Modderfontein New City: The Failed 'New York' of South Africa

[@megaprojects9649]

Go to curiositystream.thld.co/megaprojects_0222 and use code MEGAPROJECTS to save 25% off today, that’s only $14.99 a year. Thanks to Curiosity Stream for sponsoring today’s video.

[@Swm9445]

You/your writer are indeed correct! Songdo would be a lovely topic to cover.

[@norickreineke8349]

Su-47 please make a video about it

[@norickreineke8349]

Make a video about Su-47 berkut

[@fredred8371]

Video starts at 0:20

[@Zach-ku6eu]

You're refusing to touch the Ukrainian siege! Get some balls for your 5 channels of content ya' cowards!

[@qzwxas100]

I live in South Africa and have never heard about this🤦‍♂️

[@TheBooban]

I don’t think its worthy of a mega project episode.

[@RR-ri4vn]

@@TheBooban why not

[@ismailkoya66]

same here and I consider myself to be somewhat up-to-date with current local and international affairs

[@cashmagesh5135]

@@TheBooban 1st heard of this in 2013, been wondering what happened coz it since was no news for years after

[@foxbat473]

Me tooo🤣🤣🤣

[@AnotherPointOfView944]

According to various online information, including Wikipedia, Johannesburg is the largest city in S. Africa, but NOT a capital city. The country's administrative capital is Pretoria (Tshwane), legislative capital is Cape Town and judicial capital is Bloemfontein (Mangaung).

[@RichardChemaly]

It is, however, the capital of Gauteng Province and holds the provincial legislature :P

[@pholosombethe1098]

And its the commercial capital! But hey, facts boy told me way more things I didnt know about my country so I'll forgive that initial error :)

[@Albatrossamongus]

On paper perhaps, but Johannesburg is the de facto capital city of South Africa.

[@Sam-fy6gu]

@Kgothatso Nthite Not of africa. Nigeria has taken over South Africa so it would be Lagos that's the capital. SA is still slipping n the ppl of sa still think they doing well coz they not like the rest of africa since the white man built everything n its just taking time to wither away. Lol.

[@oarabiletshwagong1736]

Well I think Johannesburg may also be considered the 4th capital because it's the lagest, busiest and most financially important city in our country and it hosts the constitutional court.

[@waltherziemerink]

As a South-African, I can Guarantee you that nobody thought this to be 1) NY of Sa and 2) that this project will actually be completed. The ANC smokes it's own dung and gets high on the fumes incompetence.

[@emmanuelrufai6471]

Hahaha well said 😂

[@scottwarwick7514]

Literally 😂😂😂 It would never have truly been intended to take over Pretoria, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, etc.

[@GreaseJB]

Yeah just a money scheme. lol

[@talyah23]

This rubbish project had nothing to do with the ANC...another corrupt Chinese company comes into Africa and wants to steal and abuse land like Europe use to and was stopped. Your comments aren't even factual and simping for the CCP isn't going to earn you brownie points.

[@Unknown-yn4pk]

it must be because of colonization. ANC is not to blame.

[@figure_0491]

Yes! Give us Songdo South Korea!! Inform me Fact Boi.

[@gmoney4980]

He's gonna Blaze our brains..

[@phomo561]

We already have Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban - we should be improving these cities instead of trying to grow poor old modderfontein into a mega city 😂🤣

[@anjavandermerwe2657]

Right! When Simon spoke about the city just outside of Johannesburg, I just immediately thought Pretoria.

[@phomo561]

@@anjavandermerwe2657 😂😂 I don’t blame you - after all, we are close to actually merging the cities - there are many undeveloped areas slow converging between the jhb northern suburbs and centurion, heading towards Pretoria

[@murrayscott9546]

agreed.those are natural places for sustainable cities. they exist /endure fora reason .

[@jairuskteo]

Maybe name a city, New Cape Town or New Durban next to the old city. To build new housing for residents.

[@salvatoreshiggerino6810]

@Lol Lol It's essentially just another form of apartheid, but with gangsters as the privileged class.

[@malcolmgower1005]

Im from South Africa and I grew up in Modderfontien. I went to school there, played in the streams and in the pine forests around our house. We lived in number 11 Antwerp street. These people demolished my childhood home to resurect an unfinished horrid building in its place. Just as a side note. That house I grew up in, in from 1993 to 2009 was just on 100 years old.

[@simsnyandeni3828]

Joh askies

[@MrEvansjethro]

Good for you. Our parents were denied a decent living because of their skin colur. Who cares? I don't.

