Property

South African skyscraper crumbled into ruin and then bounced back

Kirsten Minnaar • 1 February 2025

The iconic Ponte City building in Johannesburg was once the tallest building in South Africa, but within a few decades, it became overrun by gangs, drugs, and prostitution. Today, it is making a comeback.

Located in the heart of Johannesburg’s central business district, Ponte City was built in 1975 by principal designer Mannie Feldman, working in a team alongside Manfred Hermer and Rodney Grosskopff.

This 54-story brutalist building is cylindrical, offers 270-degree panoramic views of the city, and has an open centre known as “the core”.

According to Grosskopff, the decision to make the building circular was based on a bylaw that required kitchens and bathrooms to have a window.

Thus, the circular design and hollow interior allowed light to enter the apartments from both sides.

At 173 meters, the Ponte City building was the tallest residential skyscraper in Africa for 48 years.

The neon sign on top of the building is still the largest in the southern hemisphere, and advertised the Coca-Cola Company before 2000.

While it was once a sought-after location, it fell into disrepair as corporations started abandoning Johannesburg’s central business district as a result of apartheid-era sanctions.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the building became overrun by violent gangs and was a hub for drug trafficking and prostitution.

Gangs stripped the building and charged people to stay there, and since there was no maintenance, people threw their trash into the core.

There were even bodies of suicidal people who threw themselves over—eventually, bodies and trash piled up multiple floors high.

Fortunately, the building’s fortunes would soon change.

In the mid-90s, the Kempston Group acquired the building it still owns today. Originally a trucking company, the group owns about 100 commercial, industrial, and farming properties around South Africa.

When the building was taken over in 2001, after years of neglect, five stories of discarded trash had to be removed as the building’s rejuvenation took place, CNN reported.

“We bought in large conveyer belts with earth-moving equipment, and we started moving it out,” explained Kempston Group founder Tony Cotterell, who oversaw the renovation.

The group has invested tens of millions of dollars into the project. Renovations were pushed along, and squatters were evicted when it was announced in 2004 that the 2010 FIFA World Cup would be hosted in South Africa.

Renovations continued after the World Cup, and during the late 2000s and 2010s, the building became a hotspot shooting destination for blockbuster movies.

One of the final shots of the 2009 film District 9 is of the tower. The skyscraper “Peach Trees” featured in the 2012 film Dredd is also heavily inspired by Ponte Tower.

Parts of the film Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and parts of the series The Last Days of the American Crime were also shot at Ponte City.

Today, the building offers 486 apartments for rent, with prices ranging from R2,800 for a studio to R5,300 for a three-bedroom apartment. People can also rent a two-bedroom apartment on Airbnb for around R1,186 a night.

Ponte’s neon sign now advertises the South African mobile phone company Vodacom.

However, despite its renovation, it is still struggling to shake off its former reputation entirely.

According to Africa News, the neighbourhood remains rundown and littered with rubbish, and even Uber drivers are nervous about going to Ponte City, especially at night.

Inner-city foundation Dlala Nje — Zulu for “Let’s have fun!” is committed to changing the building’s reputation and offers a “Ponte Experience” tour, which includes guided tours of the building and its history.

For thrill-seekers and fitness enthusiasts, the company also offers a “Ponte Challenge”, where people can explore the building by running its 948 stairs.