I had a sudden wake-up call the other day. I woke up with a brilliant idea for rain control—by which I mean rent control, though given the state of things, controlling the weather might actually be easier.
To test my theory, I consulted someone I know who happens to be a self-anointed expert on all matters of housing. Count my blessings. Count it as my lucky day.
You see, I was erroneously thinking that what the new democratic socialist mayor in New York, Zohran Mamdani, has just done by freezing rents for a million apartments was a magnificent idea. I naturally extended that thought to home. Why shouldn’t all these municipalities in South Africa put a freeze on rates and rentals? They have been rising every single year, as sure as the surf meets the shore on our coastlines.
But no, no.
I spoke to this expert—who is very much a layperson and knows remarkably little about rent control or ratepayers, but you’ll see in a moment the depth of his expertise.
I was immediately shot down about the mayor of New York. Socialist! I heard the self-appointed expert bark.
Then, to ensure my inferior brain could grasp his intellect, he took out his finest fountain pen and scribbled some things furiously on a pad of paper. In big, bold letters, he wrote: THIS IS SOCIALIST THINKING. IT WON’T WORK.
Having been thoroughly educated on American politics, I ventured to ask him about rent control right here in South Africa. Turns out, he didn’t know much about it, nor did he have any clue that it was completely abolished back in 2003 after the Rental Housing Act phased it out. Instead, he vaguely referred me to someone else who used to work in the property business. But he made sure to double down anyway: Rental control is bad!
Why? He couldn’t quite explain. But I suppose, in his mind, it leads to immediate poverty for the poor, struggling property owner.
Reflecting deeply on the iniquitous rates charged to homeowners in Cape Town and Johannesburg, I suggested in my absolute temerity that it might at least be a good idea to cap or fix municipal rates.
His face went instantly red. Saliva practically dripped from his mouth. He became utterly enraged—I hope not at me personally, although I felt he was entirely consumed by the sheer magnitude of my stupidity.
Don’t you know about the Durban ratepayers who failed?! he sputtered. They took the Durban municipality to court over rates and lost! It is the government’s absolute right to charge increased rates every single year!
After this outburst, I ran out of steam. I realized that my idea of bringing New York-style rent freezing to South Africa wasn’t finding favorable ground with the intelligentsia.
But it really makes me think. All of us harbor this fear from the time we are young. I don’t know why—maybe our parents warned us about ending up on the streets, ruthless and homeless. And tragically, so many people are. Living in cardboard boxes, sleeping under bushes, or sheltering inside defunct, abandoned post office buildings. Some even sleep in their cars parked outside police stations just for basic safety. It is a profound tragedy.
Yet, a parallel tragedy is the way everything related to property has skyrocketed in this country. The government constantly pushes rhetoric for low-cost living units in the cities, but does absolutely nothing to provide tangible relief for ordinary renters and struggling homeowners—unlike the mayor of New York, a very fine and old city, mind you, who is out there freezing rents for his socialist brethren.
The only real hope most people in this country have left is that our culture of civil protest will finally defocus from immigration and turn toward the things that matter equally to the daily survival of ordinary citizens. We need a protest against this iniquitous rental and rates situation.
Wrapping up his fine fountain pen—careful not to spill any capitalist ink into his pocket—the self-anointed property expert let out a deep sigh.
You see, he said, adjusting his collar, the only way out of this is the capitalist system. Socialists are losers. They are going to destroy New York. That mayor Mamdani has no money to carry out his plans because nobody in big business is supporting him.
Ah well. Perish the thought of rent control. Perish the thought of a rate freeze. The expert has spoken.
The Chesney Bradshaw column is syndicated to Financial News Daily.
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