[@styre]

Greetings from Lombardy East

[@TipOfAfrica0010]

@@styre you mean modderfontein extension...🤣🤣

[@palesamogorosi8939]

So?

[@ignitionfrn2223]

2:55 - Chapter 1 - The vision 5:10 - Mid roll ads 6:20 - Chapter 2 - The complications 10:30 - Chapter 3 - The end

[@nqobilemsomi3656]

So happy to see you cover South African projects. I feel like we dodged a huge bullet and as many problems as my country has. This was one we did not need

[@styre]

You know for a fact ukuthi a few years later there was going to be a 'Moderfontein New City corruption scandal' if it happened

[@nqobilemsomi3656]

@@styre dude hahaha 🤣what do you call them, commissions. Moderfontein Commission 😅

[@Jinxanpeanut]

@@nqobilemsomi3656 commissions hahahahahahaha i cant stop laughing, thankyou nkosi

[@Chimpira777]

We dodged the chinese neo-capitilism bullet more like it.. to some extent.

[@lucian5389]

@@Chimpira777 too bad they have more than one round in the chamber...

[@WetenskapSuiderland]

Thanks for the video on South Africa. I know Modderfontein well, have spent some time there.The area that the city was to be be built on was originally owned by AECI, a chemicals company that grew big by becoming South Africa's largest producer of explosives used in mining, amongst other things, and the Modderfontain lands was where their factory was stationed, far enough away from anything else so that if it blew up the damage would be limited, yet close enough to make delivery of explosives to the mines across the greater Witwatersrand area fairly easy. The 'reserve' was not really much, and as far as I remember there was a really big issue with the water on the Modderfontein lands due to poisonous run off from the chemical factory. Beautiful patch of land though. Again, thanks for the video.

[@RAFAEL-haufo]

The reserve was awesome beautiful, did you ever mountain bike there? They have removed the antelope that roamed free there, to build more tiny units all around the area which continually encroach on the reserve

[@mvelimolata2968]

Currently half of moodderfontein is owned by a Chinese lady and she has build beautiful expensive town houses there

[@GreaseJB]

jy praat net kak

[@nelmieskinner2850]

Thanks Fact Boi, I love it when you do a video on South Africa. I grew up about 10 kilometers from Modderfontein and I can tell you that area will never be able to be developed into anything even close to resembling those designs. It’s an industrial area where explosions can still be heard on the odd occasion.

[@RAFAEL-haufo]

Used to be. Get with the times

[@302racing3]

Can you cover the National Mall in Washington DC where all the museums are located? It’s an immense operation maintaining all the artifacts Edit: Or maybe that’s a better geographics but either way

[@pretzelhunt]

..In The Shadows

[@brianwilson3458]

It would g well for either.

[@hueykratos]

As a South African i didnt even know this happened😂😂😂

[@stevecrozet306]

it didnt

[@kabelomokoala359]

Same here. Eish our government is a joke man

[@kmakumane258]

@@stevecrozet306 from what i remember it was going to happen, until the government realised that it would exist only to serve rich people and foreigners. it was basically going to be a luxury place where most local people wouldnt be able to afford to live.

[@stevecrozet306]

@@kmakumane258 exactly. It was a non starter

[@dannyarcher6370]

@@kabelomokoala359 Stop voting for it then.

[@mosesnaiker1418]

Hey Simon , Massive fan here . I purchased a home in Modderfontein and its vastly different to the pictures used . The visuals dont do it any justice you should visit or google more recent pics . Conveniently located next to one of the busiest commerce strips in South Africa (Sandton) but quiet enough so that you aren't in constant traffic .

[@amandawatson5931]

You mean Greenstone, surely?

[@AvinashSewpersadh]

Lol @ Moses Comment

[@mikespencer4922]

Bollocks.... Sandton is about 20km away as the crow flies. In between is one of the most densly packed crime slums in the world known as Alex.

[@AvinashSewpersadh]

@@mikespencer4922 its

[@bravebeauty5886]

Modderfontein is also a heritage site due to its contribution to the history of the mining industry. This is an additional reason for the project rejection. I grew up there during the 80's. Most of the surrounding area outside of the neighbourhood (not village) was farmland for hundreds of kms.

[@MJ-ps5pd]

I'm glad this failed. I go hiking in the Modderfontein Reserve all the time. Much better than an urban jungle!

