of high building construction rises need of concrete bricks called blocks. For small buildings they need to be as strong as possible, because less of pure concrete walls or colons will be planed. Those walls of concrete bricks make support for the roof itself. In buildings having more than one floor, then hollow blocks are used for wall and isolation purposes.

How to chose a bricks machine?

Demand of your final product should be determined. This might help you choosing the right model of the bricks machine you would own. Try to calculate how many of concrete blocks you might be selling per month and divide by 26. Like if you had to work everyday for brick production except one day in a week. The amount of bricks you would get by this formula shows you daily amount of bricks you will have to make.

Our bricks machine or brick making machines can produce from 800 to 11 000 standard building concrete blocks per day. To save your initial investment, it would be better to try small ones first.

Why panmixers?

Previously we discussed about alternatives of panmixers: concrete mixers, mixing by hand. But now we will introduce you functionalities and advantages of panmixers.

Pan Mixing:

If we talk about stability and homogenous dry mixtures, you know how hard it is to get concrete mixture of this kind. Here are some adventages of panmixers:

• All aggregates of different types get uniformly blended and mixed,
• Even the small amount of water is proportionally propagater across the mixture,
• The speed of cycle is dominant to be compared with other alternatives.

So if you have a small brick yard with wish of expanding and speeding up the production, first get panmixer to maximise your production efficiency, and concrete block quality.

Hollow Block Machine Working Principle

Hollow block machine is not as complicated as you think. Bricks as all we know are used for construction for a long historical time as Wikipedia says: “Fired bricks are one of the longest-lasting and strongest building materials, sometimes referred to as artificial stone, and have been used since circa 4000 BC. Air-dried bricks, also known as mud bricks, have a history older than fired bricks, and have an additional ingredient of a mechanical binder such as straw.”

Do we still use this technology of clay brick manufacturing? Oh yes, but the process is so long and consumes lots of human work. Those bricks need to dry and get burned, in order to get strong enough for constructions. This bricks are preferred for garden, home or fireplaces. More popular for construction got hollow block, which is made by hollow block machine.

Let’s discuss about advantages of those bricks now:

1) Hollow Brick Machine makes eco – friendly bricks, because they can be manufactured out of whatever waste material including sand (fly ash bricks), that you can find. For making those hollow bricks lighter, some second use materials like sawdust are added with cement.

2) Energy conservation- Hollow bricks can reduce the use of cooling and heating devices as per the seasonal requirements due to their thermal insulation property. This reduces the energy consumption thus saving the resources and your pockets.

3) Thermal and sound insulation- The air present in the hollow area of these bricks make them thermal insulators. They keep the interiors cool in summer and warm in winter especially the ‘clay hollow bricks’. They also provide more sound insulation as compared to solid bricks.

Block Machine

When your company is exporting to African Continent you most do your homework research very well. Our company Mussan Group is manufacturing block machine in Trabzon- Turkey and exporting our block machine to different African countries like Nigeria, Gabon, Mauritania, Ethiopia, South Africa etc. Our block machine we manufacturing are in various types and automation like manual block machine, semi automatic block machine and fully automatic block machine. We are exporting block machine to different countries and assambling their block machine plants on the location. The block machines producing with high technology we use most of the components imported from European brands. We are also manufacturing manual, semi automatic and fully automatic concrete egg laying mobile block machines for the small companys  with suitable prices to start with.

Mussan Group  block machines operates based on hydraulic pressure and mechanical vibration. Block machines is designed to operate 24 hours. Block machine can manufacture any kind of geometrical form between 6 cm and 38 cm.The  block machines can also produce interlocking concrete paving blocks chimney blocks and curbstones. Our blocks machine can also produce curb pumice, bricks, styrofoam and insulated blocks by only changing the mould. Our company Beysanmak also delivers equipments like conveyor, silo, bunker, pallets, compressor, mixer, crushers, collecting robots manually or fully automatic systems.

Warranty for blocks machine,  are 2 years accept electrical parts and wear metal sheets. In case of failure we guarantee to intervene domesticly 48 hours, globally in 120 hours. Lot’s of people within and without the continent are understandably impressed by the strong levels of economic growth that have been recorded in so many African countries. As exporter of blocks machine to African Continent we also pleased for our support to the developing countries also in Asia and Middle East like Lebanon, Palestine etc.

