A 65,000 square meter mall worth $86 million opened in Soweto, and officials say the mall marks an economic turnaround in South Africa. The opening of Maponya Mall, which features 200 stores and eight movie theaters, is expected to boost the city's prominence and help it rise from a suburb of Johannesburg to its own city.

The shopping promenade is expected to generate jobs and speed up the ongoing economic boom in Soweto. Johannesburg Mayor Amos Masondo noted Soweto is not just undergoing a facelift, "it is undergoing a racial reconstruction and the mood is one of excitement."

Prominent South African political and business personalities - led by former President Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Masondo and mall owner Richard Maponya - attended the mall's inauguration.

Soweto has around one million residents, a third of whom are black. Many of them migrated from Johannesburg, now connected to Soweto with a train service. Soweto lies southwest of Johannesburg, an hour's drive away.