[@RandB_Aquatics]

The area in question is actually developing, just that its going at a slow pace. I go through the area a lot of times a month and there has been a lot of new housing complexes, warehouses and other facilities. Roads being constructed there gives you all the hints u may ask for. Each street end is pointing to something coming up in the near future. ThumPS UP SA

[@wouterstassen4448]

One word, corruption, makes all projects fail in SA.

[@spritemon98]

And Chinese are bad at building

[@roblucci2366]

What corruption?

[@yanginkosintantiso7153]

It was a good thing this failed.

[@talyah23]

This comment is just racist. This project failed as it didn't go through the correct channels to get clearance and wanted to steal land that was not only a nature reserve but being used to build housing for the poor. If anyone is corrupt it's the Chinese companies that come here and bring with all the staff so they only land up with tiny creation and they pay slave wages. You have no idea what you're talking about.

[@ferdi5407]

Thank goodness we who live near Modderfontein can continue to enjoy the natural beauty of the reserve. That new city could never have happened. The 'locals' knew that from the start...

[@roblucci2366]

The Chinese people were just super arrogant, they wanted to do things their own way and didn't want to cater to the government's proposal

[@jason6570]

Couldn't agree more, I've been Mountain biking in Modders reserve for many years now, would be very sad to see it go so I'm really glad this project flopped!

[@williamashurst5912]

You should do an episode on Kusile and Medupi Power Stations, more on how billions are mismanaged, stolen, and just dissapeard.

[@Mmeme2023]

I'm a SAn living and working in sandton Central and I have the occasional business meetings in modderfontein. In my opinion, building a 'city' where the entry level rent is R8k a month is not feasible for rapid growth. If the average income range is R8k - R22k, 1. lower earners cannot afford to live there 2. higher earners want to buy/own property. I've seen these mega developments go up with "rentals only" signs posted. 3. most SAns prefer free standing homes over the loft living concept that is sold here.

[@sphedladla165]

Very true

[@RV-hg2fn]

South Africa has three capitals (Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Pretoria), Johannesburg isn't one of them.

[@world9806]

Joburg its a capital of Gauteng

[@mfihlondwandwe9082]

@@world9806 Gautebg yes, South Africa No.

[@candyshoe2518]

@@world9806 🙄..u dnt knw wat u talking about

[@emmanuelrufai6471]

It has 9 provincial capitals. Pretoria is the Capital. Johannesburg is the commercial capital

[@dannyarcher6370]

@@emmanuelrufai6471 There is no "commercial capital"

[@irnhmmr]

First I ever heard of this project. However, on the other side of the City of Johannesburg, a more successfull new city is being constructed by mostly local investors. Waterfall city has expanded exponentially in the past decade. Partly modeled on the successful Sandton City only about a dozen kilometers south of Waterfall. Simon could do 2 part episodes of both Sandton and Waterfall

[@EU_Red_Fox]

Idk while that’s interesting and promising, anything with SA I’d wait on lol. They always seem to be ready to mess up thing in the name of ‘fixing’ the last or just straight up corruption due to one-party rule without thinking through how to best do things. However waterfall city seems to be a decent private investment that keeps out the bullshit.

[@Rampiesat]

Excellent suggestion.

[@dorrienvenables3057]

Waterfall would have been a better (actual) megaproject to cover

[@ravenblack7052]

Want to know something interesting about Waterfall City? The land was held in trust by two Afrikaner brothers for a Muslim family who purchased it from them during Paul Kruger's presidency. The brothers then essentially operated as proxies for the land. The land was finally legally transferred to the rightful owners at the end of apartheid. Both families held the trust over 3 generations. Who says we can't all get along? Waterfall city has been built on the land on a 99 year lease.

[@BustaHymen]

You should do a video on Naypidaw. Strangest city I ever visited. Went there for work in 2014, maybe things have changed since then, but there were no people there.. Lots of buildings, nice roads (12 lane highway leading in and out of the city, but me and my colleague were the only ones travelling on it). Same thing with the hotel, 5 star luxury hotel and me and my colleague were the only guests. Surreal. I guess the only inhabitants were the animals from Yangoon's zoo, which were moved to the new capital once it was finished.

[@silk1435]

Interesting, I only know of the place thanks to the Top Gear special that went through there

[@BustaHymen]

@@silk1435 Aah, cool! Thanks for the tip, will have to watch that episode. Guess you can't go there anymore, but it's a very interesting country. Wonderful people (in the inhabitated citiies :D )

[@BustaHymen]

I misspelled Yangon. Sorry.

