Johannesburg, South Africa
South Africa's Deeds Registry tells anyone who pays R19 who owns a Johannesburg property and what was paid for it, but only one enquiry at a time through a DeedsWeb account; the City's valuation roll sits behind an accept-the-terms gate, so owners here come from REIT filings, state pages and reported sales.
10 buildings · 7 with an owner established · 36 sources · 4 tier B · 6 tier A · prepared 2026-10-20
South Africa has a public land register: the Deeds Registration offices (Johannesburg is one of eleven) record every transfer and bond, and the Chief Registrar of Deeds sells the facts to any registered DeedsWeb user — the registered owner, the purchase price, interdicts and copies of title deeds. An enquiry about a person, property or deed costs R19 under the schedule effective 1 April 2026, after a R229 registration fee and R19 a month. Bulk extracts, an API and weekly or monthly subscriptions exist, all billed to a DeedsWeb account. The City of Johannesburg's valuation roll (934,652 properties, R1.5 trillion, valued at 1 July 2022) is online, but only after accepting terms that forbid copying or redistributing it.
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The marquee buildings
The towers that set the tone of the core, and who holds them. A price is the price a document states, on the date it states — not an estimate of what the building is worth now.
| Building | Use | Owner | Owner type | Last price paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandton City (shopping centre and office towers) Corner Rivonia Road and 5th Street, Sandhurst, Sandton 146,047 m² GLA (Pareto) |
Mixed use | Liberty Group Limited (Standard Bank Group) and Pareto Limited (GEPF), co-owners Pareto lists Sandton City (146,047 m² GLA, 385 stores) in its own portfolio and calls itself a fund that holds assets 'wholly-owned or co-owned alongside like-minded investors'; its 50th-anniversary release names 'Liberty Two Degrees' among the partners. Pareto's timeline says the GEPF became its sole shareholder in August 2021. The 75%/25% Liberty/Pareto split is stated in Southern Sun's 3 Feb 2026 SENS for the adjoining Sandton Consortium properties, not for the mall itself, so no stake is given here. Liberty Two Degrees' own site (522) did not open. No sale price for the mall is published. |
Public company | —B |
| Sandton Convention Centre, Sandton Towers, Garden Court Sandton City and Sandton Sun (Sandton Consortium properties) Erf 596 Sandown Extension 38 (Towers, Garden Court, Convention Centre, Virgin Active); Sandton Sun on an adjoining erf, Sandton |
Hotel | Liberty Group Limited (75%) and Pareto Limited (25%), undivided shares Liberty 75% / Pareto 25% undivided shares Southern Sun's SENS of 3 Feb 2026 says it operates these properties under long-term leases for Liberty Group (a wholly owned Standard Bank Group subsidiary) and Pareto (100% GEPF, managed via the PIC), who 'respectively own undivided shares ... of 75% and 25%'. Southern Sun and Pareto proposed buying Liberty's 75% of the Erf 596 assets, valued at R1,102 million (Southern Sun's 50% = R735 million). The independent valuation was R1,435 million at 31 Dec 2024. On 9 Mar 2026 Southern Sun said Pareto had exercised its pre-emptive right and the deal was off. Whether Pareto has since completed a purchase is not stated. |
Public company | ZAR R1,102 million (proposed, for Liberty's 75%; terminated) 2026-02 Agreed non-binding terms, not a completed sale; terminated 9 Mar 2026 when Pareto exercised its pre-emptive right (s9). A |
| Mall of Africa Magwa Crescent, Waterfall City, Midrand |
Retail | Attacq Waterfall Investment Company (AWIC) — Attacq Limited subsidiary; GEPF holds 30% of AWIC 100% via AWIC (Attacq 70% / GEPF 30% of AWIC) Attacq's release of 7 May 2024 says its subsidiary AWIC 'acquires the remaining 20% stake in Mall of Africa, securing sole ownership'. A separate Attacq release says Attacq and the GEPF concluded a R2.7 billion transaction in which the GEPF acquired a 30% stake in AWIC (announced as R2.8 billion). Attacq describes Waterfall City as lying between Johannesburg and Pretoria; Midrand is within the City of Johannesburg. The price paid for the 20% is not given on the pages read. Whether the Waterfall land under the mall is freehold or leasehold was not established. |
REIT | —A |
| Rosebank Mall and the Rosebank Precinct (17 Baker Street, The Mall Offices, Cradock Heights) Cradock Avenue / Baker Street, Rosebank 91,096 m² GLA (FY2025) |
