South Africa’s largest shopping mall goes from zero to hero
Fourways Mall is showing signs of life, with South Africa’s largest mall starting to see a turnaround in several key operating metrics.
Fouways Mall is the largest mall in South Africa, sitting at 178,202 sqm. However, the mall has recently faced significant challenges following a major revamp, primarily due to a high number of vacancies.
Amid the struggles, part-owner Accelerate agreed to invest R400 million in upgrading it in 2024.
Property experts Flanagan & Gerard and the Moolman Group also took over as the mall managers.
Accelerate’s latest financials for the six months ended 30 September 2025 point to several improvements at the mall.
Fourways Mall has seen its vacancy rate drop from 17.9% in September 2024 to 13.7% in March 2025 and to 10.7% in September 2025.
The mall saw 10,544 sqm of vacancy space filled through new leases, with 17,182.2 sqm of renewals concluded.
Post the interim period, 5,396 sqm of vacancies were filled at Fourways Mall, and 164 sqm of vacant space for the remainder of the portfolio was filled.
On 28 November 2025, Walmart opened its second store in South Africa, located in Fourways Mall, following the launch in Clearwater Mall.
Other retailers and service providers that have also recently joined the mall include Planet Fitness, Spur, African Bank and many more.
The mall will also host the popular gaming and technology convention, rAge Expo, this upcoming weekend.
Capital expenditure of R69.0 million was spent on Fourways Mall during the period.
Overall financials
Accelertate said that it made significant progress on its key focus areas, including:
- Asset disposals,
- Improving the loan-to-value ratio by reducing debt,
- Implementing a fully underwritten rights issue of R100 million, confirming the largest shareholder’s commitment and support by increasing their shareholding from 46,7% to over 50,7% of shares in issue (net of treasury shares),
- Significant improvement in the performance of Fourways Mall with a reduction in vacancy,
- Settlement of an insurance claim,
- Full write-off of the related party debt following various legal actions implemented against the related party.
The group said that its financial results for the six months reflect the restructuring initiatives that have been implemented and that are currently in progress.
Revenue increased by R59.4 million as a result of the R82.5 million insurance settlement, increased commercial rent and parking income.
Retail rent decreased overall by R29.4 million, mainly due to the disposal of Eden Meander in June 2024 and Cherry Lane in February 2025, as well as increased vacancies at 73 Hertzog Boulevard, offset by improvements at Fourways Mall.
Recoveries of R113.9 million were on par with those of the prior period of R113.8 million.
Overall, the group declared a profit of R49 million for the period, a significant improvement from the R1.3 billion loss it recorded just six months prior.
Earnings per share rose to 2.59 cents per share, while the group’s headline earnings per share stood at 5.1 cents per share.
To improve the Fund’s financial position, no dividend was declared for the period ended 30 September 2025.
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