[@murrayscott9546]

Die Aantword ?

[@silk1435]

@@murrayscott9546?

[@TheQuickSilver101]

Wow. Most megaprojects featured here are great for one reason or another. This one was a mega failure. At least it was interesting to learn about. Thank you!

[@johnlshilling1446]

You missed the Great Part... China and its investment partners lost everything! THAT'S a positive worthy of the Mega title...

[@GhostWolf56426]

Please cover the SKA and Meerkat radio telescope projects. Oh, and the capital city of South Africa is Pretoria.

[@jeandrebosman]

3. Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Cape Town

[@booksbicycles7183]

The cruelest joke of it all: despite this failure, our government is planning on building four more "cities": The Mooikloof Mega City east of Pretoria The Lanseria "smart" City around Lanseria International Airport An African Coastal Smart City (their words, not mine) in the Eastern Cape on the Wild Coast Nkosi City on the boarder of the Kruger National Park (one of our biggest tourist attractions - genius idea, I know....) [Hello from South Africa, bye the way!]

[@justcarcrazy]

They can't even fix the roads, how will they build anything new?

[@louisjordaan7096]

I love to see how many of my fellow south africans watch Simons vides

[@warrengans1346]

I don't think Lanseria is such a bad idea: look at what's going on in Ballito and UmDloti thanks to the new airport

[@digithuman]

They are even planning a city in O.R. Tambo international airport

[@karabochamp8204]

Lanseria Megacity has been scrapped the direct contractor in charge ran Bust

[@marchismo8514]

Never thought the Zendai development would make your videos! Yes it was quite unbelievable. The thought of how unaffordable the city like that would be for working people was quite funny. It is very difficult to enter and even harder to maintain a middle class lifestyle in South Africa. It's a small group of 5-8 million people who pay all the taxes (I.e., can't afford to escape all the taxes) and buy all the consumables that drive the economy. There are no safety nets and the cost of maintaining a basic middle class life is so high relative to job opportunities that it's a quick slippery slope down into the poverty bracket if you make a mistake. This tiny group of people has the weight of the rest of the nation (~50 million other people) on their shoulders, with most of the population either unemployed (>50% youth unemployment and 27% general unemployment) or earning below the annual income tax threshold (~£3900/yr). The solution is much more complicated than what a 6 billion dollar "smart city" could provide.

[@benkmarchant]

Why do so few of the population bear the burden?

[@homuraakemi493]

@@benkmarchant because diversity became their strength 🤡

[@daduzadude1547]

@@benkmarchant massive unemployment. Only half of the country has work, and most of those don’t pay taxes as their earnings are under the tax threshold.

[@marchismo8514]

@@daduzadude1547 Exactly. Half the youth population (ages 15 - 34 according to Stats SA) can't find work. It has massive impacts on their lives, their families, and the economy. The solution pushed by our leaders is for everyone to become entrepreneurs in lieu of the "4th industrial revolution", as if millions of young, inexperienced, desperate people can suddenly spot millions of profitable, low capital gaps in the market, and not be outperformed and undercut by entrepreneurs from the West and East who are decades ahead of us in the race. It's basically a survival of the fittest situation.

[@andrewallen9993]

@@benkmarchant Because 95% of the population are a certain ethnic group.

[@xileras]

Hi Simon! Haven't watched the whole video yet, but just wanted to point out that Johannesburg is not the capital of South Africa. South Africa actually has 3 capital cities, of which the "main" one is usually considered to be Pretoria.

[@NjHourquebie]

As a resident of Greater Johannesburg (technically, Ekurhuleni, the metro next door), and a former resident of Linbro Park AH, which shares a border with Modderfontein, Simon is correct. Johannesburg is, indeed, the capital... of Gauteng, the smallest and richest province in the country.

[@xileras]

@@NjHourquebie Right OK, thanks for clarifying the technicality. Every province has its own capital and Simon never mentioned Gauteng.

[@brennedownie419]

I also live close to modderfontein and think it’s actually really confusing to be honest 🤨 Johannesburg is certainly the largest, most populated and wealthiest city in SA but my son (grade 9) is taught that the capital is Pretoria… if u have to choose one 😖 Go figure 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@liamwinter4512]

Are your crime rates as high as we across the globe are lead to believe?