Mixed use | Hyprop Investments Limited 100% effective ownership Hyprop's 2025 Integrated Annual Report lists the Rosebank Precinct (Rosebank Mall, 17 Baker Street, The Mall Offices and Cradock Heights) at 91,096 m² total GLA, 100% effective ownership, 130 stores and 12.0 million annual foot count. Its timeline records buying Rosebank Mall and the adjacent Mall Offices at a stated value of R320 million; the year of that purchase is not legible in the extracted timeline, so no acquisition date is given. 17 Baker Street is described as moth-balled. Hyprop's head office is at Cradock Heights, Rosebank. |
REIT | —A |
| Hyde Park Corner Jan Smuts Avenue, Hyde Park |
Retail | Hyprop Investments Limited (50% undivided share sold to a Millennium Equity Partners subsidiary, subject to conditions) Hyprop's 2025 Integrated Annual Report says it concluded an agreement in FY2025 to sell a 50% undivided share in Hyde Park Corner to a subsidiary of Millennium Equity Partners for R805 million, subject to conditions precedent, with a put-and-call arrangement on the remaining 50%. Hyde Park Corner was in Hyprop's original 1988 listing portfolio. Whether the conditions have since been met is not stated in the report. |
REIT | ZAR R805 million (50% undivided share, conditional) 2025 Agreement concluded in Hyprop's FY2025 (year to 30 June 2025), subject to conditions precedent. A |
| Carlton Centre 150 Commissioner Street, Johannesburg CBD 75,355 m² floor area (Wikipedia infobox, s27) · 50 floors |
Mixed use | Transnet SOC Ltd EWN (24 Aug 2026): 'Transnet has taken the first step towards selling 15 of its properties, including Johannesburg's iconic Carlton Centre', a '50-storey landmark in Johannesburg's inner city', as part of disposing of non-core property; 'the company has not yet sold the properties'. The building has been associated with Transnet 'for more than two decades'. No asking price is stated in the article read; earlier reports of a near-R1 billion asking price were not opened. |
Government | —A |
| Usindiso building (fire-gutted, Marshalltown) 80 Albert Street (corner Delvers Street), Marshalltown, Johannesburg CBD |
Residential | Not established the source would not open 77 people died in an August 2023 fire at the 'hijacked Usindiso building' (EWN). The Khampepe commission's first report (May 2024) found the City of Johannesburg and the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) partly responsible, and recommended the City demolish it. Its part two (Sept 2025) found Johannesburg had 188 hijacked buildings, 14 of them privately owned, and that some city-owned 'bad buildings' were wrongly classed as hijacked. The City's ownership of No. 80 is widely reported but no opened page states it in terms; the Gauteng government's report host is robots-disallowed. Distress, not a sale. |
Not established | —B |
| Ponte City (Ponte Tower) Lily Avenue / Saratoga Avenue, Berea |
Residential | Kempston Group The City of Johannesburg's own newsroom (2011/12 archive) calls the Kempston Group the 'long-time building owner' and says the 173-metre hollow cylinder, built in 1975, 'has always been a furnished rental block' of 470 flats. That is a dated statement. A later Citizen report that the tower is up for sale by private tender was not opened, because citizen.co.za's terms forbid commercial robot use. A 2007 'New Ponte' takeover by outside developers collapsed and ownership returned to Kempston (per Wikipedia, not relied on here). |
Private company | —B |
| Constitution Hill (Old Fort, Women's Jail, Number Four, Constitutional Court) 11 Kotze Street, Braamfontein |
Civic | Not established a paid title search would answer it The precinct's own site says 'Constitution Hill is a subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth & Development Agency' (GGDA, an agency of the Gauteng provincial government) and lists the GGDA, the provincial Department of Economic Development, the Johannesburg Development Agency and the Constitutional Court as partners. That establishes the operator, not the title holder: who holds title to the land and to the Constitutional Court building (provincial, City or national Public Works) is not stated on any page opened. A R19 DeedsWeb enquiry would answer it. |
Not established | —A |
| Ellis Park Stadium (10bet Ellis Park; formerly Emirates Airline Park, Coca-Cola Park) 47 North Park Lane, Doornfontein |
