South Africa building its own Hollywood

South Africa is looking to build up its film and entertainment industry, with billions of rands earmarked for projects that could transform the country into a bigger destination for international productions.

One of the most ambitious projects is the proposed R7.5 billion Durban Film City, which has been in development for two decades.

The project is among the major social infrastructure developments included in the latest Construction Book from Infrastructure South Africa.

The Construction Book lists projects expected to enter procurement over the next 12 to 18 months, with a combined estimated value of R395 billion.

The broader social infrastructure pipeline includes R52 billion across 16 projects, with the government increasingly looking to public-private partnerships to help deliver major developments.

The Durban Film City is planned for the former 21-hectare Natal Command site opposite Moses Mabhida Stadium and is intended to become a world-class film studio complex.

The R7.5 billion development, conceived by filmmaker Anant Singh, is expected to create 50,000 temporary jobs and 4,300 permanent jobs if fully developed.

However, the project has been stuck in development for 25 years, with disputes over land valuation and difficulties securing municipal electricity and water services among the obstacles.

Singh has continued to push for the project, arguing that Durban is already capable of supporting major film productions but lacks the infrastructure to retain them.

He said his productions of Imbewu in Durban generated R1 billion in spending over five years, despite the lack of a dedicated film infrastructure.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has also backed the project, pointing to the economic potential of the film industry.

“Anant Singh is right,” he said previously. “A film season brings in $200 million in just one season, which is happening in the studios in Cape Town. We need to open another studio here, and he’s been working on it for years.”

The project is now considered part of the government’s broader infrastructure push, which aims to get major developments beyond the planning stage and into construction.

South African infrastructure spending falls short

Speaking at the 2026 Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium in Cape Town, Ramaphosa warned that infrastructure projects must move from planning to implementation much faster.

He said the country had made progress in building an infrastructure pipeline, but investment levels remain below the targets set out in the National Development Plan.

South Africa’s gross fixed capital formation – a measure of investment in productive assets such as infrastructure, machinery and equipment – stood at 12% of GDP in 2025.

“South Africa’s level of investment remains far below what is required to achieve faster and more sustainable economic growth,” he said.

The National Development Plan envisages fixed investment reaching 30% of GDP by 2030, which means that the current level is less than half of the country’s long-term target.

The warning comes despite the National Treasury allocating R1.07 trillion for public infrastructure over the 2026/27 to 2028/29 medium-term expenditure framework.

The three-year budget focuses heavily on transport and logistics, energy, water and sanitation, healthcare, schools, and other public infrastructure.

However, Infrastructure South Africa previously indicated that the government still faces a R1 trillion infrastructure funding gap.

This means that additional public and private investment will be needed to deliver major infrastructure projects in the country.

A key announcement at the symposium was the publication of the latest Construction Book, which Ramaphosa described as an important tool for investors and the construction industry.

Ramaphosa said the Construction Book is intended to give investors and the construction industry greater visibility over the country’s infrastructure pipeline.

“This showcases projects worth more than R350 billion spanning sectors such as water, sanitation, transport and logistics, energy and electricity and municipal infrastructure,” he said.

Infrastructure South Africa said the publication is intended to give contractors, suppliers, and financiers greater certainty about upcoming projects.

This will allow them to prepare capacity, equipment, and skills ahead of procurement. The projects span six major sectors:

• Municipal infrastructure: R112 billion across 10 projects
• Energy: R86 billion across 29 projects
• Transport: R81 billion across 41 projects
• Social infrastructure: R52 billion across 16 projects
• Water and sanitation: R35 billion across 18 projects
• Digital infrastructure: R28 billion across three projects

The Book also includes major public-private partnership projects, such as a national rail corridor, the George Mukhari Hospital project in Gauteng, and the Beitbridge-Musina Water Transfer Scheme in Limpopo.

Moving from planning to execution

When it comes to infrastructure investment, Ramaphosa said publishing projects is only the first step, and the government is now focusing on execution.

“The Construction Book provides the market with a very clear view of funded and investment-ready infrastructure projects that are expected to enter procurement over the next 12 to 18 months,” he said.

He announced that Infrastructure South Africa will begin publishing quarterly performance reports to track project progress.

The aim is to identify projects that are advancing, those falling behind schedule and where intervention is needed to remove bottlenecks.

Ramaphosa also cautioned against poor planning and fragmented spending, adding that the government should not “dump money into projects that are not ready for implementation.”

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson has similarly warned that too many projects have historically stalled between planning and procurement.

According to Macpherson, only 58% of projects included in previous editions of the Construction Book have progressed into procurement activity – an improvement, but “not yet good enough”.