Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa June/ July 2019 | Page 12

MASTER INVESTOR
Risky
Business
Rising from the dusty town of
Upington, Dr. Christo Wiese
has made billions, and lost a
few. REImag sits down with
the controversial, deal-making
business legend.
BY LEANI LE ROUX AND NEALE PETERSEN
I
t’s a crisp Tuesday morning in Parow Industria when we sit
down with billionaire businessman Dr. Christo Wiese at
Pepkor’s head office. The rest of the country is waiting for
the 2017 Steinhoff International results the group promised
to publish that day, as we get to know the man whose public
persona has been overshadowed by the scandal. We talked of
trusting the right people, building businesses in South Africa
and a little bit about the future for the 77-year-old man who’s
made (and lost) billions.
REImag has one thing in common with Wiese (it’s not our
bank balance) – it’s the belief in the transformative power a
title deed brings to a person’s life. And that’s why Wiese is
talking to us - he’d recently been to Vukuzenzele in Cape
Town to hand over title deeds to a further 66 residents, mostly
women for the Free Market Foundation initiative Khayla Lam.
Dr Wiese has already sponsored over 300 full titles and says, ‘I
don’t know of a more worthwhile project (than Khaya Lam) in
South Africa today. What could be more important than this?’
Khaya Lam gives title deeds to legitimate incumbents who
can’t afford the process themselves. The cost of titling a modest
house with an average value of R100 000 is advertised at about
R6 500. The current Khaya Lam cost is R2 350 (which includes
the cost of all the administration, fund raising and titling costs),
according to the initiative. Generous donors, like Christo
Wiese, and Johann Rupert (featured in a previous REImag
edition) also offer Khaya Lam valuable publicity when they’re
seen handing over title deeds to beneficiaries.