{"id":807580,"date":"2025-01-21T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=807580"},"modified":"2025-01-21T09:23:10","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T07:23:10","slug":"south-africas-new-r84-billion-smart-city-looks-nothing-like-what-was-planned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/property\/807580\/south-africas-new-r84-billion-smart-city-looks-nothing-like-what-was-planned\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa’s new R84 billion smart city looks nothing like what was planned"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chinese development group Zendai Developments\u2019 plan to build a new R84 billion smart city in Modderfontein, east of Johannesburg, did not go as planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BusinessTech visited the site where the Modderfontein New City was to be built, and although some development is taking place, it is not close to what was envisaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project dates back to 2014 when Chinese development group Zendai Developments announced its intention to build an $8 billion city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, Zendai South Africa chief operating officer Du Wendui said market demand would drive the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwenty years ago, nobody would have imagined that Sandton would look like it does today with its multiple skyscrapers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It promoted it as the New York of Africa with nine functional zones, including a CBD, entertainment centre, and residential and educational districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would also include churches, a library, hospital and medical facilities, a sports and international conference centre, schools, and low-cost housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a strong focus on technology to make it a \u2018smart city\u2019 with the latest telecommunications infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zendai Developments partnered with PCCW Global, the Hong Kong-based operating division of the telecommunications company HKT, to provide technology services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would provide Zendai with systems development, solutions integration, and application development and management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would also offer telecommunications and information technology, cloud computing, and e-commerce solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new smart city was to be built over 15 years on a 1600-hectare piece of land in Modderfontein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When completed in 2030, it would have housed approximately 30,000 families and created up to 200,000 fixed jobs for the local community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt will become the future capital for the whole of Africa,\u201d Zendai\u2019s Wendui said when he unveiled the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things go wrong for the R84 billion smart city<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On paper, the R84 billion Modderfontein New City sounded like a fantastic idea for creating a new commercial hub in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developing a smart city would make the most of the available land after AECI closed its explosives factory in 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the Modderfontein New City plans, Heartland, AECI\u2019s real estate subsidiary, began developing small pieces of land in the Modderfontein area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the distance from Johannesburg and Sandton meant it did not appeal to many businesses and households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This changed when the Gautrain was launched. The route from OR Tambo International to Johannesburg and Sandton goes straight through Modderfontein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zendai saw great potential, prompting the company to buy the 1,600 hectares of land for R1.06 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things did not work out as planned. Zendai and its chairman, Dai Zhikang, did not have enough money to fund the infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zendai and Zhikang sought property developers and investors to invest in the project, but there was insufficient interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another unrelated development significantly impacted the Modderfontein New City development plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2015, Dai announced he was selling his shares in Shanghai Zendai Property to the state-owned China Orient Asset Management Company (COAMC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, COAMC became the controlling shareholder of Zendai and the Modderfontein New City project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COAMC had no stomach to continue with such an expensive project and decided to sell the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2016, it had sold 17% of its shares to the Chinese real estate firm Fuxing. It sold the remaining 83% to M&T Development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, the Competition Tribunal of South Africa approved the sale to M&T Development for a reported R1.8 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modderfontein today<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BusinessTech visited the site where the Modderfontein New City was set to be built, but it did not reflect what Zendai Developments planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it was clear that the new owners, M&T Development, were pumping millions into the region with new developments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were many infrastructure upgrades, which included new roads, shopping centres, schools, and office parks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another standout feature was the numerous residential developments, which ranged from security estates to affordable housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driving around the area gave us the feeling that it was an up-and-coming area which provided a good quality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new roads further showed that this was only the start and that much more development was planned for the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new office parks and shopping centres showed that the developers have big plans for the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M&T Development is doing most of the commercial and residential developments, which shows that the company believes in the Modderfontein area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, although it will match the unrealistic plans to build the Manhattan of Africa, it is being developed and is attracting businesses and families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zandai\u2019s Modderfontein New City plans (artist impressions)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What Modderfontein looks like today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The plan to develop a new R84 billion smart city in Modderfontein in the east of Johannesburg did not work out as planned. Here is what it looks like today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":807583,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12755],"tags":[21481],"class_list":["post-807580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property","tag-zendai-developments"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807580"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":807612,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807580\/revisions\/807612"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}