Over 10.41 million man hours to develop Mall of Africa

The long-awaited landmark shopping mall, Mall of Africa situated in Waterfall City in Midrand, is set to open on 28 April.

The R5-billion, 130 000m² mall’s construction began on 28 October 2012 and will be complemented with the new R160-million Bridal Veil Road overpass bridge, developed by Atterbury Property Development, which will be opened at the same time as the mall.

The new bridge crosses the N1 highway south of the Allandale Road interchange and north of the Buccleuch interchange. It creates a direct link between Midrand and Waterfall City with the new R40-million, 1km S-bend dual carriageway extension to Bridal Veil Road, which will take shoppers right to the doors of Mall of Africa.

Besides road transport, Mall of Africa is also minutes away from the Gautrain Midrand Station and enjoys close proximity to OR Tambo International Airport, Midrand’s Grand Central Airport and Lanseria International Airport.

Over six kilometres of shops have been created inside the mall of Africa. Plus, more than 530 kilometres of post tension cable, which has been used in its construction, as well as 18 500 tons of rebar and 205 000m³ of concrete. The mall has around 6 500 parking bays, most of which are under cover. It also offers valet parking, special drop-off facilities for buses, and dedicated Uber pick-up and drop-off points, a first in the South African retail environment.

During the construction of the mall, 3 078 people were employed, and by January, they had worked a total of 10.41-million man hours.

Commenting on the mall’s development, Louis van der Watt of Atterbury said, “Developing a super-regional mall in the heart of the fastest growing urban node on the continent presented the opportunity to create an exciting modern landmark. As the heart of a growing city, its connectivity was a key consideration of Mall of Africa’s development.”

Van der Watt added that the mall’s exceptional scale, design, location, retail mix and access creates an exciting asset and places it at the forefront of retail developments.

Atterbury Property Development’s James Ehlers notes that accessibility for shoppers was a key factor in the mall’s development. “Easy access from Gauteng’s transport network is an inherent advantage of Mall of Africa.

“When the centre opens, hundreds of permanent and part-time jobs within the centre will be created on a sustainable basis.”

Ward 112 councillor, Candice James said while the mall will create jobs for some people, traffic congestion is a concern.

“The traffic on Allandale Road in Midrand is already congested before the mall even opens. I have constant complaints from residents about that. Allandale Road is a single lane road from Grieg Street to the R55. The road needs to be upgraded for extra traffic and taxi holding and drop-off areas will need to be addressed.”

Resident, Nozibele Zondi said she is very excited about the mall opening. “I am really looking forward to it. I actually passed there while doing my morning jog to check if there were stores already opened. I will be there for opening specials and my goal is to have some retail space there in the next six to 12 months for my cosmetics business.”