Civic | Not established a paid title search would answer it The City's page says the stadium is named after a Johannesburg City Council official 'who made the initial area for the stadium available'. Wikipedia's infobox lists four owners at once: the City of Johannesburg, Luxolo Tyhaliti Holdings, Interza Lesego and Ellis Park Stadium (Pty) Ltd. That is not a register entry, and the split between landowner, leaseholder and operator is not stated. EWN (3 Jul 2026) reports that the Lions' home is now officially '10bet Ellis Park' under a five-year naming-rights deal; Emirates' naming deal ended in 2025. The City as landowner, with a long lease, is the likely structure but was not documented. |
Not established | —B |
The core land
The most valuable ground in the city, and what the public record says about it.
Johannesburg's most valuable ground is the Sandton–Rosebank–Waterfall office and retail belt in the north, not the old CBD, which carries most of the city's hijacked and abandoned buildings. The City's valuation roll prices every property but sits behind a no-copy terms gate, so no highest-valued parcel can be published. What can be: the roll's totals, the Deeds Registration's annual sale volumes, and independent valuations disclosed in listed-company filings.
Who owns the town
At this scale the significant owner is rarely a trust or a fund: it is one or two local holding companies, a family in its second or third generation, and often the land around the town rather than the buildings in it.
Public bodies own much of Johannesburg's ground: the City through its property and housing companies, the state transport groups (Transnet, PRASA) around the CBD and the rail corridors, the province at Constitution Hill and its agencies, and the two universities in Braamfontein, Parktown and Auckland Park. None of them publishes a hectare-by-hectare register. The figures below are each body's own description of its holding, not a ranking.
| Name | Type | Holding as the body states it |
|---|---|---|
| City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, via the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) The City says JPC was set up, with the City as single shareholder, 'to develop and manage Council-owned properties for the purpose of maximising both social and commercial opportunities' (s21). The City's 2024/25 Integrated Annual Report says JPC recorded R660.2 million investment spend and raised R129.9 million from acquisitions, advertising, leases and sales (s28). The Usindiso commission found the City and JPC partly responsible for the 2023 fire. |
Government | Council-owned property portfolio (count not published); R129.9 million raised from acquisitions, advertising, leases and sales in 2024/25A |
| Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO) The City's social-housing company. Its 'Who we are' page describes developing social and rental housing and 'the meticulous refurbishment and management of city-owned properties, including hostels'. |
Government | over 9,000 rental unitsA |
| Transnet SOC Ltd EWN, 24 Aug 2026: Transnet has 'taken the first step towards selling 15 of its properties', including shopping centres, golf courses and other commercial property. The size of Transnet's Johannesburg land holding is not stated. |
Government | 15 properties identified for disposal (national), including the Carlton CentreA |
| University of the Witwatersrand Wits' 'Facts and figures' page lists 7 campuses (including the Wits Rural Facility), 400 buildings and 18 residences (s30). Its history page says 'today, the campuses are some 400 hectares in extent', including the Milner Park showgrounds, bought in 1984 from the Witwatersrand Agricultural Society and renamed West Campus (s31). |
Institution | some 400 hectares; 400 buildings; 7 campuses (incl. the Wits Rural Facility outside Gauteng)A |
| Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), via Pareto and AWIC Pareto's timeline: GEPF sole shareholder from August 2021 (s11). Attacq: GEPF acquired a 30% stake in AWIC in a R2.7 billion transaction (s14). The Public Investment Corporation manages the fund's assets. |
Pension fund | 100% of Pareto; 30% of Attacq Waterfall Investment CompanyA |
| Gauteng Provincial Government — Gauteng Growth & Development Agency (Constitution Hill) Constitution Hill's own site says it is 'a subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth & Development Agency'. That is operation; title was not established. gauteng.gov.za is robots-disallowed (Disallow: /), so the province's property pages and the Usindiso report were not read. |
Government | operates the Constitution Hill precinct through a subsidiaryA |
Who builds the houses
New-home building in this market: the volume, and the firms behind it. Ownership of a builder matters as much as its volume — a private-equity platform and a family firm behave differently.
