The Princess Mkabayi Mall is located in KwaZulu-Natal, one of the nine provinces of South Africa.
Named after the powerful Zulu warrior princess Mkabayi, the mall is co-owned by property development companies Moolman Group, Twin City Development, JB and Green Giraffe. It offers a diverse range of retail, entertainment, recreation and leisure facilities.
The initial sod-turning ceremony for the project was held in 2021 and the site was officially handed over to the developers in June 2023.
The Princess Mkabayi Mall was opened in October 2024.
In October 2025, the mall was recognised as the ‘Best Rural & Small-Town Developments’ by the SAPOA Property Development Awards.
Location
The Princess Mkabayi Mall is located on Oos Street, 1.7km south of Vryheid central business district in the AbaQulusi municipality of KwaZulu-Natal province. It is Moolman Group’s first retail mall to open in the KwaZulu-Natal region, with the Prince Buthelezi Mall being the second mall.
Bound by Vryheid Airport and Hoerskool Pionier, the mall was developed on a 23-hectare (ha)/57-acre site and is part of a larger mixed-use development comprising offices, a hotel and casino, and apartments.
Vryheid is a self-sustained town comprising schools, a district hospital and industries. It was lacking any major retail facilities to serve the catchment area, making it an ideal locale for the mall development.
The mall is the biggest within a 100km radius. It is located near the towns of Lake Side and Bheka Zala, and major attractions such as Kerk Street, Bloemnel, the Vryheid Spar Centres and Vryheid Plaza.
Princess Mkabayi Mall details
The Princess Mkabayi Mall is a single-level shopping centre with a gross leasable area of 30,740m² (330,882ft²). It features a total of 70 stores with a mix of national retailers in categories such as fashion, health and beauty, food, entertainment and lifestyle.
The retail centre was developed using a modern architectural approach and features beautifully designed interiors with artistic touchpoints and a main entrance with unique design elements such as murals, woven motifs, a memorial fountain and timber finishes, which celebrate and respect the area’s cultural heritage.
The mall provides free Wi-Fi, workstations and charging stations along with comfortable seating for visitors. It has 831 free open parking spots, which can be accessed through two entrances, and 192 taxi parking spaces along with a central taxi rank.
Retail and entertainment offerings at Princess Mkabayi Mall
The mall is anchored by Shoprite, Checkers, Dis-Chem, Jaywelani and Woolworths.
Some of the fashion, footwear and clothing retailers include Ackermans, Edgars, Truworths, Pep and Jet, along with Cape Union Mart, Clothing Junction, JAM Clothing, The Fix and Milady’s. Other retailers include Foschiini, Tekkie Town, LEGiT, Old Khaki and Studio 88.
Speciality retailers include Crazy Plastics, Crazy Pets, Cash Crusaders, and Petshop Science, while health and beauty retailers are Clicks, Torga and Specsavers.
Food options at the mall include Mugg & Bean, Nando’s, Hungry Lion, Debonairs Pizza and Fish-Aways, along with fast-food outlets.
Banking and financial services providers are Nedbank, Truworths, Capitec Bank, Supreme Finance and Absa.
The mall features a large entertainment area, a children’s play area, a centralised meeting area and dining spaces.
Sustainability features
The Princess Mkabayi Mall is solar-powered and equipped with a generator for backup power to minimise the effects of load shedding.
An on-site water plant is installed for the mall’s gardens’ irrigation system.
Contractors involved
The mall was designed by MDS Architecture, an architectural practice based in South Africa.
Matla Quantity Surveyors, a professional quantity surveying practice, was the quantity surveyor and Streng Consult, a civil engineering company, provided civil and structural engineering services for the project.
Ingplan Consulting Engineers, an engineering services company, was the mechanical and fire engineer and IKOTWE Construction, a construction company, was the main contractor.
Other contractors involved in the project are Orion Project Managers, Cairnmead, Watsol Group and Watson Mattheus Consulting Electrical Engineers, along with Paragon Steel Structures and Tiaan Laker.
Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking assisted the construction partners in delivering the project.
