{"id":845969,"date":"2025-12-10T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=845969"},"modified":"2025-12-10T17:08:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T15:08:12","slug":"55-year-old-company-that-built-the-mall-of-africa-chosen-to-build-new-international-airport-in-cape-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/845969\/55-year-old-company-that-built-the-mall-of-africa-chosen-to-build-new-international-airport-in-cape-town\/","title":{"rendered":"55-year-old company that built The Mall of Africa chosen to build new international airport in Cape Town"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO) has been appointed as the contractor responsible for the technical development and eventual construction of the new R8 billion Cape Winelands Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The appointment marks a significant step toward transforming the old Fisantekraal Airfield, 13 kilometres northeast of Durbanville, into a modern aviation hub capable of handling millions of passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WBHO is no stranger to projects of this scale. The 55-year-old company traces its origins to 1970, when founders John Wilson and Brian Holmes established the original Wilson-Holmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A series of mergers in the decades that followed saw the company evolve into Wilson Bayly Holmes in 1983 and later adopt its current name, WBHO Construction, in 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, it has grown into one of South Africa\u2019s largest construction firms, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and active across South Africa and abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its offices stretch from Sandton to Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London, while its Australian footprint is anchored by an office in Melbourne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its project history is equally widespread. WBHO has built some of South Africa\u2019s most recognisable and strategically important developments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These include the Mall of Africa, Cape Town Stadium, Moses Mabhida Stadium, King Shaka International Airport and major renewable energy facilities such as the Kathu Solar Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has also delivered extensive transport, retail and logistics infrastructure, from national roads to data centres and large distribution facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This track record of handling complex, multidisciplinary builds is a key reason the company has been brought on board for the airport project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The site chosen for the new international airport has its own long history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Built in 1943 by the South African Air Force, the Fisantekraal Airfield later became a base for general aviation before being privatised in 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Private investors bought the airfield in 2020, and it is now owned and operated by RSA Aero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning of a critical phase<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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After years of planning and feasibility work, it is set to be transformed into the Cape Winelands Airport, a development that could reshape air travel in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cape Winelands Airport managing director Deon Cloete said appointing WBHO marks the beginning of a critical phase. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the contractor now formally on board, the project advances into a crucial new phase \u2013 detailed technical development and planning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Cloete, the involvement of WBHO will allow the project team to begin designing the engineering frameworks and specific technical components required before construction can begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This work will also help refine the expected timelines and more accurately determine the project\u2019s overall cost profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WBHO director Russell Adams described the appointment as an important milestone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWBHO is honoured to have achieved this significant milestone with the Cape Winelands team,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis partnership will enable the acceleration of the technical design processes and subsequent construction completion of the airport project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adams added that the company is particularly energised by the opportunity to work on a large greenfield airport development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuccessful completion will showcase the talent and competence of South Africa\u2019s local development, investment, design and construction capacity in delivering significant economic infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cloete echoed this confidence and said that with WBHO\u2019s established experience on major infrastructure builds, the new airport is well-positioned for \u201cexcellence in execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main runway will be extended and realigned to 3,500 metres to accommodate larger aircraft, and a new terminal is designed to handle 5.2 million passengers per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2050, projections show the facility processing about 2 million international and 3 million domestic passengers annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If realised, this would increase the total number of travellers moving through the broader Cape region from 10 million to around 20 million a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The R8 billion development recently received environmental approval from the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This clearance allows the developers to begin preparing final plans, site designs and implementation measures ahead of construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work on the airport is expected to start next year, with the opening planned for 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cape Winelands Airport<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A South African construction gaint has been appointed as the contractor responsible for the new R8 billion Cape Winelands Airport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":840154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[20461,853,24356],"class_list":["post-845969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-cape-winelands-airport","tag-south-africa","tag-wilson-bayly-holmes-ovcon-wbho"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845969","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\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845969"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":846090,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845969\/revisions\/846090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}