Fly Ash Machine Manufacturer in Turkey

Fly ash machine manufacturer in turkey is Mussan Group company, which has a huge experience in manufacturing Fly Ash Brick Making Machine. Since 1973 the manufacturer started with producing bricks and borders with bricks in Turkey. After time passed we started developing Brick Making Machines. in 1990th the company had its first brick making machine, using concrete and sand as aggregate components for manufacturing bricks. Today machines has hydraulic press and vibration force, using Siemens and Schneider vibration motors with Programmable Logic Unit for automated controls.

For producing Fly Ash Brick Making Machine as fast as possible, Mussan Group has its additional modules for strong, quick brick manufacturing like Spiral Mixers, Panmixers, Convey Bands with Manufacturing Machine itself. The machine contains durable vibrators, which shakes strong particles inside concrete. This process makes brick homogeneous and passes all needed durability tests.

The Semi Automatic Fly Ash Brick Machine can produce from 3,000 bricks at a time to 10,000 a day. An automated of  manual pan mixer gets all aggregates homogeneously mixed and with convey band transports to a main Brick Machine, in this case MG 4.1 . This type of production gains you the best opportunity to start your new business or expand your brickyard.

Fly Ash Bricks Machine

Fly Ash Bricks Machine is a high duty machinery for you if you are not afraid to have your hands dirty! Chrome coating, or Chroming is a process of coating metals to stand against corrosion by high heats, oxidation in some industrial production cases. Mussan Group uses this process for protection of molds for hollow block machine. Our Fly Ash Bricks Machine uses the same type of mold, chrome coating if possible, which adds some extras on brick making machine price. This slippy surface lets brick get safely out of chrome coated molds.

Originally Chrome diffusion was developed for turbine blades in manufacturer factories. Now our Mussan Group company uses this chrome for mold surfaces of concrete block making machine.

Press the link of Manual Machine below, in order to review Brick Machine of two standard sized brick manufacturing at once.

Styrofoam Brick Making Machine

Styrofoam Brick Making Machine are produced with special purposes. Manufacturing machine spreads concrete onto molds. Right after spreading it, vibration and press applied, which makes the concrete brick stronger and homogeneous.

By time, production had got on a new level, when isolation materials were added into bricks while manufacturing process. Isolation of sound, heat, water and etc. The machine for manufacturing concrete blocks has a new feature of adding the Styrofoam tiny layer between walls of the brick.

This process of brick manufacturing differs from a regular one. For manufacturing this kind of brick you have to have a machine with two different entries of concrete, for each layer of concrete. Between those entries there is special stand for Styrofoam plates to insert between the concrete layers manually.

SA traces deadly listeria outbreak to meat product

South Africa’s health ministry is warning consumers to avoid “all processed meat products that are sold as ready-to-eat” after tracing the source of deadly listeria outbreak to a sausage meat product.

“As of 02 March 2018, a total of laboratory-confirmed cases have risen to 948, still counting from January 2017,” Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi said Sunday in remarks published on the website for South Africa’s National Institute of Communicable Diseases. “Of these 948, a total 659 patients have been traced and 180 of them have unfortunately died.”
Officials have identified a meat product known as “polony” from the Enterprise Food-Production facility in Polokwane in South Africa as the source of the outbreak, Motsoaledi said.
In a statement on posted to its Twitter account, Enterprise said it was working with all relevant authorities to recall its products.
“We have suspended operations at both Enterprise manufacturing facilities (Polokwane and Germiston) and have stopped supply to retailers,” the company said.

Sick children

Motsoaledi said the listeria had been traced to the product after nine children under the age of 5 presented at a hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg, on January 12 with febrile gastroenteritis.
Samples of polony manufactured by Enterprise as well as another company were taken from their daycare center. Products manufactured at Enterprise’s Polokwane factory subsequently tested positive for the strain that was later found to be responsible for almost all of the cases, Motsoaledi said.