[@psykology9299]

@@liamwinter4512 yes but no, you can go your whole life never experiencing any crime outside of corruption etc and maybe a pickpocket or 2 but it's there, our neighbour's were hospitalized after a farm attack for instance (they were attacked with machetes and pick handles) and shots can be heard frequently in most areas 🤷‍♂️

[@gerhardbotha7336]

I also lived in Modderfontein for a few years. I was aware of a mega development - something vastly different from a mega city. MF is less than 20km from Johburg CBD and Sandton and there are dozens of suburbs like MF around Johburg. So I can not see how this could be labelled a mega city attempt when you have a city complex that houses 6 million plus all around it already. I guess this is another project based on China's artificial credit for infrastructure projects. We opposed this project on some of the things they wanted to do - MF has a nice village atmosphere etc and we did not want that changed. I am sure many politicians wanted to enrich themselves in the process also. Great to see it came to nothing. Its a nice place to live with beautiful nature - If you want to join the rat race, you just have to drive about 5 minutes out. And the four lane roads are nice to use. Thank you to all the centralist communists involved.

[@talyah23]

Just another corrupt CCP project in Africa. Glad it was stopped! 🥳🇿🇦

[@lehammsamm]

A video on Songdo sounds fabulous.

[@robsloan8]

This was my old neighbourhood and they moved all the animals from the nature reserve to another area. Sad to hear about this.

[@EmilyJelassi]

What about all of the (nearly) empty cities that China has built over the years?

[@hashira3031]

The city was not worth it Waterfall City is building a city how a city should be built

[@lindelanibramley3446]

That modderfontein project was going to be a problem . As much as we need a new city more functional , we never needed something that fancy . We are a developing country we need things that will benefit everyone , that city was targeted to the rich and would have created a huge inequality gap. It represented nothing of South Africa and African . I’m glad it got scrapped .

[@palesamogorosi8939]

They never invest in developing townships or rural areas.

[@AgKeClva_]

They also wanna build 4 more cities, which 2 are to be based in the smallest yet most populated province of Gauteng. They also said they will build Vaal River City in 2014, we are still waiting. From the Vaal 🇮🇹 with love, asbonge.

[@matthewmoser1284]

As soon as I heard "Chinese Investment firm" I was like "Ooooohhhh, that's why it failed. It's Economic Neocolonialism."

[@psygremlin1]

Just a note - Johannesburg isn't the capital of South Africa, but of Gauteng Province. Pretoria is the capital, up the road from Johannesburg & Modderfontein (which is still a suburb of Jo'burg at the moment)

[@Tian.S]

Cape Town is a megalopolis. I think Jo'burg, too. Hell, maybe even Durban. Haven't traveled in a while, but Cape Town never ends as far as I've gone the last few years.

[@ARWest-bp4yb]

Hey Simon, the Chinese seem to excel at building cities that no one wants! I would like to see to see a video about Songdo & Sejong City. My wife is Korean so I've been there lots of times, and they're constantly building/redeveloping. How about a video on the relocation of all the U.S. military bases north of the Han River to USAG/ Humphries in Pyeongtaek. This began around 2007 and is still going on. Wy wife worked on that for about eight years, and what little I saw it seemed pretty mega! 👍👍

[@spritemon98]

Not to mention that they break apart like tofu

[@FatGouf]

Chinese excel setting up debt traps by partnering with foreign government making White Elephant projects.

[@SeanBZA]

Don't worry, having not learned from this, they still want to make another 3, more for the ability to siphon off most of the money, than to actually have a functional city at the end.

[@RachaelSA]

Yeah, now they planning to build one next to Kruger park. I'm not complaining cause I have land out there.

[@DavidEvans_dle]

As a person who went to school in NYC and worked in NYC. As soon as the "Smartest Person" in the room suggested. "Let's build the city in the likeness of NYC" - Someone else in the room should have said - "That's a no go!" and proceeded to evict him from the meeting.

[@misslawless6021]

I love the megaprojects videos so much

[@jimBobuu]

Modderfontein, "Mud Fountain"? Wait. Is the the town that made Jayne Cobb famous?

[@jonmel]

No that was Canton

[@cjperry2731]

So much for "Wakanda forever!" I guess lol..

[@bruceboome]

Fascinating. I spent most of my teenage years in Modderfontein from about 1957. In those days it was a dynamite factory with company housing for the employees, with different areas for the hierarchy. Our house was a single story 3 bedroom residence with front and back gardens and veldt next door. In spite of its closeness to Johannesburg, it was quite rural. There were (much) worse places to grow up in.

