{"id":863882,"date":"2026-06-18T11:02:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T09:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=863882"},"modified":"2026-06-18T11:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T09:06:13","slug":"new-r10-billion-megacity-coming-to-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/863882\/new-r10-billion-megacity-coming-to-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"New R10 billion megacity coming to South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Minister of Human Settlements, Thembisile Simelane, says that construction on the long-delayed Daggafontein Mega City project is currently underway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simelane highlighted that substantial progress has been made across various workstreams to enable the bulk infrastructure required to support future human settlements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe project is currently approximately 90% complete in respect of bulk waterline, roads and stormwater infrastructure works despite operational delays caused primarily by adverse weather conditions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister added that significant progress has been made on the bulk waterline component. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes the construction of 13 pipeline chambers, major excavation, and the installation of the bulk pipeline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Simelane, there has also been effective coordination with existing municipal infrastructure and collaboration with Rand Water for tie-in connections and testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, she said that several tasks remain outstanding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These tasks include completing bridge stabilisation works at the Butler Road\/Stanley Road crossing, constructing the remaining two chambers and five scour chambers, and finalising one tie-in chamber with Rand Water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, approximately 1,020 meters of bulk pipeline still needs to be installed, along with the testing and commissioning of the completed infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister shared the update on the project through a written parliamentary Q&A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Daggafontein Mega City project was launched in 2018 by Deputy President Paul Mashatile, with the development spanning approximately 750 hectares and divided into three main sections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project was first announced in 2016, and in 2017, Rodash 117 purchased the land for R170 million and entered into development agreements with the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rodash 117 was appointed as the turnkey developer, while the City of Ekurhuleni was responsible for providing bulk services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was envisioned as a flagship solution to Ekurhuleni’s housing backlog and the growing issue of homelessness, with an original target completion date of March 2023, which has long passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The City of Ekurhuleni noted in 2021 that the development is estimated to cost about R10 billion<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, it said that the anticipated construction period for the development was five years, with social amenities (schools, hospitals, police stations, malls, etc.) expected to be completed over a 10-year period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delays in appointing service providers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Officials at the sod turning ceremony in 2017. Photo: GDHuS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This initiative was one of 15 mega projects identified by the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements (GDHuS) to provide up to 18,000 homes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The housing options would include RDP units, social housing, affordable rentals, and bonded properties for middle-income earners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to housing, the plan promised the development of a self-contained community that would feature schools, clinics, shops, sports facilities, and even space for urban farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government promised 7,500 temporary jobs during the five-year construction phase and 3,500 permanent jobs afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2025, BusinessTech visited the Daggafontein Mega City project, which was more than two years behind its originally planned completion date, with no houses yet constructed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zweli Dlamini, a spokesperson for the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE), told BusinessTech at the time that delays were due to the appointment of service providers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiple reports have also mentioned problems related to contractors and community disagreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dlamini previously told GroundUp<\/a> that the city was in the process of appointing a new contractor, as the contract with TCT Civils and Construction expired in December 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoE has appointed a service provider to finalise the water bulk line, which could not be finalised due to insufficient funds in the last financial year,\u201d Dlamini told BusinessTech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simelane, however, estimates that despite all the delays, the remaining infrastructure will be completed by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe city anticipates that the remaining bulk infrastructure works will be completed within the next six months, subject to favourable weather conditions and operational coordination with stakeholders,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simelane said that the city is confident the project is progressing satisfactorily toward completion, despite delays caused by adverse weather conditions and challenges in operational coordination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos of the Daggafontein Mega City project from October 2025<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Construction for the Daggafontein Mega City project is underway, 10 years later and 3 years past its original deadline.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":863920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[22401,25611,25612,25613],"class_list":["post-863882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-daggafontein-mega-city","tag-gdhus","tag-minister-of-human-settlements","tag-minister-thembisile-simelane"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863882","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\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863882"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":863931,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863882\/revisions\/863931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}