Masakhe 02_DIGITAL PAPERTURN - Flipbook - Page 39
LEGENDARY ACADEMICS
he is the dir
director of the Urban Real
Esta
Estate Research Unit (URERU),
which will be c
celebrating its ten-year
anniv
anniversary later this year.
With such an impressive
back
background, it’s no surprise that
V
Viruly is one of the leaders in the
African property space at large.
Professor Viruly is all about
engaged scholarship. This means
working with universities, government
bodies, students, community leaders,
and public and private sector entities
to build long-term solutions to
various problems in the property
space. In his time working at the
CEM department, Professor Viruly
has been an involved lecturer and
researcher, spearheading different
projects and research initiatives. One
of his main interests is the affordable
housing market in South Africa.
Due to the country’s history with
property inequality, many people
don’t consider the property market an
important aspect of their lives from
an investment perspective. “For most
South Africans,” says Viruly, “property
investment was not something
discussed around the dinner table.”
With over 50% of all title deeds in the
Deeds Office valued below R750 000,
Professor Viruly considers the
affordable housing market a crucial
part of the South African property
economy. “We call the affordable
housing market a segment of the
market,” he says. “Actually, it’s not
a segment, it is the South African
property market.” Roughly 70% of all
Cape Town households earn R22 000
and below, which means that they
EDITORS NOTE: Professor
Viruly is a widely known and
respected property academic
and public commentator. He is
retiring from the Department
at the end of 2025.
F
or almost fifteen years,
Associate Professor Francois
Viruly has taught and
conducted research through
the Department of Construction
Economics and Management
at the University of Cape Town.
Lecturing both undergraduate
and postgraduate courses in
Property Economics and Portfolio
Management, Professor Viruly has
impacted the lives of countless
students.
Not only has Viruly served as the
Chief Economist at the Chamber
of Mines, but he has also played
important roles at other universities
and in various associations. Currently,
ISSUE 2
37
DECEMBER 2 025
