The JSE-listed company snapping up ‘forgotten’ shopping malls across South Africa

Dipula Properties is betting on retail assets in underserved areas like townships for future growth, with this strategy serving it well in the 2025 financial year.

Found in 2005 with a R300 million portfolio, Dipula now has a stable of retail, office, industrial and residential properties worth over R10.8 billion.

The company listed on the JSE in 2011 with a market cap of R1.8 billion which it has since grown to R6.6 billion.

Its holdings span convenience, rural and township retail, as well as office, industrial and affordable residential rental properties in key urban locations.

The majority, 48%, of the company’s gross lettable area (GLA) is in retail properties, with Dipula specifically focussing on conveniently located community retail centres.

This enable tenants to serve communities with essential goods and services close to where they live. 

Dipula’s portfolio extends across urban, township, and rural areas throughout South Africa, with the majority, 58%, of its GLA located in Gauteng.

On 12 November, Dipula released its results for the 2025 financial year, which revealed how this strategy of targeting retail properties in underserved areas of the country is paying off.

The company reported a 4% increase in revenue to R1.52 billion and 3% growth in net property income to R905 million.

Dipula’s full-year distributable earnings per share increased by 5% to 57.26 cents, while its net asset value shot up by 7.5% to R6.8 billion.

In the year ended 31 August 2025, Dipula completed property disposals of R197 million but made acquisitions worth R694 million.

These acquisitions consisted of purchase agreement for five properties at a weighted average yield of around 10%.

The largest of these was the acquisition of Protea Gardens Mall in Soweto, Gauteng, a 24,141 m²  community shopping centre, for R478 million.

The property is anchored by big-name retailers like Shoprite, Boxer, and Cashbuild, along with a mix of national fashion brands.

The company explained that this acquisition aligns with Dipula’s strategic focus on expanding its portfolio through the addition of well-located, quality convenience, township, and rural retail assets. 

South Africa’s R1 trillion goldmine

In a media presentation following the release of Dipula’s 2025 results, CEO Izak Petersen explained that the group is looking for more acquisitions in the retail sector, which “still has legs”.

He said the company is particularly eyeing rural and townships locations where there is a clear need and undersupply.

Peterson added that the company’s “sweet-spot” for retail properties is one-level centres of about 10,000 m to 30,000 m².

This strategy positions the company well to tap into South Africa’s booming informal economy, which has gone largely overlooked and, therefore, underserved, until recently.

Informal economy expert GG Alcock has estimated that the informal sector could be worth between R750 billion and R1 trillion.

This sector’s attractiveness lies in its strong growth, as it is seemingly immune to South Africa’s structural economic problems.

While South Africa’s formal economy has grown by less than 1% on average over the past decade, the informal sector has grown by high single digits.

Therefore, the value lying in this sector has drawn the attention of several big, JSE-listed companies over the past few years, with giants like Shoprite, Tiger Brands, and Capitec making big moves into the space.

This is also the reason behind Dipula’s push into townships and more rural areas of South Africa, which present significant opportunities, particularly in the retail space.

This strategy has served Dipula well over the past few years, with Peterson explaining that the country’s vibrant informal economy, along with lower interest rates, boosted the group’s strong 2025 results.

Dipula’s share price is up nearly 23% in the year to date.