Africa-Press – South-Africa. Gouritsmond, a small coastal town between Mossel Bay and Stilbaai, has quietly become one of South Africa’s most unusual semigration hotspots.
Despite this growing interest, about 80% of the town’s 411 houses stand empty for most of the year.
Local real estate agent Corrie Van Wyk told Newsday that most of the empty houses are holiday houses or properties owned by South Africans who live or work overseas for part of the year.
“The majority are used for holiday homes, holiday rentals, or people who work overseas. Because here, you can still lock up your house and leave it, because there’s no crime,” she said.
Gouritsmond’s safety is one of its biggest attractions. With only around 800 permanent residents, the town remains far removed from the security concerns seen elsewhere in the Garden Route.
“It’s very safe here. Most of the Garden Route has seen lots of people moving down, and crime is moving with them. But not here. We don’t have crime,” said Van Wyk.
The worst incidents she deals with involve a stolen fishing rod or a missing bottle of whisky. Part of this safety comes from the town’s isolation.
Set where the Gouritz River meets the sea and surrounded by a conservation area with hundreds of bird species and several endangered plants, it is quiet and out of the way.
The modern settlement began as a fishing outpost in the 1700s, and the town was officially established in 1915. The river remains famous for fishing, with the second-largest Cob population in the country.
Until the 1980s, the town was difficult to reach. Visitors had to pass through 25 farm gates before the first tar road was completed in 1983.
Its remote location even made it suitable for a secret nuclear testing site used by the South African government in the late 1900s.
Property in Gouritsmond is not cheap
Today, Gouritsmond is still a quiet, old-fashioned village with very few shops. There are no malls or big retailers.
Instead, residents rely on small local businesses: a family-owned general dealer, a coffee shop called Koffie Stories, and Vis inni Mond, a fish-and-chip takeaway supplied by a local fisherman.
The town also has two bottle stores, a small restaurant and a beach shop. “Whatever we don’t have here, we can get from George or Mossel Bay,” Van Wyk said.
The town has no schools, so the few families with young children homeschool. There is also no pharmacy, but the Dis-Chem in Mossel Bay delivers orders to the town for free on Thursdays.
Residents can also order fresh meat from a butcher 34 kilometres away every Friday, also without delivery fees.
Property in Gouritsmond is not cheap. Van Wyk said an average three-bedroom home costs around R3.5 million. However, for those who want a peaceful, crime-free environment, many see the price as fair.
Van Wyk moved to the town from the East Rand in 2013 and said the benefits have been clear. “My short-term insurance and my medical aid became a lot cheaper. There is a lot less crime, and you’re healthier here,” she said.
While most of its homes sit empty for much of the year, Gouritsmond’s quiet environment, strong sense of safety and laid-back lifestyle continue to attract retirees and younger semigrants looking for a simpler way of life.
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