Potential cross-contamination

The minister advised “members of the public to avoid all processed meat products that are sold as ready-to-eat. ”
“While we know that polony is definitely implicated, there is a risk of cross-contamination of other ready-to-eat processed meat products, either at production, distribution or retail.
“This is because Listeria on the exterior casing (packaging) of polony can be transferred to other products it comes into contact with, including viennas, russians, frankfurters, other sausages, and other ‘cold meat’ products that are typically not cooked before eating,” he said.

Listeria risks

Listeria bacteria may cause fever and diarrhea — just like other foodborne bugs — but certain people are at greatly increased risk: the elderly, people with a weak immune system, pregnant women and their newborns.
Pregnant women are 10 times more likely than other people to become infected, and the bacteria can be passed on to the developing fetus, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths and premature labor.

SOURCE: cnn.com

Ramaphosa Confronts Land Reform in SA

The predominance of white ownership of land [PDF] is taken by many—perhaps most—South Africans as emblematic of the persistence of apartheid injustice. Hence, there have long been calls for the expropriation of white-owned agricultural land without compensation. That was a central tenant of the Pan-African Congress, a liberation-movement rival of the now-governing African National Congress, and of the Economic Freedom Fighters, at present the third largest party in parliament. (It has 25 seats compared to 89 for the Democratic Alliance and 249 for the ANC.) At its December 2017 party convention, the ANC also supported expropriation without compensation and on February 27, 2018, parliament overwhelmingly voted to begin a process that would amend the constitution to allow for expropriation of without compensation.

The persistent poverty of much of its black majority is the greatest challenge to South Africa’s democratic government. Inequality of wealth largely follows racial lines. In 2015, more than 55 percent of South Africans were poor. According to Statistics South Africa, less than 1 percent of the total white population was poor, while 63 percent of black people, 37 percent of coloured people, and 7 percent of Indian/Asian people were poor. The nine percent of South Africa’s population that is white holds the lion’s share of the country’s wealth. Most blacks see their poverty as the direct consequence of apartheid. While it is true that since the transition to non-racial democracy the small black middle class has grown and a few oligarchs have emerged, wealth inequality among blacks is now much greater than that between whites and blacks.

More on:

South Africa Forests and Land Management Agricultural Policy Sub-Saharan Africa
Many may be asking whether South Africa is going down the road of Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe seized white-owned agricultural land and helped destroy the economy. The short answer is no. For a start, South Africa is a constitutional democracy, not a parliamentary democracy, which means that the constitution limits what parliament can do. More to the point, it specifically guarantees the right to private property, meaning that expropriation without compensation would be immediately challenged in the courts. Therefore, the constitution must be amended. This vote has begun that process, but it is difficult and time-consuming.

Cyril Ramaphosa, state president and leader of the governing ANC, publicly supports expropriation without compensation, but also stresses that commercial agriculture and the country’s food security must be protected. A businessman and an oligarch, he is also committed to growing the economy to address poverty; that requires the confidence of foreign and domestic investors that their property rights will be respected. Therefore, white-owned farms, which dominate commercial agriculture, will likely be protected in the interest of the economy.

South Africa is now about 60 percent urban, and urbanization is proceeding rapidly. Further complicating forced expropriation is the fact that African small-scale farming is not popular. Of those South Africans compensated for apartheid-era expropriation of their land, nearly all of them chose financial compensation rather than the return of their land. Of the land that has already been redistributed by the state, a credible estimate is that 70 percent of it is no longer in production.

Nevertheless, land reform is an emotional and symbolic issue, especially in rural areas, and it is easily exploited as an issue by populist politicians. Where the practical need for land reform is most pressing is in urban and suburban areas, where there is substantial pressure from people leaving rural areas to look for work. Hence the emergence or expansion of informal settlements, mostly on government-owned land. State-owned land and tribal trust lands provide a possible venue for land redistribution without an impact on investor confidence or agricultural production. By and large, however, tribal chiefs would not like that approach because their control of tribal lands is basic to their local power. These chiefs were an important political constituency of former president Jacob Zuma, whom Ramaphosa has driven from office. This could spell an end to vetoes on land redistribution by tribal chiefs.

SOURCE: cfr.org

The 5 most popular car brands in SA

Naamsa has released its latest vehicle sales and exports report, with over 92,124 vehicles sold in the first two months of 2018.