[@zzyzx0069]

As soon as Simon said "...They wanna put it next to Johannesburg." I face palmed so hard. That's probably one of the dumbest ideas ever. Who in their right mind through that *that* was a good idea? "Let us build a mega-city right next to the biggest city in the entire country that also happens to be in smallest province in the entire country!" I'll go watch the rest of the video now. I finished watching the video now. I'm happy this failed. For once... The gubermint (well the city of Johannesburg municipality) actually did something good, and red taped the hell out of something that could have been bad. I wanted to call this another Chinese money trap but they kinda trapped themselves really. Zendai in it's confusion it wound up hurting itself. Thanks for the video Simon.

[@christopherwalker5017]

@Lol Lol South Africa is different , google waterfall city , or Menlyn Maine or Umhlanga

[@nechyboi4064]

@@christopherwalker5017 You're replying to a troll. Don't waste your energy

[@gooiehoop20]

Wow!!! You live and learn. From what I can remember Modderfontein was an ugly explosives factory. Anything Explosive in Modderfontein would be an industrial accident.

[@VoidGaming42]

Nice to see South Africa getting some attention.

[@ElenarMT]

Utter failure though

[@zoe.machethe]

Lol I've been wondering where the project evaporated to 🤣 I knew it was bound to fail when they referred to it as being like a city that would be found in China 🤣 At least Menlyn is slowly but surely becoming a modern New York city within a city.

[@lornalong6468]

The LAST thing South Africans want is to emulate a Chinese megacity 🙈🤣🤣

[@ravenblack7052]

Of course I knew of this project. Greenstone, Stoneridge, Longmeadow etc are also part of Modderfontein. I am from the north of Johannesburg and let's face it, most of us were chuffed that the Chinese failed to build their mega city. There was a huge concern at the time, that the Chinese company would erect the city using Chinese labour and materials thereby benefiting China only - pretty much as they had been doing in Angola. South Africans were just not going to have it. Well done Saffers on shutting them down. Maar ja, the China malls! Pretty certain none of them are paying taxes as well as getting away with encroaching on municipal land - practically hijacking public spaces.

[@RAFAEL-haufo]

I live near modderfontein and hike and mountain bike there . We do NOT need more developments like this around Johannesburg, our city its too big crowded ugly polluted too many people! NO! And our green lung areas around here keep getting turned into developments with tiny units which enrich the developer's and corrupt anc officials! South Africa is a huge country, we need to build new cities towards the open areas and not on nature reserves!

[@Zakster90]

I know you guys are working on that 7 mile bridge episode by now right? 😉

[@davidclinghamable]

I remember this story, they made such a huge hooha in the papers and we all thought it would be finished by 2020. I am glad it fell through.

[@blacksupreme3604]

IMO i really was rooting for this project as i have been a resident of this area for a basically my entire life and a mega city like this would've definitely benefited our neighbouring township Alexandra which we all know is basically the center of crime due to over population and riff poverty. But the job opportunity that has come from recent smaller projects such a Greenstone... Stoneridge and the like are great employers of many youth and elders from Alex. So i get disturbing nature etc... but we in need of investments in jobs. The more people we can get off the streets in our townships and into well paying honest living jobs, the better. Soooo i am a bit bummed that this project fell through and honestly hope something of it magnitude can become a reality in this area again. Im all about nature but at the rate of decline of our country... the job card definitely trumps the nature reserve card in terms of priority but i do commend the government for not folding at putting real needs of the city before wealth creation for the already wealthy. Side note: I think the current administration and our newly elected major Mpho Phalatse would've been supportive of a project like this but i know at the time of the erection of this project JHB was still under the ANC governments administration... and in simple words... "you know how that sh*t go"😅😅😅

[@lornalong6468]

I hear you and am with you if this could have been considerately & sustainable developed. Could have supplied well needed jobs for a considerable period of time. Too many crooks stirring the pot here.

[@j.t.erasmus7486]

Yes, do the video for Songdo. Thanks for awesome videos. J.T. - South Africa

[@Lost4WordsAdventure]

liked this video fan from South Africa!

[@e.gonnermann4646]

The nature reserve area is a popular destination for Mtb enthusiasts. 9years ago our president painted Utopian pictures of sky trains and Chinese skyscrapers, to garnish voters... his little pie lasted less than two months...

