Amazingly it seems that someone has managed to pick up a stunning mountain(!!) in Hout Bay for R10 million on auction. (see article on IOL).

The mountain was bought in a private auction for “about R10 million” after only 14 bids were received.

Why so cheap? Well it seems that there is a lot more to the story:

• The residents in the area are militantly against any development. They broke up the original auction and were only dispersed when police began using rubber bullets on them.
• SANParks is also after the site. Apparently (see article) the Parks Board have managed to grab all of the land around the sold plot – it is effectively cut off. I doubt that they will allow access for development.

In fact, there are suspicions that the mountain hasn’t been sold at all.

If Parks Board attempt to expropriate the land then they will have to pay fair market value for it (they’ve offered R500,000). It has been suggested that the auction sale could be a ploy to make the ‘fair market value’ seem higher.

Interesting stuff.