In an analysis of the data, Absa said that this amounts to a 6.6% decrease when compared to the 98,587 vehicles sold in the first two months of 2017.

Of these cars sold, Absa said that 84% were sold by dealers to the public, 9.7% went to the rental industry, 2.6% were sold to government and 3.7% were sold to corporates.

Cars sold in South Africa

Of the 46,347 new vehicles sold in South Africa in February 2018, passenger vehicle sales accounted for 67.3% (31,200) of the sales.

When looking at the five brands which were the most popular amongst South African drivers during this time period, Toyota was by far the most popular local brand at 10,264 passenger vehicles sold – with the Fortuner, Etios and Corolla all featuring on the top 10 best-selling cars list.

Volkswagen was second with 7,519 cars sold (more than half of which was made up by the Polo and Polo Vivo), and Ford was third with 5,654 cars sold.

In contrast 27,473 cars were exported in February 2018 with Mercedes exporting 10,891 vehicles, Volkswagen exporting 6,427, and Toyota exporting 5,346.

Bestselling vehicles in South Africa

Below are the 10 best-selling passengers cars of February 2018, as provided by Naamsa:

1. Volkswagen Polo – 2,847
2. Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 2,044
3. Toyota Corolla/Auris/Quest – 1,302
4. Hyundai Grand i10 – 1,008
5. Toyota Fortuner – 1,006
6. Toyota Etios – 990
7. Ford EcoSport – 814
8. Ford Figo – 775
9. Kia Picanto – 686
10. Datsun GO – 591

SOURCE: businesstech.co.za

Woman mauled to death at ‘lion whisperer’ reserve in South Africa

The 22-year-old was killed at a camp run by a world-renowned “lion whisperer” who has appeared in several films and documentaries.

A young woman has been mauled to death by a lioness at a wildlife reserve made famous by a world-renowned “lion whisperer”.

The 22-year-old was visiting a camp run by Kevin Richardson at the Dinokeng Game Reserve in Gauteng, near Johannesburg, when she was attacked on Tuesday morning.

She had been accompanying a friend for an interview with the manager of the camp, and the pair were taking photos as they prepared to leave before the lioness encountered her.

It had been pursing an impala at the “Big Five” reserve, which is home to lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and buffalo.

Mr Richardson, who has appeared in several documentaries and films as a result of the relationships he has developed with big cats and hyenas, said he was “saddened and shocked” to hear of the incident.

“Myself and an experienced colleague took three lions walking in the reserve, as we do on a weekly basis, as part of their exercise and stimulation regiment,” he explained.

“We assessed the landscape for other Big Five animals and as per procedure sent out a notification that we were walking in the reserve.

“One of the lionesses charged off after an impala and must have run 2 to 2.5km, where she encountered the 22-year-old outside the car.

“I am devastated and my heart goes out to this young woman’s family.”

Paramedics were called at about 11am but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

She has not been identified but is believed to be South African, according to local media.

Fans of Mr Richardson and the reserve have shown their support for his work on social media, with many expressing hope that the animal would not be euthanised.

In 2015, Mr Richardson defended a decision by The Lion Park – another reserve near Johannesburg – to spare the life of a lioness who mauled a tourist through an open window of a car she was travelling in.

He said it would have been unfair to put it down because the animal acted instinctively, and it was instead moved to an enclosure not accessible by visitors.

Dinokeng Game Reserve has 13 predator enclosures and a large central area in which the animals are rotated through every few weeks, with several camping options for those who wish to visit.

SOURCE: sky.com

Does South Africa really need a stronger rand?

South Africa’s new president calls the current optimism experienced in the country as “a new dawn.” It’s a sentiment the country’s volatile currency seems to have embraced, pushing below 12 rand to $1 when Cyril Ramaphosa took over the ruling party. The currency, which has risen by some 15% in the last couple of months, maintains its newfound confidence as Ramaphosa became the country’s fifth president and brought back finance minister Nhlanhla Nene—whose 2015 axing first triggered the rand’s downward spiral.