New homes in Johannesburg come in three streams: large 'integrated' developments on City-partnered land in the south and west (Fleurhof, South Hills), where listed builders sell subsidised, gap-market and open-market homes; inner-city conversion and rental, dominated by a few specialist landlords and the City's own social-housing company; and estate and high-rise building in the north (Waterfall, Fourways, Midrand). There is no official builder league table. The figures below are each company's own, from its annual report or website, and most cover more than the metro.
| Name | Type | Units (as stated) |
|---|---|---|
| Calgro M3 Holdings Calgro M3's 2026 Integrated Report: Fleurhof, 'developed in partnership with the City of Johannesburg', 10 km west of the CBD, 'in excess of 9 000 units' since inception; South Hills, a joint venture with The Standard Bank of South Africa, also with the City, 4 km south of the CBD, 'in excess of 2 400 units'. Its five-year pipeline gives Fleurhof 4,785 units and South Hills 4,449. JSE-listed. |
Public company | 9,000+ units delivered at Fleurhof; 2,400+ at South Hills; 4,785 + 4,449 still plannedA |
| SA Corporate Real Estate (Afhco and Indluplace) SA Corporate's 2024/25 Integrated Annual Report: the residential portfolio (Afhco plus Indluplace, acquired 2023) runs to 179 properties, R7.3 billion, 16,353 units and 4,291 student beds. Its unit-location map puts 7,386 units (45.4%) in the Johannesburg CBD. It reports Afhco inner-city vacancies of 2.3% and has contracted to dispose of 22 non-precinct inner-city residential properties. A landlord more than a builder. |
REIT | 7,386 units in the Johannesburg CBD (45.4% of 16,353 residential units)A |
| Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO) JOSHCO, the City's social-housing company, says its portfolio boasts 'over 9,000 units' and that it refurbishes and manages city-owned properties, including hostels (s29). The City's 2024/25 Integrated Annual Report says JOSHCO completed 556 social housing units in the year, and notes debt owed to it by City departments and entities (s28). |
Government | over 9,000 units; 556 social housing units completed in 2024/25A |
| Divercity Urban Property Group Divercity's own 'The company' page says its development team has 'delivered over 7,500 affordable residential apartments' and expects to build 'more than 10,000 new and green affordable residential units' in the next five years; its gallery lists Johannesburg projects (Jewel City, Maboneng). Its 'Our structure' page gives a lower 'over 5,000', so the figures are the company's own and inconsistent. Commercial asset management is outsourced to Atterbury. The share delivered in Johannesburg is not stated. Unlisted fund. |
Private company | 7,500+ affordable apartments delivered (national)A |
Commercial landlords
The commercial side, counted separately from housing: who holds the office, retail and industrial floor area.
