Far from the MADDING CROWD

MORE AND MORE SOUTH AFRICANS ARE TRADING THEIR CRAMPED CITY-CENTRE LIVES FOR THE SPACE AND FRESH AIR OF SMALL RURAL AND COASTAL TOWNS.

- LIESL ROBERTSON

IF lockdown taught us anything (besides what goes into keeping a sourdough starter alive), it's that many jobs don't require you to keep office hours - or even set foot in an office. Desk jobs can be done from home, or better yet, from anywhere that has Wi-Fi. The pandemic started a huge movement out of the office and into the home and now even further afield, to small towns and villages around South Africa that were previously strictly weekends only.

Interestingly enough, the trend is not limited to empty-nesters or retirees, who have been doing it for years. According to data from research group Lightstone, 'It is not just older buyers in the 45-65 year age range, but also younger professionals and families who are ditching the cities for the countryside.'

Their stats show that most are leaving Gauteng in their rear-view mirror. Of the people leaving cities, 44% were from Gauteng, 30% from the Western Cape and 12% from KwaZulu-Natal.

'One of the biggest drivers of the current movement away from the big cities is the desire for more living space and more opportunity to take part in family outdoor activities and the prospect of buying both these things for much less in the countryside,' says Gerhard Kotzé, MD of RealNet Properties. "This applies particularly to those who have children who found out during lockdown that their home was too small to accommodate everyone's needs - home office spaces, home schooling spaces, home gyms - when they were all at home together.'

With restaurants, workplaces and shops closing and social events curtailed at the height of the pandemic, even the younger crowd traded in their city views.