Once pegged to the country’s vast gold reserves, the rand used to be 2:1 to the pound and nearly as strong as the dollar until a generation ago. Today, however, it seems pegged to the anxiety of post-apartheid South Africa. A stronger rand may boost the national psyche, but it’s really not clear if South Africa really wants its currency to keep getting stronger.

A malleable currency
South Africa’s currency is prone to manipulation, though. Last year, the country’s Competition Commision found that 17 banks, both local and international, were colluding on the rand dollar exchange rate to turn a profit.

Like Turkey, Russia and Brazil, South Africa’s economy allows large amounts of capital to flow in, making their currencies attractive to forex traders, explains Dinham. The rand was ranked the 20th most traded currency in 2016, with daily trades accounting for 1% of the global daily currency trading market, according to the triennial survey (pdf) by the Bank for International Settlements.

SOURCE: qz.com

South Africa’s New President Names Allies and Rivals to Cabinet

CAPE TOWN — President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa announced the makeup of his first cabinet on Monday night, appointing well-respected officials to key positions but naming as his deputy a provincial power broker with a history of poor management.

In forming his cabinet 11 days after being sworn in as president, Mr. Ramaphosa also retained some allies of his scandal-plagued predecessor, Jacob Zuma, apparently trying to balance the competing factions inside the African National Congress, the governing party. Mr. Ramaphosa has pledged to make clean government a priority.

Although Mr. Ramaphosa succeeded in forcing Mr. Zuma to step down as president, the composition of his first cabinet underscored the enduring influence of Mr. Zuma and his supporters, experts said.

“In recent weeks, a lot of people seem to have forgotten that there are many in the leadership that are not enthusiastic about the new direction taken by Ramaphosa,” said Steven Friedman, a political analyst at the University of Johannesburg. “There is a substantial number of people in the cabinet who supported Zuma, though, in the key ministries, Ramaphosa got the people he wanted to get in.”

In a highly symbolic appointment, Nhlanhla Nene, a well-respected former finance minister fired by Mr. Zuma in 2015, assumed the same position in Mr. Ramaphosa’s cabinet.

Another highly regarded official, Pravin Gordhan, who often clashed with Mr. Zuma, was named to lead the Ministry of Public Enterprises, a source of widespread corruption during Mr. Zuma’s nine-year presidency.

Continue reading the main story
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“In making these changes, I have been conscious of the need to balance continuity and stability with the need for renewal, economic recovery and accelerated transformation,” Mr. Ramaphosa said in a televised address.

But Mr. Ramaphosa also reappointed a handful of familiar figures from Mr. Zuma’s past cabinets, including some linked to cases of corruption and poor administration.

In addition, Mr. Ramaphosa chose as the nation’s deputy president — the post that he himself occupied under Mr. Zuma — the premier of Mpumalanga Province, David Mabuza. A longtime ally of Mr. Zuma, Mr. Mabuza switched sides in the A.N.C.’s election in December, handing Mr. Ramaphosa a narrow victory.

“Ramaphosa wouldn’t have been elected without Mabuza,” Mr. Friedman said.

But Mr. Mabuza, he said, was known for ruling with “an iron fist” and for “consistent allegations of corruption.” His province was also for many years the “epicenter of political killings,” Mr. Friedman said.

The appointment of Mr. Mabuza to the second-highest position in the government — one that has served as a springboard to the presidency in South Africa’s post-apartheid history — could undermine Mr. Ramaphosa’s pledge to root out corruption, experts said.

“How can Ramaphosa claim to be anti-corruption when he is standing next to such a morally compromised figure as David Mabuza?” said Ralph Mathekga, a political analyst and author. “When he talks about being anti-corruption, he’ll just have to sing to the birds, because no one else will listen.”

In his state of the nation address a day after being sworn in as president this month, Mr. Ramaphosa said that “a new dawn is upon us.” He promised to rejuvenate the economy, create jobs and fight corruption.

Earlier this month, Mr. Ramaphosa pushed Mr. Zuma to resign as the nation’s leader, though his term did not expire until mid-2019. Mr. Ramaphosa persuaded the party’s top leaders that getting rid of the unpopular, scandal-plagued Mr. Zuma as soon as possible would help the party rebuild itself before national elections next year.