Johannesburg's retail and office stock is held mainly by JSE-listed REITs and by two large state-linked investors: Pareto, owned by the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), and Liberty, owned by Standard Bank. The GEPF also holds 30% of Attacq's Waterfall company, so the state pension fund sits behind Sandton City, Mall of Africa, Cresta and Southgate at once. Growthpoint and Redefine, the two largest SA REITs, could not be read (Cloudflare block; JavaScript-only site).
| Name | Type | Holding as stated |
|---|---|---|
| Pareto Limited (100% Government Employees Pension Fund) Pareto's portfolio page lists eight centres across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Free State, plus a 50% stake in Atterbury Europe. Its timeline gives the GEPF full ownership from August 2021. The Sandton Consortium stake is from Southern Sun's SENS (s8). |
Pension fund | 8 shopping centres; in Johannesburg: Sandton City 146,047 m², Cresta 114,545 m², Southgate 69,750 m² GLA; 25% of the Sandton Consortium hotels and convention centreA |
| Hyprop Investments Limited Hyprop's 2025 Integrated Annual Report: 'We own nine retail centres in South Africa, four are located in the Western Cape and five in Gauteng.' It sold 50% of Hyde Park Corner for R805 million, subject to conditions. |
REIT | 9 SA retail centres (5 in Gauteng); Johannesburg: Rosebank Precinct 91,096 m², Hyde Park Corner, Clearwater, The Glen (75.16%)A |
| Attacq Limited (Attacq Waterfall Investment Company) Attacq's Waterfall City page gives 156,000 m² of premium logistics space and lists the precinct's office campuses, Mall of Africa and Waterfall Corner. The GEPF holds 30% of AWIC (R2.7 billion transaction, s14). |
REIT | Mall of Africa (100% via AWIC); 156,000 m² of logistics space at Waterfall CityA |
| Liberty Group Limited (Standard Bank Group) Southern Sun SENS of 3 Feb 2026 (s8). Liberty's 75% interest in the Erf 596 assets was valued at R1,076 million at 31 Dec 2024. |
Public company | 75% undivided share of the Sandton Consortium properties; co-owner of Sandton CityA |
| SA Corporate Real Estate Limited SA Corporate's home page: 23 retail, 45 industrial, 179 Afhco and Indluplace residential, 18 storage and 2 commercial properties. Its Johannesburg weight is in inner-city residential (see residential). |
REIT | 241 properties valued at R18 billion; 1.6 million m² GLA (national)A |
Looked for and not found
Claims this page would have made if a source could be opened. They are left out rather than guessed.
- Liberty 75% / Pareto 25% of the Sandton City shopping centre itself: stated in Liberty Two Degrees' 2020–21 integrated reports according to search snippets, but the host was down (522) and the split was only confirmed for the adjoining Sandton Consortium properties.
- Whether Pareto has completed buying Liberty's 75% of the Sandton Consortium properties after exercising its pre-emptive right (Southern Sun SENS, 9 Mar 2026). No completion announcement was found.
- City of Johannesburg as registered owner of the Usindiso building, 80 Albert Street: widely reported, and JPC leased it to an NGO from 2003 (per news snippets), but no opened page states the City's title.
- Ponte City's current owner and any 2020s sale by private tender: the City's own statement that Kempston Group is the owner dates from 2011/12; the Citizen sale report could not be read under its terms.
- Land tenure under Waterfall City and Mall of Africa (freehold or long leasehold from the original landowning family's entities): not established from Attacq's readable pages.
- Ellis Park: City as landowner, and the current lessee or operator (Ellis Park Stadium (Pty) Ltd / Lions): not documented on an opened page.
- Carlton Centre asking price (reported near R1 billion in an earlier failed sale): not on an opened page.
- Holdings of PRASA (Park Station, the rail corridors), Eskom and City Power, the National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, the University of Johannesburg and the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development: hosts unreachable, blocked or JavaScript-only; entities only, no figures.
- Balwin Properties (Waterfall, Fourways and Midrand estates) as a leading Johannesburg residential developer: its site's terms forbid robot reading, so no unit count was taken.
