How Timeshare Works in South Africa: A Beginner's Guide

Timeshare lets you enjoy holiday accommodation every year without buying a whole holiday home. You buy the right to use a unit at a resort for a set period each year — and you share the cost of running that resort with other owners.

What do you actually own?

You own a right to use, not the bricks and mortar. That right is usually measured in one of two ways:

• Fixed or flexi week: you use a specific unit for a specific week (or a flexible week within a season) each year.
• Points: you own a number of points each year and spend them on the resort, unit size and dates you want.

What is the annual levy?

Every owner pays a yearly levy (also called a management fee). It covers maintenance, staff, security, insurance and upkeep of the resort. The levy is separate from the price you pay to buy the timeshare, and it continues each year while you own it.

Seasons: why timing matters

Resorts split the year into seasons — often called peak, mid and low (or red, white and blue). Peak weeks over school holidays and festive season are the most in demand, so they cost more to buy and are worth more when you exchange.

Can you swap to other resorts?

Yes. Through an exchange network such as RCI, you can deposit your week or points and holiday at thousands of other resorts in South Africa and abroad. We explain this in our exchange guide.

Buying, selling or renting

Arrowwood International helps South African owners buy resale timeshare, sell timeshare they no longer use, and rent weeks. If anything here is unclear, contact our team — we are happy to explain.