Property freebies, courtesy of your government

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From South Africa to Scandinavia, taxpayers foot bill for property extravagances.

Regular readers of Tabloid Tuesday will be delighted to know they're not the only taxpayers and financiers footing the bill for property extravagances.

Sexy in the Windy City. Tabloid Tuesday has learned that a certain Nordic hotel chain has been on a EURO spending spree to promote the grand opening of the windy city's first five star hotel, the Radisson Blu Hotel Port Elizabeth - laser shows, black tie dinners, disco and hot celebrities.

A source revealed that the prince of real estate PR, JP Roodt of Marcus Brewster Publicity, has been in party planning full-throttle mode to impress client Andrew McLachlan, Rezidor Hotel Group's business development big chief in Africa.

McLachlan apparently has a fondness for A-list celebrities. Roodt brought Idols presenter Liezel van der Westhuizen and Top Billing presenter Kelly Parkhurst to the party for Rezidor last month, and arranged a "publicity shoot" for Hotel Missoni Cape Town.

At the fancy "publicity shoot" the girls strutted their stuff in Missoni gear. We're sure that McLachlan didn't stand around with his hands in his pants on set - maybe he was hard at work, busy with art direction ...

Meanwhile, we heard that for the Radisson Blu opening, Roodt lined up an even more spectacular celebrity crowd. JP's Cape Town and Johannesburg celebrity BFF's (Best Friends Forever) include his close friend, the sexplosive model, Tracy McGregor, according to our trustworthy source in PE.

Derek van Dam, several stars in M-Net local productions, former Mr SA and Pasella presenter Dieter Voigt and Michelle McLean were on the list to party with McLachlan and Nyaumwe.

Roodt is also apparently under the illusion that he's a Hollywood PR exec - because only in that part of the world does one commission a fleet of Hummer limo's to drive celebrity cargo around. A five-star game reserve visit, a sail on a luxury yacht and a celebrity swag bag with expensive gifts are no doubt among the reasons JP seems to be able to snap his fingers to command the schleb attendance at his parties.

With McLachlan's wallet containing something of the order of €35 million - funds Rezidor and four Nordic governments raised to expand in Africa by offering mezzanine financing through Afrinord trust to hotel property investors and developers in South Africa and other parts of the continent - we guess the entertainment allowance really does allow him to party like a star ...

Why pay for your property, when taxpayers can do it for you? There was outrage in political circles when it emerged that South Africa's police commissioner Bheki Cele was set to score a R3,3m home (click here to read First luxury cars, now luxury properties).

Take heart. Politicians helping themselves to property perks on the back of taxpayers is not a South African phenomenon, or an African one.

No. Inspiration must surely come from Europe where we hear of an endless number of politicians taking freebies where they can. Aside from garden gnomes and pond clean-ups in England, politicians elsewhere in the region have been taking advantage of tax relief for keeping homes close to where they must work.

Ireland's Evening Herald reported this week that Dublin's Cabinet and junior ministers are claiming tax relief for the upkeep of second homes even if they don't own another property - and even if they've been staying in guesthouses.

Unlike in South Africa, though, workers are getting angry about the state of affairs and planning to include the matter in their list of grievances when they embark on an expected protest march soon.

The Irish should be relieved that this extra perk is only coming in at about €5 500 per minister (about R60 000). Back home in South Africa, we like to do things bigger. You will recall that Cele and his side kicks have cost South African taxpayers R7m in the few short months they have headed our police force. This includes the amount of R800 000 reportedly rung up in hotel bills by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and his deputy Fikile Mbalula.

The total bill for those three is not far off the Irish government ministers are accused of taking as "home hand-outs".

Now, who said life is harder in Africa?

Click here to find a luxury property in South Africa using Realestateweb's property search tool.