South African billionaire funding new R341 million precinct in Johannesburg
The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) has announced plans to develop a new R341 million Cultural Precinct in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, largely funded by South African billionaire, Chris Seabrooke.
The precinct is a major investment by the university in the arts, creating a lifestyle hub for arts, culture, performance, heritage, and creative innovation.
It will be built on the university’s south-eastern edge in Braamfontein and will contribute to the regeneration of Johannesburg’s inner city.
The development is expected to take five years and will integrate and link Wits’ existing arts, performance and heritage facilities.
Funding for the project will largely come from a significant donation from Wits alumnus Chris Seabrooke.
Seabrooke is an investor and financier who has served on the boards of 27 stock exchange-listed companies over the years.
He has also served as the former Chairman of the State Theatre of South Africa and as Deputy Chairman of the inaugural National Arts Council of South Africa.
He currently serves as the CEO of Sabvest Capital Limited, which he founded in 1988, which currently has a market value of R5.5 billion.
Seabrooke donated 1.4 million shares held by the Seabrooke Family Trust to the Wits Foundation.
Wits will have the right to sell the donated shares via block trades or in the market over the estimated five-year term of the project to provide the necessary liquidity.
Wits said this will fund the majority of the estimated capital cost of R341 million needed to build the Precinct, with Wits co-investing the balance.
Seabrooke has an economic interest of just under 39% in Sabvest after the donation, placing his estimated net worth at approximately R2.1 billion.
“The arts have an extraordinary ability to bring people together and to change the character of a place,” Seabrooke said.
“Our hope is that this investment will enable Wits to create a precinct that belongs not only to its students, staff and academics, but to Johannesburg.
“We want to help build a place that attracts people to Braamfontein, supports creativity and leaves a cultural legacy for generations to come.”
What the new precinct will offer
The precinct will offer new and upgraded academic facilities, theatres, exhibition and performance spaces and enhanced lifestyle areas, opening more of Wits’ creative life to Joburgers, it said.
The first phase of the precinct will feature:
- The Wits Art Museum,
- The Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts,
- The Chris Seabrooke Music Hall,
- A state-of-the-art Digital Arts building
- An additional floor for the Wits School of Arts.
The next phase will consolidate Wits’ Music facilities, a new exhibition and foyer spaces, Fine Arts facilities, the Wits Theatre Amphitheatre and a new building and rooftop extension that will open up the Wits Theatre Complex.
Restaurants, coffee shops, bookshops, and other lifestyle spaces will be incorporated into the Precinct, Wits said.
Notably, the Cultural Precinct is located within a wider Johannesburg cultural ecosystem that includes the Joburg Theatre, the Market Theatre, SciBono, the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct and the Constitutional Court, amongst others.
“The University and the City of Johannesburg have grown together for more than a century. We cannot separate the future of the University from the future of this City,” said Wits Vice Chancellor, Professor Zeblon Vilakazi.
“The Cultural Precinct is about opening Wits to Johannesburg and creating spaces where students, artists, scholars and the public can meet, create and exchange ideas,” he said.
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