Tropics Magazine #59 Tropics Magazine #59 | Page 28

ATTRACTIONS South Africa’s largest shopping Mall ever built in a single phase The Mall of Africa has opened in Midrand (28th April 2016) and South Africans are flocking towards Africa’s newest mall, despite the large numbers of people and long queues. Twitter buzzed all week around with photos of the traffic inside and outside the mall, and commentary from people who can’t understand all the hype. Mall of Africa is the newest shopping mall located in Midrand, Gauteng. It is the largest single phase shopping mall to be built in Africa with a total retail area of 131 000 square metres, and a gross area of 550 000 square meters. Mall of Africa was incepted to be the centerpiece of Waterfall City, an upcoming mixed-use development located in Midrand. Located between Johannes- page 28 | Issue #59 burg and Pretoria the Mall and Waterfall is easily accessible to most of Gauteng. Construction began in 2012 and was originally planned to open in March 2016, but was later slated to April 2016. Mall of Africa will have anchor tenants including Woolworths, Edgars, Game and Checkers. The shopping mall also houses flagship stores in South Africa for international brands such as H&M, Cotton On and Forever 21. As well as introducing new brands to South Africa like Starbucks, Mango Man, The Kooples, Zara Home, Armani Exchange, Under Armour and Soap Stories. Mall of Africa was inspired by Africa’s geological features, as evident by its courts. The shopping mall has 2 main levels of shopping as well as an outside restaurant area which connects directly to the Waterfall City Park. The shopping mall is characterized by its African inspired Courts. The Crystal Court is located in the Northern Section of the mall, representing Southern Africa’s mineral wealth with sharp geometric patterns. The Great Lakes Court is located the Eastern Section of the mall, representing the Great Lakes mostly of East Africa and has calm and gentle materials used. The Desert Court is located in the Southern Section of the mall, representing the Sahara Desert of North Africa and has calm motifs used in traditional Berber carpets. The Oleum Court is located in the Western Section of the mall, representing West Africa’s Oil wealth. The Forest Walk Court is in the centre of the shopping mall, representing Central Africa and its rainforests.