Former South African president Nelson Mandela Thursday cut the ribbon on the first mega mall in the famous Soweto township, symbolizing the changing fortunes of the former anti- apartheid hotbed, REPORTED DPA. The 65,000-square-metre Maponya Mall, named after its 82-year-old Soweto-born founder Richard Maponya, brings international clothing brands and upmarket food stores to Sowetans' doorstep. The mall aims to capitalize on the growing disposable income of South Africa's burgeoning black middle class. Total household income in Soweto, home to nearly 1 million South Africans, is estimated at 10.5 billion rand a year. Until now most of that money has been spent outside the township. Maponya said the 650-million-rand mall is aimed at bringing Sandton City to Soweto, referring to an elite mixed business and residential district in northern Johannesburg that boasts several ritzy malls. He has also expressed hopes the mall would bring over 2,000 jobs to the township south-east of Johannesburg. Anti-apartheid icon Mandela was a resident of Soweto for several years to his 27-year imprisonment for his resistance activities, living along the same street as fellow Nobel laureate Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
