African Reservations

Sandton is a wealthy area situated within the metro of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. The name comes from the combination of two of its suburbs, Sandown and Bryanston. In 1969 Sandton was promulgated as a municipality in its own right, but lost its status as an independent town after the re-organisation of South African local governments. One of the main attractions in Sandton is Sandton City, which ranks among the largest shopping centres in Africa. Together with Nelson Mandela Square, the centre, with some 144,000 m2 of shopping space, is one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, larger than Sydney'sWestfield Parramatta or Melbourne's Southland Shopping Centres.

Much of Johannesburg's business tourism is centred on Sandton, which has a string of 5-star hotels. Liberty Properties chief executive Samuel Ogbu has envisaged the complex as South Africa's very own Wall Street "Africa is not for sissies, but we have a bold vision, which is to see the Sandton City precinct as our own Wall Street." The redevelopment will include the construction of a 60-storey office tower, a new hotel, new retail and office space and residential apartments. The 60-storey office tower will be the tallest building in Africa, replacing the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg CBD. The extension will stretch to 30 000 m2 and the total complex will have a gross lettable area of 158 000 m2 . London-based RTKL Associates have been chosen to design the complex.

Nelson Mandela Square, formerly known as Sandton Square, was renamed in March 2004, after the unveiling of a 6-metre bronze statue of the former president, one of South Africa's greatest statesmen. Perhaps ironically, Liliesleaf Farm, where Nelson Mandela lived in the early 1960s and where many leading political activists were arrested in 1963 and tried as part of the now infamous Rivonia Trial, is just north of Nelson Mandela Square, close to the N3 Highway, off Rivonia Road.