Airbnb crackdown in South Africa - Here is what is happening

[Jamie McKane]

Airbnb crackdown in South Africa - Here is what is happening

The Federated Hospitality Association of SA (Fedhasa) has called on the government to crack down on Airbnb – a call which has been echoed by smaller hospitality organisations.

Airbnb has seen impressive growth in South Africa, and a lot of this growth came at the expense of established bed-and-breakfasts and hotels.

 

[NarrowBandFtw]

Airbnb crackdown in South Africa - Here is what is happening

has called on the government

ah, so nothing is happening

 

[Bigjay84]

All airbnb need to use government approved interior designers

 

[dualmeister]

The new Uber.

 

[spiff]

like how they going to stop it?

 

[The_Right_Honourable_Brit]

Wonder if I should inform my uncle and aunt who are hoping to purchase a flat in Sea Point for AirBnB purposes...

 

[dualmeister]

Stop it? They want their cut

 

[bwana]

ah, so nothing is happening

Wouldn't say "nothing" exactly.

The government has now acted on these industry calls through the Tourism Amendment Bill which was gazetted on Friday 12 April.

 

[The_Right_Honourable_Brit]

“We are having productive discussions with the government, based on our experience working with more than 500 governments around the world,” an Airbnb spokesperson said.

There are not even 200 countries in the world...

Yeah I know they likely including state & provincial governments but still...

 

[genetic]

There are not even 200 countries in the world...

Yeah I know they likely including state & provincial governments but still...

Technically there are 89,000 governments in the US alone.

 

[Gaz{M}]

So how is this any different from a few years ago when anybody could open a BnB? Only the booking platform has changed.

 

[Milano]

The amendment will also allow the minister to specify ‘thresholds’ when it comes to Airbnbs in South Africa.

This could include limits on the number of nights that a guest can stay or even how much income an Airbnb earns, he said.

“These thresholds are not abo nout being hard on (Airbnb) owners but making sure that everyone gets their fair share,” he said.

“If the guy in the Airbnb gets 13 nights, and the guy next door gets nothing, then he knows that he will get his chance when the Airbnb reaches its threshold.”

Wtf? Does every government idea have to sound as though it originated on April 1st?

 

[neoprema]

So how is this any different from a few years ago when anybody could open a BnB? Only the booking platform has changed.

Because people sat on their @!@ and did not embrace technology and over-charged. And these companies like AirBnb, Uber, Taxify came and offered a platform for easy selling of services and now everyone else is waking up and realising its impacting their bottom line.

So do they embrace it to? No. In typical fashion they are hoping to use laws and policies to drive other people out of business and protect their archaic, flawed way of doing business.

Forget the space ship to Mars, we need another one with a flux capacitor to take some people back to 1993 where they belong..

 

[Solarion]

More stuff that will need more cadres and tenders to deal with. Makes perfect sense. Watch this space in a year from now on how hundreds of millions of rand just vanished in this crackdown on AirBnB.

Government has become quite good at inventing "business opportunities" out of fresh air then canning them as soon as enough moola has vanished, rinse and repeat.

 

[Utterly Confused]

Please, please don't let the government get involved, everything they touch goes belly-up.

 

[Gnome]

Wonder if I should inform my uncle and aunt who are hoping to purchase a flat in Sea Point for AirBnB purposes...

I think what you should inform them about is that the body corporate can explicitly disallow it.
A recent ruling in courts affirmed this and more importantly, it requires the building be insured as a business for short term rentals.
That coupled with the fact that it p!sses off the people that actually live there.

Long term rentals aren't subject to this and also cannot be prevented by a body corporate.

Most people in our block stopped short term rentals in favor for long terms for these reasons

 

[Grant]

Wonder if I should inform my uncle and aunt who are hoping to purchase a flat in Sea Point for AirBnB purposes...

tell them to fukk right off with that idea
atlantic seaboard is saturated - they missed the bus

 

[Grant]

So how is this any different from a few years ago when anybody could open a BnB? Only the booking platform has changed.

it falls under zoning - ie gr1 / gr2 / etc
certain zoning will allow for certain land use, if the zoning does not permit a hotel / shop / whorehouse etc, on has to apply for a departure from existing land use restrictions

 

[Fulcrum29]

tell them to fukk right off with that idea
atlantic seaboard is saturated - they missed the bus

Do you have an Airbnb unit in the Atlantic Seaboard?

 

[Grant]

like how they going to stop it?

in multi unit complexes the body corporate / directors /home owners association etc are compelled to report contraventions of by-laws etc to the relevant authorities.
whether they do or not is another matter