Kagiso – A new shopping centre forming part of a planned R5 billion smart city development has officially opened in Kagiso, Gauteng, marking the first major milestone in a project expected to transform the West Rand through housing, commercial investment and job creation.
The 42,000-square-metre Leratong City Shopping Centre opened on October 29, 2026, with 89 retail tenants, including Shoprite, Pick n Pay, Boxer, Clicks, Mr Price, KFC and McDonald’s.
According to BusinessTech, the shopping centre is the first completed component of the broader Leratong Smart City Development, a public-private partnership involving the Gauteng provincial government, Mogale City Local Municipality, Trendville Investments and McCormick Property Development.
The development is expected to include approximately 15,000 housing units, a commercial precinct and a private hospital, alongside other essential services and infrastructure.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi welcomed the opening, describing the project as an important economic milestone for the province.
SPONSORED: Retail hub launch brings 89 stores and paves the way for thousands of new homes in Mogale City.
https://t.co/iR3TDnXyEO
— Krugersdorp News (@KrugersdorpNews) November 2, 2026
“A new City! A new Gauteng economic node! New opportunities for all! A better Gauteng,” Lesufi said.
The project is part of Gauteng’s broader strategy to address its housing backlog by developing integrated urban centres where residents can access housing, employment opportunities, businesses and essential services closer to home.
A report by MyBroadband indicates that the wider development could accommodate up to 16,000 housing units, although earlier municipal plans had outlined different figures for its various phases.
Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements Tasneem Motara announced at the mall’s opening that the province was targeting the delivery of 3,500 homes before the end of 2027.
According to Krugersdorp News, the construction of the shopping centre supported approximately 1,096 local employment opportunities and 44 small businesses and companies.
Once fully developed, the wider project is expected to support approximately 2,500 permanent jobs.
Wider growth
Mogale City Executive Mayor Lucky Sele said the opening represented progress towards a development that had been in the planning stages for years.
“A vision, however compelling, cannot transform a community while it remains on paper,” Sele said, according to the municipality’s statement published by Municipality News.
He added that the development needed to extend beyond the shopping centre and contribute to the wider growth of Kagiso, the West Rand and Mogale City.
However, the wider smart city project is expected to take several years to complete, with its success depending on the implementation of the remaining residential, healthcare and commercial components.
MyBroadband has also pointed out that publicly available municipal planning documents provide limited detail about the digital and information technology infrastructure that would distinguish Leratong as a smart city.
For now, the opening of Leratong City Shopping Centre marks the first tangible step towards the R5 billion development, which is intended to establish a new economic and residential hub in Gauteng’s West Rand.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
