Is Botswana an option?

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StrongTurd

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Apologies for posting an old story but I stumbled across the article on News24 about the SA guy that was going to be hanged in Botswana for an armed robbery that he took part in during 2000.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2314174,00.html

This got me thinking. You rarely hear bad news from Botswana. Their justice system seems to be the exact opposite of South Africa's (in other words, they don't take any s**t). According to people that I've spoken to that have first hand experience of Botswana, violent crime is extremely rare over there.

Here's some of the things that I can think of off the top of my hear that Botswana's got going for it (compared to SA):

  • Their economic growth rate since independence has been nothing short of spectacular.
  • They've got a death penalty. Violent crime is almost nonexistant compared to SA.
  • They've got a very small (2 million ?) population with little tribalism. Sure, the Bushmen are marginalised I understand but mostly these people do not want to kill each other just because they are from different social groups.
  • There's no BEE and AA that I'm aware of. You are free to conduct your business without state-sponsored racism.
  • Their leadership seems to be far better than Thabo and his gang. They actually condem Bob's regime. I read somewhere that they are deporting illegal Zim immigrants at a far larger scale than SA is doing. They've even closed one border post with Zim altogether.
  • Property rights are protected in Botswana. There's no land-grab program like over here (or in Zim).
  • The US military wants to base their newly-formed "Africa Command" in Botswana. If the USA feels that Botswana is the best place in Africa to do this then it's saying something.

Now, I'm not looking at Botswana through rose-tinted glasses. I would assume that corruption and bribery is rife like everywhere else in Africa. But I can live with that. It is the violent crime and the racism in this country that gets to me.

My question is this: How about moving one's money into Botswana? I dunno, maybe buy property there or invest in Botswana shares or something. It is fairly obvious now that SA is in a terminal nosedive and Botswana is starting to look mighty attractive to my untrained eye. I know that packing up and leaving this continent for good is probably the best thing to do but should one prefer to stay here (which I'd like to), then Botswana seems as good a place as any.

Anybody with experience about Botswana would care to comment?
 
Yeah, and Gaborone is only a couple of hours drive from Gauteng. It's almost just around the corner.
 
StrongTurd said:
Apologies for posting an old story but I stumbled across the article on News24 about the SA guy that was going to be hanged in Botswana for an armed robbery that he took part in during 2000.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2314174,00.html

This got me thinking. You rarely hear bad news from Botswana. Their justice system seems to be the exact opposite of South Africa's (in other words, they don't take any s**t). According to people that I've spoken to that have first hand experience of Botswana, violent crime is extremely rare over there.

Here's some of the things that I can think of off the top of my hear that Botswana's got going for it (compared to SA):

  • Their economic growth rate since independence has been nothing short of spectacular.
  • They've got a death penalty. Violent crime is almost nonexistant compared to SA.
  • They've got a very small (2 million ?) population with little tribalism. Sure, the Bushmen are marginalised I understand but mostly these people do not want to kill each other just because they are from different social groups.
  • There's no BEE and AA that I'm aware of. You are free to conduct your business without state-sponsored racism.
  • Their leadership seems to be far better than Thabo and his gang. They actually condem Bob's regime. I read somewhere that they are deporting illegal Zim immigrants at a far larger scale than SA is doing. They've even closed one border post with Zim altogether.
  • Property rights are protected in Botswana. There's no land-grab program like over here (or in Zim).
  • The US military wants to base their newly-formed "Africa Command" in Botswana. If the USA feels that Botswana is the best place in Africa to do this then it's saying something.

Now, I'm not looking at Botswana through rose-tinted glasses. I would assume that corruption and bribery is rife like everywhere else in Africa. But I can live with that. It is the violent crime and the racism in this country that gets to me.

My question is this: How about moving one's money into Botswana? I dunno, maybe buy property there or invest in Botswana shares or something. It is fairly obvious now that SA is in a terminal nosedive and Botswana is starting to look mighty attractive to my untrained eye. I know that packing up and leaving this continent for good is probably the best thing to do but should one prefer to stay here (which I'd like to), then Botswana seems as good a place as any.

Anybody with experience about Botswana would care to comment?
Click to expand...

Wouldn't Botswana be massively affected if SA went the way of Zim though?
 
Bots is cool but is still reliant on SA (Ironic that they are doing better). So if SA went down the tubes Botswana would suffer. The other thing is that they have some insane HIV rate... like 80% but they manage it way better than us.
 
As far as I know whites (could be foreigners) are not allowed to own property in Bots. This may have changed.
 
TooFastTim said:
As far as I know whites (could be foreigners) are not allowed to own property in Bots. This may have changed.
Click to expand...

My neighbour owns a beautiful game lodge in Botswana. I think he mentioned something about a 99 year lease, IIRC. That's fine by me. This guy's been invested in Botswana for more than a decade and he's got nothing but praise for that country.
 
Any country with virtually no crime, and/or a tendency to hang savages is OK with me.
 
I'm planning taking the wife up there for a week's holiday just to drive around and see what it's like first hand.
 
StrongTurd said:
I'm planning taking the wife up there for a week's holiday just to drive around and see what it's like first hand.
Click to expand...

Me too.
A friend just came back from there (they are farmers), and the Minister of "Farming" (not sure on exact portfolio) PERSONALLY met with them and told them of the options etc.

And here, farmers are killed.
 
Moederloos said:
Me too.
A friend just came back from there (they are farmers), and the Minister of "Farming" (not sure on exact portfolio) PERSONALLY met with them and told them of the options etc.

And here, farmers are killed.
Click to expand...

I've heard similar stories. The Botswana government does not seem to care if you are white, black, yellow or pink; as long as you are willing to invest skills and money into their economy (and provided that you behave yourself), they seem to welcome you with open arms.
 
Hence their corporate tax is a mere 15% - they are practically begging for foreign investment!
 
Moederloos said:
Me too.
A friend just came back from there (they are farmers), and the Minister of "Farming" (not sure on exact portfolio) PERSONALLY met with them and told them of the options etc.

And here, farmers are killed.
Click to expand...

Interesting, very different from SA.
 
StrongTurd said:
My neighbour owns a beautiful game lodge in Botswana. I think he mentioned something about a 99 year lease, IIRC. That's fine by me. This guy's been invested in Botswana for more than a decade and he's got nothing but praise for that country.
Click to expand...

Be very carefull, the 99 year lease thing is extremely risky, botswana locals own land, they lease it out on a 99 year contract and it seems like its safe but its actualy illegal and the owner can take back his land at any time and there is not a thing you will be able to do about it because its illegal.
 
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