There is a particular kind of quiet at Thanda Safari — the sort that settles over the KwaZulu-Natal bushveld at first light, before the vehicles go out. It is a long way from Nassau. It is also, as of this summer, part of the same network.
Forbes Global Properties has welcomed South Africa | Forbes Global Properties into its membership — the network's first member on the African continent, and its thirty-fifth country. I travelled to Thanda to mark the occasion with Keegan Steyn, founder of the new Cape Town–headquartered firm, and the team who will represent the brand across the country.
I will admit to a second motive. My birthday fell during that week, and I spent it in the reserve, at the end of a day that had started before sunrise. There are worse places to mark one. There are also few better reminders of why I do this work: the appeal of a place like that is not measurable in square footage, and neither is the appeal of ours.
Why I went
It would be easy to read a trip like this as ceremony. I did not go for ceremony.
MAISON joined Forbes Global Properties because our clients rarely own in one place. A family buying on Paradise Island often holds property in London, Aspen, or Lisbon. An investor selling a private island in the Exumas is usually already thinking about where the proceeds go next. The value of an invitation-only network is not the badge on the sign — it is the phone call. It is knowing the person on the other end, and knowing they will treat your client the way you would.
That is what a week in the bush actually produces. I spent it with the advisors who will be handling private game-reserve estates, Atlantic Seaboard residences, and Winelands properties on the other side of the world. When a MAISON client asks me about South Africa — and they do ask — the introduction is now a direct one, made by someone who has sat across a table from them.
About the new member
South Africa | Forbes Global Properties is headquartered in Cape Town with a national presence, founded by Keegan Steyn, whose career includes the representation of some of the country's most significant luxury transactions. The firm works exclusively at the top of the market: architectural estates, iconic homes, private coastal residences, and lifestyle retreats.
Michael Jalbert, CEO of Forbes Global Properties, noted in the announcement that South Africa's lifestyle, architectural, and investment opportunities made it an important market for the network, and that Keegan's transaction record positioned him to lead there. Having now spent time with him, I would agree.
The parallels with The Bahamas are not hard to see. Both markets sell something more specific than square footage. Both draw international buyers who are choosing a way of life as much as an asset. And in both, a meaningful share of activity at the top end comes from overseas — in South Africa, foreign buyers have accounted for a small fraction of overall transactions but a substantial share of sales above R20 million. That is a pattern I recognize from our own market.
What it means for our clients
Forbes Global Properties now spans 35 countries and more than 600 locations, with member firms reaching an audience of over 167 million monthly digital visitors through the Forbes platform.
For a seller in Lyford Cay or Harbour Island, that reach is the practical point: a property listed with MAISON is placed in front of qualified buyers already looking at homes of that caliber elsewhere in the world. For a buyer, it works in reverse. If your search extends beyond The Bahamas, we are not handing you to a directory. We are introducing you to people we know.
Our first Passport Series feature from South Africa — Villa Thandawena, the flagship Royal Residence at The Royal Thanda Club — is a fair illustration. A Big Five safari villa on roughly 16 hectares is not a listing this office would have had access to two years ago. It is one we can speak to now.
Global reach. Local touch.
The network is the reach. The relationship is the rest of it — and that part still requires showing up, which is what the trip was for.
To discuss a property in The Bahamas, or an introduction to a Forbes Global Properties member firm elsewhere in the world, inquire through your MAISON advisor.