In December, Mr. Ramaphosa, who had served as Mr. Zuma’s deputy for nearly four years, was elected leader of the A.N.C., defeating Mr. Zuma’s preferred candidate. In a country where the president is chosen by Parliament, the A.N.C.’s top leaders effectively select the nation’s leader.

SOURCE: nytimes.com

How people feel about selling, buying and renting homes in South Africa right now

Positivity surrounding South Africa’s improved political situation, as well as some greater optimism regarding the country’s economic prospects, have carried over to the property market.

This is according to Absa’s latest Homeowner Sentiment Index (HSI), which measures sentiments of South African consumers with regard to various aspects of the residential property market.

The overall HSI score, which reflects the percentage of survey respondents with positive sentiment regarding residential property market conditions, was only marginally higher at 82% in the fourth quarter of 2017 compared with 81% in the third quarter.

The main reasons mentioned by survey respondents which impacted their perceptions regarding the property market in the fourth quarter were the following:

• Property is a secure asset (33%).
• Property still increases in value (28%).
• A home is essential (11%).

Buying property

Property-buying sentiment remained on an upward trend in the fourth quarter of 2017, increasing to 70%, after a low of 60% in the first quarter of the year.

The main reasons mentioned in favour of buying property were the following:

• Property prices are relatively low and there are bargains in the market (29%).
• Property still increases in value and is a good investment (23%).
• The rand exchange rate is strong (9%).

Selling property

The positive sentiment towards selling property improved further to 41% in the fourth quarter of last year, rising from a low of 34% in the second quarter.

The top reasons for selling property were the following:

• Property prices are relatively high and you may get a good price when selling (35%).
• Many people want to own property, which is supportive of selling (13%).
• It is a good time to sell property (5%).

Investing in property

As many as 83% of respondents were positive about property as an investment in the final quarter of 2017, which was much in line with sentiment in the third quarter of last year and the fourth quarter of 2016.

Reasons mentioned why it is an appropriate time to invest in property were as follows:

• It is a good time to investment in property (30%).
• Property prices are relatively low and there are bargains in the market (15%).
• There is a demand for rental properties (15%).

Renovating property

A total of 79% of survey respondents displayed positive sentiment in the fourth quarter of 2017 when asked whether it is a good time to renovate or do alterations to a property. The fourth-quarter positive sentiment regarding property renovations was unchanged from the preceding quarter.

The top reasons mentioned in this regard were the following:

• Renovation increases the value of a property (38%).
• Building materials are currently well-priced (12%).
• It is good to constantly upgrade a property, especially if trying to sell (11%).

Buying rather than renting property

The positive sentiment regarding buying rather than renting property was unchanged at 74% in the fourth quarter of 2017 from the third quarter of last year.

The main reasons mentioned in favour of buying versus renting property were as follows:

• It is better to buy and pay off your own mortgage bond than rent and pay someone else’s bond (29%).
• Property still increases in value and is a good investment (22%).
• Property prices are relatively low and there are bargains in the market (22%).

The busiest shopping malls in South Africa

New data from Lightstone Explore reveals which shopping malls in South Africa drew in the most foot traffic over the 2017 festive season.

The information was included in the group’s festive season review, which together with car tracking group Tracker, looked at the movement of over 150,000 drivers and travellers between 1 and 31 December 2017.

While the likes of Black Friday may drive a lot more foot traffic to malls with the lure of specials and sales, the December festive period is still the time when shops see the most visits. “Most individuals will visit a mall at least once during the holiday period,” Lightstone said.

The below graph rates the most visited shopping centres over December 2017:

Sandton City in Johannesburg ranks as the most visited mall, with over 44,600 people passing through over December – a 3% increase from the norm.

However, it’s malls like Gateway and The Pavilion in Durban, where the biggest jumps are seen.

“The increase in number of visits indicates the escalation from November to December 2017, while it is expected that the number of visits increase at the coast with the migration of inland visitors,” Lightstone said.

Dwell Time percentages indicate the increase in the duration of visits in specific centres with Gateway Theatre of Shopping achieving the highest lift. This can be credited mostly to its sheer size but also to the mix of offerings the shopping centre has for the entire family, the data group said.

SOURCE: businesstech.co.za