SA to create state firm to manage R155bn property portfolio

South Africa’s government plans to set up a new company to manage its vast property portfolio, worth an estimated R155 billion ($9.75 billion).

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce the establishment of the firm, which will oversee about 88 000 buildings and five million hectares of land, in his State of the Nation address on Thursday, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing a confidential cabinet decision.

Read: SA’s real estate mystery: Government struggles to track billions in property assets

Vincent Magwenya, the president’s spokesman, declined to comment on the contents of the speech.

The plans for the new company are consistent with a decision by the nation’s 10-party ruling coalition to retain a tight hold over most state assets and ensure they are put to good use, the people said.

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Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson first mooted the creation of a state property-management company shortly after he assumed office in mid-2024, to deter government departments from leasing expensive buildings from private companies rather that utilising those owned by the state.

“We are going to create an asset book that is worth hundreds of billions of rands that could possibly be traded, could possibly be sold for equity, or can raise debt for social infrastructure,” he said at the time.

Listen/read: Macpherson: Poor performers will be blacklisted from state projects

Bonginkosi Madikizela, a lawmaker who like Macpherson is a member of the Democratic Alliance party, said the government could save about R6 billion a year if it ended the practice of state entities leasing private buildings.

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