[@EAcapuccino]

Outstanding idea! Yes, Present this South Korean🇰🇷 city in the future if you please! Oh and maybe Chinese🇨🇳 infrastructure projects in the remote Tibetan plateau! Speaking of China, maybe so far unused built cities on Sideprojects? 😊👍👍

[@ReinierFosch]

Have not watched this video yet. But did you know that "modderfontein" literally means Mudd fountain in Dutch? The more you know✌🏿😉

[@kylesanders8276]

My first thought was something like 'modern fountain', but mud fountain seems a more apt name

[@ElenarMT]

LOL

[@quadroblox4872]

Means the samething in afrikaans

[@simonh6371]

@@quadroblox4872 Afrikaans derived from 17th century Dutch

[@garyherbert226]

AECI were a client of mine in the mid 90's. Being a commercial property consultant, I was invited to get involved. Even as a "big thinker", I did not believe it would work. Time has proven my prediction to be accurate.

[@sashennaidoo8892]

I live in one of those “underwhelming” housing developments 🤦🏾‍♂️

[@Bigbadredg14nt]

Tofu construction in South Africa! What could go wrong?

[@gregculverwell]

Quite a few factual errors in this piece. A friend of mine was the Town Clerk (manager) of Modderfontein at the time development was in the planning stage. He showed me the their plans and he was very excited about it but when the Chinese came along he was pushed out It was not 'a backwater' it was an exclusion zone around a dynamite factory. When explosive technology began to take mining away from dynamite, they knew the plant's days were numbered and began to plan a new future for the area. The lack of enthusiasm for the project was not about political sensitivities, it was about the reluctance of the Chinese to pay large enough bribes to the mafia which runs the country to this day. Crooks don't like to be crooked. In fact most of the area (apart from the nature reserve) has been developed - light industrial, major shopping area and a mass of high rise apartments... built by the Chinese to the lowest possible standard & already crumbling (future slums). Interestingly this development is very similar to what was originally plann.

[@Terminator-or6mo]

South African here i learned about this from watching a recent episode about Nigeria's capital so ja i would never heard of it before until now thanks for not overlooking our nation even if it is to call out our leaders corruption

[@Calysto929]

Nice, I live like 40km from Modderfontein and never knew about its history, FYI its "Modder-fon-Tyn" not tine XD

[@RAFAEL-haufo]

You play too much candy crush

[@Calysto929]

@Lol Lol Nederlands is nice maar eks n boertjie uit en uit.

[@DFgamer1078]

Johannesburg isn’t even one of the three capitols 😂

[@RachaelSA]

But it is the financial hub and Joburg probably makes more money than all the others put together.

[@brennedownie419]

Simon! This is fantastic! I live near 5 miles from Modderfontein. Never knew this story … thank you 🙏

[@stroll-and-roll]

Interesting! I have never heard of this project before.

[@stevecrozet306]

it has never existed thats why. It was spoken about many yearss ago but nothing came of the proposal

[@safetyhealthenvironmentalq6333]

I live in South Africa, Go to the Greenstone Mall. But never heard of this project. Just as well, for in the last 12 years, nothing has come off the ground as to mega projects. Balwin Properties and a few others are breaking ground on various projects, but to be honest, you need to earn government official salaries to live in those.

[@capeorbobserver3903]

Who knew that a plan based on Chinese coastal city wouldn't work in rural South Africa? Everyone except London-based consultants, apparently

[@amandawatson5931]

The Gautrain running through the Modderfontein nature reserve caused an incredible amount of damage.

[@rickusjansenvanvuuren5032]

Please keep an eye out for the Government's new "progressive initiative" - the *Mooikloof Mega City* on the outskirts of Pretoria East. This also should be a likewise entertaining project for you to keep an eye on. South Africa, Land where corruption, crime, poverty, empty promises and despair thrives...

[@Yeezy747]

The problem was timing here. That was exactly the same time as waterfall’s development and that’s been on the books for years

[@dylanriddell5778]

Heeey, I grew up a few km from Modderfontein! I left the country around the time the discussions this were starting around this.

[@AskChrisFirst]

I live 5 mins drive from here, and let me tell you, it is a dream to travel through there on my daily commute. There is zero traffic on the wide open roads. The greenery of the overgrown buildings does give it the post apocalyptic look, though.

[@pamelamays4186]

Suggestion: Pittsburgh Steel💛💙❤️

[@michaelmitchell3162]

I habe friends that live in Modderfontein and its a quiet, tranquil place in the middle of a bussy city. There are industrial waist dumps and home waist dumps located in that area aswell as very poor and violent areas. They didnt think this though at all.

