This is the smart city Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero promotes

The City of Johannesburg executive mayor, Dada Morero, promoted the Lanseria Smart City, which remains only shacks and empty veld years after it should have been a vibrant new city.

For years, the government told citizens that the Lanseria Smart City would offer a new way of living for 350,000 to 500,000 South Africans.

Initially known as Cradle City, the Lanseria Smart City had its origins in 2007 and was set to be the first South African city built around an airport.

It promised inhabitants the luxuries of time, security, and sustainability, and the project started to gain traction with government support.

Crosspoint and the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements planned to implement the Lanseria Airport City Mega Project over ten years.

Crosspoint has also partnered with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) to develop the 90-hectare Lanseria Business District as part of the project.

The Lanseria Smart City gained significant prominence after President Cyril Ramaphosa promoted it in his 2020 State of the Nation Address.

“A new smart city is taking shape in Lanseria, which 350,000 to 500,000 people will call home within the next decade,” he said.

A year later, he stated that the Lanseria Smart City, the first new city to be built in democratic South Africa, is now a reality in the making.

In November 2020, the Greater Lanseria Growth Node master plan was released with lofty promises and ideals.

It was a joint initiative of the Presidency, the Office of the Gauteng Premier, the City of Tshwane, the City of Johannesburg, and Mogale City.

The Lanseria Smart City was promoted as the first post-apartheid city in South Africa, based on best practices in urban sustainability and principles.

“It is to be inclusive of the broadly defined South African socio-economic spectrum and must stimulate a vibrant, mixed urban economy,” the master plan stated.

However, just like Ramaphosa’s other promises of bullet trains and new, very little has happened over the last five years.

BusinessTech visited the area where the Lanseria Smart City will be built, and we did not see any infrastructure development.

Apart from the Lanseria International airport, we saw large stretches of open land and growing informal settlements.

There were numerous shacks in the area, which may pose problems when it comes to developing the land.

Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero promotes the Lanseria Smart City

Despite the dismal failure of developing the Lanseria Smart City over the past five years, Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero continued to promote it as a significant development.

He said the Lanseria Smart City Programme was a significant catalytic project that would grow the economy of Johannesburg.

“Projects within Lanseria must be supported. The City’s commitment and investment in the Northern-Farms Wastewater Treatment Plant is a game-changer,” he said.

“This initiative is a cornerstone in the city’s infrastructure development, showcasing a commitment to sustainability and inclusive growth.”

The City of Johannesburg has committed to contributing over R628 million to leverage and unlock the potential of the R4 Billion Northern-Farms Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“This substantial financial injection demonstrates the City’s dedication to enhancing its wastewater management capabilities,” he said.

He said this was important to ensure the successful implementation of the Lanseria Smart City and address the pressing infrastructure needs.

He said additional support and guarantees for the Wastewater Treatment Works project needed to be established.

“This will not only facilitate the timely completion of essential infrastructure but also bolster the overall development goals of the Lanseria Smart City initiative,” he said.

However, Outa chief executive, Wayne Duvenage, said people have been hearing about the Lanseria Smart City for eight or nine years.

“Nothing has happened other than a private intervention seen in the Northern-Farms Wastewater Treatment Plant,” he said.

He added that politicians like Morero like to talk about grandiose plans of what they will do instead of what is currently happening.

State of the Nation host Mike Sham added that the City of Johannesburg could not even get the traffic lights to work in the Lanseria area.

What the Lanseria Smart City looks like today

BusinessTech visited the site where the Lanseria Smart City is set to be constructed. Here is what it looks like today.