Soweto's Sprawling Mall

Shopping in Soweto used to be a sober affair. Not like the pomp and ceremony that accompanies a northern suburbs shopping spree today. No, your choices were scant and they wavered between spaza shops, spaza shops and? yip? more spaza shops. More often than not, said spazas were sparsely stocked.
But since the new dispensation swept in circa 1994, Sowetans were at long last bequeathed with retail choices. Mall after shimmering mall emerged from the township sprawl. But none so decadent and stylish as the massive Maponya Mall. 

It's been dubbed the Sandton City of Soweto, and has everything from food and groceries, fashion, restaurants, entertainment, furniture, services and banks all under one roof. It boasts more than 180 shops, including the ubiquitous retail giants like Pick 'n Pay, Woolies, Edgars, Toys R Us, Mr Price and Clicks, and lures hundreds of thousands of shoppers each month.
The mega-mall, opened by none other than former president Nelson Mandela in 2007, cost a whopping R650-million to construct. It's the brainchild of the Don of township retail, resourceful entrepreneur, one Richard Maponya.
 
Besides being one of South Africa's biggest malls, Maponya Mall is also the home of the Hector Pieterson memorial statue -- a gift from the people of Sweden to commemorate the historic Soweto riots -- and the Ster Kinekor Wall of Fame devoted to local and international movie stars.
Maponya Mall is open daily from 9am to 9pm, and is located in Pimville on the Old Potch Road. Visit www.maponyamall.co.za for more info.

---

Want to review something in the city? Click here

---

---