In South Africa, most resorts are shareblock companies. There are a few sectional title development and some are shareblocks where the ownership is for a predetermined number of years.
Shareblock in perpetuity
This is the most common form of timeshare ownership in South Africa and the owner purchases shares in the shareblock company. Each shareblock identifies the unit number, week number and gives the holder the right to occupy the unit in the prescribed week, the right to allow visitors to occupy the unit, the right to rent out the unit and the ability to exchange the unit through the resorts affiliation to a timeshare exchange organisation like RCI.
each shareblock agreement includes a “use agreement” which will detail the rights and responsibilities of the shareblock holder and must be accepted by the purchaser in order to take transfer of the shares.
Each shareholder in a shareblock development must have a copy of the use agreement.
Transfer of shares in a shareblock company are relatively simple and are the costs involved should not exceed R1000.
Limited time shareblock
Certain resorts, and I mention Sun City Vacation Club as an example, have a predetermined number of years that the timeshare owner is entitled to occupy the timeshare unit.
At the end of the period there are certain buy back guarantees in some cases or some form of remuneration or even the ability to renew membership should the timeshare developer decide to continue offering the accommodation on a timeshare basis.
These types of ownership should be more carefully looked at as the new owner may have only a few years of occupation rights remaining.
Transfer of shares in a shareblock company are relatively simple and are the costs involved should not exceed R1000.
Sectional title
This type of timeshare ownership takes on the same form as purchasing an apartment in a building where you have full title to the timeshare unit for a specific date range and can be used through affiliations in the same way as a shareblock unit can be used.
The real difference in purchasing a sectional title timeshare is the cost and time involved in the transfer.
This cost can vary significantly from R4000 – R10000 per section.