Estate Living Digital Publication Issue 3 March 2015 | Page 26

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RETIREMENT LIVING

The Retirement
and Lifestyle Expo
South Africans are living longer.
Released in December last year,
Statistics South Africa’s Mid-Year
Population Estimates Report states the
proportion of elderly people in South
Africa to be a continuously growing
one, with approximately 8.4% of the
population aged 60 years and older – a
figure that is very much on the up.
The statistics remain comparable to
global trends, which show a universal
population rise for those over 60. Take
the United Kingdom, for example –
where the 11 million pensioners mean
that, for the first time in history, the
country has more pensioners than
children under the age of 16.

In South Africa, the growing market,
encompassing in excess of 4.5 million
retired individuals, has given rise to an
emerging niche industry, specialising
in dedicated housing developments
and amenities especially catering for
those wanting to enjoy the soothing
years of retirement. As one of the first
of its kind to debut in the region, Cape
Town’s Retirement and Lifestyle Expo is
just one example of how this sector is
constantly developing.
Held at the Lord Charles Hotel in
Somerset West between Friday 6th
and Sunday 8th March, the expo is the
brain child of Okkie Potgieter of The
Somerset Lifestyle and Retirement
Village and Rob Jones of Shire

Retirement Properties, both of whom
wanted to create an event for the
industry, by the industry.
“There has always been a retirement
expo held at the Coca Cola Dome in
Johannesburg,” says Rob. “However,
there has never been anything of the
same style or extent here in Cape
Town.”
There are a number of misconceptions
often associated with the Mother
City, one of which is that Cape Town
is an extremely expensive option,
particularly when it comes to property.
However, this is often inaccurate, with
the majority of developers exhibiting
at the expo illustrating how property