BUILDING contractor Grinaker-LTA says it has started its R370m contract for the construction of Soweto’s Maponya Mall.

Grinaker-LTA Building MD Neil Cloete says good progress has been made to date with the first slabs cast and the first of the mall’s columns erected.

The group says the 60000m² shopping centre in Klipspruit is scheduled to be completed in September next year.

Developed in a partnership between Soweto businessman Richard Maponya’s Maponya Group and Zenprop Property Holdings, the mall will feature national retailers such as Pick ’n Pay, Woolworths, Edgars, Truworths and the Foschini Group.

Grinaker-LTA’s project follows the completion by the contractor of the R120m contract for the construction of Umlazi Mega City on the outskirts of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

Umlazi Mega City is the township’s first sizeable shopping centre and offers 28000m.²