- Growthpoint and Redefine Johannesburg office holdings (Sandton, Rosebank): sites blocked or JavaScript-only.
Sources
- Fees Schedule — schedule of fees under the Deeds Registries Act, effective 1 April 2026 (2026/2027) — Deeds Registration (Chief Registrar of Deeds), Department of Land Reform and Rural Development · openA
- Services — Deeds Registration Trading Entity online services (DeedsWeb, API, bulk data, subscriptions) — Deeds Registration · openA
- Statistics — Property Trend 1995–2026 by deeds registry (transfers, bonds, purchase price) — Deeds Registration · openA
- General Valuation Roll 2023 (GVR2023) — e-Services — City of Johannesburg · openA
- City of Johannesburg – Property Valuation Portal (GVR Online) landing notice — City of Johannesburg · registrationA
- Public notice calling for inspection of the supplementary valuation roll 2026/27 and lodging of objections — City of Johannesburg · openA
- Terms and Conditions (www.joburg.org.za) — City of Johannesburg · openA
- SOUTHERN SUN LIMITED – Proposed transaction to acquire a 50% undivided share in certain Sandton Consortium properties operated by the Group (SENS, 3 Feb 2026) — Southern Sun Limited via JSE SENS (ShareData Online copy) · openA
- SOUTHERN SUN LIMITED – Termination of the proposed transaction (SENS, 9 Mar 2026) — Southern Sun Limited via JSE SENS (ShareData Online copy) · openA
- Our Portfolio / Sandton City shopping centre — Pareto Limited · openA
- Our history (Pareto timeline: GEPF sole shareholder from August 2021) — Pareto Limited · openA
- Sandton City 50th anniversary press release — Pareto Limited · openA
- Attacq Waterfall Investment Company (AWIC) acquires remaining 20% stake in Mall of Africa — Attacq Limited · openA
- Attacq and GEPF conclude landmark equity transaction — Attacq Limited · openA
- Our Precincts — Waterfall City — Attacq Limited · openA
- Hyprop Investments Limited Integrated Annual Report 2025 (year to 30 June 2025) — Hyprop Investments Limited · openA
- Transnet puts iconic Carlton Centre and 14 other properties on the market — Eyewitness News (EWN) · openA
- Usindiso Commission finds CoJ and JPC partly responsible for Marshalltown fire — Eyewitness News (EWN) · openA
- Usindiso Building Fire Commission recommends CoJ consider establishing a directorate for property management — Eyewitness News (EWN) · openA
- Usindiso building inquiry suggests structure be demolished — Eyewitness News (EWN) · openA
- Joburg Property Company — Overview — City of Johannesburg · openA
- Ponte gets a revamp (City newsroom, 2011/12 archive) — City of Johannesburg · openA
- Constitution Hill — home page (footer: 'a subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth & Development Agency') — Constitution Hill · openA
- Ellis Park Stadium / Coca Cola Park — City of Johannesburg · openA
- Ellis Park gets new name after securing rights deal with 10bet — Eyewitness News (EWN) · openA
- Ellis Park Stadium (Wikipedia) — Wikipedia · openB
- Carlton Centre (Wikipedia) — Wikipedia · openB
- City of Johannesburg 2024/25 Integrated Annual Report — Citizens' version — City of Johannesburg · openA
- Who we are — Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO) · openA
- Facts and figures — University of the Witwatersrand · openA
- History and heritage — University of the Witwatersrand · openA
- Calgro M3 Holdings Integrated Report 2026 — Calgro M3 Holdings Limited · openA
- The company — Divercity Urban Property Group · openA
- SA Corporate Real Estate Integrated Annual Report 2024/2025 (year to 31 Dec 2024) — SA Corporate Real Estate Limited · openA
- Our Portfolio (Pareto shopping centres) — Pareto Limited · openA
- SA Corporate Real Estate — home (portfolio summary) — SA Corporate Real Estate Limited · openA