The Department of Human Settlements says that progress is being made on the Mooikloof Mega City development in Gauteng, with the first residential apartments in the project being ready for occupation in 2023.
Mooikloof Mega City was announced by president Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020, planned as a massive smart city project east of Pretoria. The development has a total project value of over R84 billion and is one of the 62 Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) gazetted in 2020. It is being developed in phases, with the first phase focused on residential developments with a scope for up to 50,000 sectional title units.
Once completed, the new city will also feature schools, shops and offices, all built in line with green building principles. According to the department, the first phase of the project is well underway, and 546 units are due for completion in September 2023.
“The green classification for the Mooikloof Mega City will be done when the construction of the units is completed and will be certified for solar and battery storage to confirm that it has been incorporated into the development to mitigate the effects of load shedding,” it said.
The mega-city is a public/private collaboration with developers Balwin Properties.
At the time of the launch, Balwin said that it plans to build an initial 16,000 apartments at a value of approximately R9.6 billion(2020 prices) in phases. The group described the project as one of the world’s largest sectional title developments.
A key focus of the project is to bring affordable residences and housing to a region known for significantly high prices. However, while apartment prices were initially planned to be between R499,000 to R799,000, the department said the entry cost has now increased.
“The developer initially projected that the apartments in the development would start selling between R495,799 and R799,000. However, the apartment starting prices now commence at R604,900,” it said.
Mooikloof Mega City is located off Garsfontein Drive and is approximately six kilometres from the junction with De Ville Bois Mareuil Drive where Woodlands Boulevard Mall is located and eight kilometres from Solomon Mahlangu Drive which gives access to the N4 and other main arterial routes.
The surrounding townships include Woodhill Golf Estate, Mooikloof Equestrian Estate, Mooikloof Heights, Mooikloof Ridge, The Hills Golf Estate, Grootfontein Country Estate and Mooikloof Glen.