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South Africa Never Been Cheaper for Tourists, Thanks to Zuma

If anyone in Britain has not heard about how cheap South Africa is for a holiday, the Spectator has published an article reminding them that “There may never be a better (or cheaper) time to visit South Africa”, adding that “Jacob Zuma’s economic mismanagement has a benefit for tourists: it’s as if a whole country […]

If anyone in Britain has not heard about how cheap South Africa is for a holiday, the Spectator has published an article reminding them that “There may never be a better (or cheaper) time to visit South Africa”, adding that “Jacob Zuma’s economic mismanagement has a benefit for tourists: it’s as if a whole country has become half-price”.

cape town
Photos: southafrica.net.

“This freak situation may not last; so there might never be a better time to visit,” the article’s author Will Heaven says. “Every time you’re presented with a bill in South Africa, it looks like a mistake.”

Under a picture of the Roundhouse in Camps Bay, Cape Town, where you can have a delicious eight-course tasting meal for £50 a head, the article carries on, “There are plenty of places to fly to for winter sun, but only one place that offers five-star hotels for the price of a B&B in Lyme Regis.”

roundhouse
The Roundhouse. Source: Roundhouse.

Even when the exchange rate was R11 to the pound, that was good, the article says, but now it’s R23 to the pound! Plus, there’s a “comfortingly British feel to the (Cape Town): the surfer dudes and the beachside bars and restaurants of Camps Bay wouldn’t look out of place on Cornwall’s north coast”.

prins albert pass
Prins Albert Pass

“While you’re at it,” he adds after saying that a family of nine ate out like kings for £15 each, “offer a sarcastic toast to Jacob Zuma. The South African president is a disaster who has been destroying Mandela’s legacy and his country’s economy. He’s the reason your trip will be so cheap.

johannesburg
Johannesburg skyline.

“The happiest I saw my South African friends was when a hawker approached the car at some traffic lights with a #Zumamustfall bumper sticker. ‘Yes,’ one fist-pumped, ‘it’s catching on.’ Until Zuma does fall, there’s frankly only one thing you can do to help out the poor South Africans: go to Cape Town and spend.”

hluhluwe
Hluhluwe, KwaZulu-Natal.