[@truebras]

Simon FYI, the capital of South Africa is Pretoria and not Johannesburg. It will be a shame if this mega project went ahead. So, many areas around Johannesburg lack decent infrastructure. Start from there not from fancy pet project. Chinese influence into countries of East Africa is nothing than astonishing. At least in Johannesburg, the local community has political power to voice against such project. But in countries where economy and administration are more tightly controlled by central government, signs of Chinese interests are very overt. South Africa's neighbor, Mozambique is riddled of Chinese led projects.If you ever being to the capital, Maputo, you know what I am talking about. Primarily, they are there to take country resources, such minerals and fishing back to China. What I personally saw in South Africa and Mozambique is that the population at large does benefit of these projects. On the contrary, they loose. Example: Chinese fishing trawlers are pushing local fishers to future extinction.

[@petercowan6361]

What the hell they cannot even fix ESCOM.

[@russellfitzpatrick503]

Sadly China seems to have a fondness for creating such dreamscapes (the 'ghost' cities that dot the remote regions of the country), so this isn't really anything new ...., just that they've done it in someone else's. BTW Jo'burg isn't the captial ..., it's either Pretoria or Cape Town

[@booksbicycles7183]

We actually have three: CPT is the legislative capital, Bloemfontein is the judicial capital and Pretoria/Tshwane is the administrative capital. As with most things in this country... One would have been sufficient and saved a ton of money

[@blacksupreme3604]

Jhb is the capital city of the province...

[@emmanuelrufai6471]

It is Pretoria. Cape Town is the capital of the western cape

[@Nomad_za]

I am South African. Ramaphosa has also stated that he wants to build a mega city, well he calls it a "Smart City" in South Africa again. He has exactly the same ideas as the failed Modderfontein project. Globally South Africa seems to be so united, but at this point in time I can tell you that we could not be more divided. I mean joblessness in South Africa is over 46% as reported by mass media, but I can promise you that that percentage is much higher.

[@revngr7874]

Hey Simon the Golden Gate Bridge is a good mega projects video.

[@sandybarnes887]

It was done on this channel a year ago

[@johanlubbe7473]

I would not call it a mega project but just part of normal urban development. Steyn City, Cosmo City, Waterfall city are also exactly the same sort of urban development projects that did happen and were completed in Johannesburg. The Hazeldean development in Pretoria is also a large urban development in Tshwane. Mooikloof Mega-City is another one. "City" is the new marketing term for a large urban development in South Africa... Living in South Africa and seeing the comments I am not surprised that very few people are aware of it. Taking an isolated development that managed to get marketing hype behind it which was mostly aborted in the planning phase is hardly worth any mega development coverage...

[@twocvbloke]

"Mud fountain" - Hmm, also known as "my arse", probably a bit TMI there, but oh well... :P

[@martijnkosters9024]

With a name like ‘Mud Fountain’, this place was doomed from day 1.

[@dannyarcher6370]

It's more like Mud Springs but yes, your point is well made.

[@perrylevac9949]

thank you you are doing a great job...

[@rorkesparks2598]

Grew up in Edenvale in the 80's..... remember it being a place explosives were Made for the mining industry...... my sister got married IN Modderfontain

[@zata1197]

One lesson we can take from this, if china comes knocking at your door with some elaborate construction project, just say no. Not much good comes out of it, at least not for the people on the receiving end of course

[@louisjwiese5515]

In South Africa, due to the government, there is ALOT of stuff that costs billions, but produces... Nothing.

[@chantz_a_loo]

FYI - Johannesburg is not the capital of SA, Tswane (Pretoria) and Cape Town are. JHB is the financial hub.

[@naimakk9211]

Definitely wanna see the Songdo video

[@dannyvanderwalt9535]

I don't live too far from Modderfontein and I have never heard of this project.

[@Timmycoo]

My wife hails from Cyberjaya, adjacent to Putrajaya. A government erected "Silicon Valley" of Malaysia. Has a larger population but most people just say they are from Kuala Lumpur. Funny how a lot of foreign places try and emulate popular cities from other locations.

[@georgemichaelsmith]

We need a video on the Biosphere, please and thank you. Or the movie Bio-Dome. Your choice.

[@tsheolarakgahla7450]

Haibo..... the fact that there's a whole back story. Lol

[@governormadea5937]

The arrogance of planning a mega project without informing local authorities knowledge

[@katherinebrubaker7788]

3:54 captions thought he said zendaya's new flagship project

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

you should do a video on all mega cities including the ghost cities of china

[@lene1193]

Living 5km from Modderfontein. Never seen or heard anything about this development.