Communicare commits to changing the landscape of investment property ownership in Cape Town with the sale of blocks of flats in Ruyterwacht which was first announced last year. By the end of February 2022, five blocks of flats had changed ownership to black-owned property companies.

Two such investors are Pelagia and Jonathan Kafesu of Beacon Leadership. The pair who now own Crane Flats and await the transfer of Saldanha Flats said they had always wanted to invest in property because they believed that property preserves the value of assets, especially in Africa. Encouraging other up-and-coming property investors, the Kafesus said:

“This is doable. There are companies out there that are willing to give you opportunities to invest in property and to hold your hand along the journey. Once you are in it, more opportunities will be there for you. We have also seen that our funders did not just give us the money but are walking with us along the way knowing that we are in unfamiliar territory.”

They added that they were grateful for the patience that Communicare extended to them when they were raising the capital to finance the purchase.

“We did not know how one can do it. We are truly grateful to Communicare for giving us this opportunity to buy a block of 8 [apartments]. We remember the agreement of sale had to be amended because we did not have the capital by the deadline and the agent was always checking on us on how we were progressing with the capital raising.”

The new property owners have taken over existing lease agreements and will continue to manage properties.

Plans to develop and reinvest into the community

The couple’s long-term plans for developing and reinvesting into the Ruyterwacht community include the refurbishment of the Crane flats.

“We are working to improve the security of the property. We believe it is our responsibility to ensure that our tenants and their assets are safe. We are also looking to paint the building, to facelift the property.”

The couple has also engaged the services of the local people to provide maintenance services such as cleaning and repairs.

“Once we have completed the security and outside repair work, we would want to modernise the inside of the units.  We are planning to build another block of flats on the land, providing affordable housing to the community.”

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