Latest news with #SouthAfricanBreweries
The South African
13 hours ago
- Health
- The South African
BEER problem: Fire breaks out at SAB in Soweto
The Johannesburg Emergency Services has responded to a fire incident at the South African Breweries (SAB) in Soweto, near South Gate. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) spokesperson Xolile Khumalo says the blaze reportedly began when the grass in a nearby field caught fire. She said the fire spread and ignited storage crates on the brewery's premises. When South Africans connect, we don't just network; we build a community. The Lekker Network is a professional network where every conversation starts with, 'How can I help you?' Come join us & be a part of a community of extraordinary Saffas. 'At this stage, no injuries have been reported. Emergency teams are working swiftly to contain the fire and prevent further damage,' said Khumalo. No injuries have been reported at the time of publishing. Khumalo warned residents to stay away from the area as a safety precaution. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Mail & Guardian
4 days ago
- Business
- Mail & Guardian
The fab Carlton Centre has fallen
The higher they stand…: The Johannesburg CBD's Carlton Centre was once iconic. Photo: The Heritage Portal If you ever stood at the base of the Carlton Centre and craned your neck to take it all in, you'll understand why its decline is one of Jozi's most significant urban losses. Rising 223 metres into the Joburg skyline, the Carlton Centre Tower was once the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. At the time it was nicknamed 'Africa's Skyscraper'. But today, it's a relic of a time when Johannesburg dreamt bigger than anywhere else on the continent. Construction on the Carlton Centre began in the 1960s, led by architects Gordon Bunshaft of SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) and local firm Rhodes, Harrison, Hoffe and Partners. Funded by Anglo American and South African Breweries, it was a marvel of its time. Completed in 1973, the tower soared 50 floors above Commissioner Street. At its peak, it wasn't just a place of business, it was the beating heart of high society, finance, retail and luxury accommodation. The building was so vast that it held more than 53 000m2 of lettable retail space and 68 000m2 of office space. It even had an ice-skating rink, the Sky Rink, on the 20th floor, which was later converted into a film studio. But the Carlton Centre wasn't just one building; it was a complex. Its better-known component was the Carlton Hotel. Or should I say hotels. There were three. Not many people are aware of each hotel's history. Excavations for the original Carlton Hotel began in 1898 but construction had to halt when the South African War broke out the following year. Construction by Barnadot-Joel Mining Company resumed in 1903, and the Carlton Hotel opened its doors on 16 February 1906. This was a highly anticipated event on the social calendar of the time. I learned something that many Joburgers do not know in the book Johannesburg Then and Now by Marc Latilla. This hotel was designed by the architectural firm TH Smith in collaboration with architect William Leck. They developed a three-level basement (a first for development in Johannesburg at the time) that included a Turkish bath and a marble swimming pool. The retail area featured numerous shops catering to the hotel's guests. Measuring 43 500m2, it was six storeys tall, consisting of 199 hotel rooms distributed across five floors. Each room was equipped with air-conditioning, central heating, a central vacuum cleaning system, waterborne sewage, emergency power and a private telephone. The hotel struggled and went up for auction in 1922. In 1936, the Carlton Hotel's new owner, Isidore W Schlesinger, renovated the hotel and added a ballroom along with three new storeys. Sadly, in 1964, the Carlton Hotel was demolished by the owner's son, John Schlesinger, to make way for new developments. Today, on the corner of Eloff and Commissioner streets, we see the African Life Centre building. This building was completed in 1970 and designed by Monty Sack. The modern Carlton Hotel that is at 150 Commissioner Street has 31 floors with 663 rooms. It opened its doors in 1972. It quickly became the go-to hotel for visiting dignitaries, celebrities and heads of state. The third Carlton hotel, Carlton Court, was a plush 66-room annexe built in 1982 as a later addition to the Carlton legacy. It was connected to the central hotel across the road by a skybridge. Each suite came with its own jacuzzi, and the building featured an exclusive, members-only restaurant. Carlton Court is a continuation: a later chapter in the evolving story of the Carlton brand, guided by the same international hotel operator of the modern Carlton hotel, the Western International Hotels. It closed in 1998. Back to the modern Carlton Hotel that we know. Nelson Mandela often stayed there, and he delivered his ANC election victory speech in the ballroom. The guest list is a who's who of global names: Hillary Clinton, Chris Barnard, Harry Oppenheimer, Margaret Thatcher, Whitney Houston, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Naomi Campbell, John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Its international status allowed people of all races to mix freely on the premises, no small feat in apartheid South Africa. Its restaurant, Three Ships, was legendary. The hotel was running at a loss and closed in 1998 because of low occupancy rates caused by the decay of Johannesburg's city centre. Its contents were sold to the Protea Hotel in Gold Reef City, where a replica of the original restaurant exists. But nothing can ever truly recreate the magic of the original building. The Carlton Hotel was a symbol of prestige. Its underground parking alone had 2 000 bays. And through a retail tunnel beneath Commissioner Street, it was seamlessly connected to the Carlton Centre's shopping arcade, which had more than 180 shops. Despite its grandeur, the complex couldn't escape the gravitational pull of the declining city centre. She rose, she sold, and then there was silence. By the late 1990s, the area around the Carlton Centre had become riddled with crime and neglected. The glamour of downtown had drifted north to Sandton and Rosebank. Anglo American, which had become the sole owner after buying out SAB's stake, sold the entire Carlton Centre Complex to Transnet in 1999 for just R33 million. To put that into perspective, the building had cost R88 million to construct back in the 1970s, and today its estimated replacement value would be more than R1.5 billion. The hotel remains closed. The tower and retail sections are operational, but not at full potential. There have been murmurs over the years about converting the complex into affordable housing or reviving the hotel as a casino, but nothing has ever materialised. A casino plan, by a Malaysian investor group, fell through because of the failure to secure a gambling licence. And so, the doors have stayed shut. The ballroom silent. The rooftop deserted. As someone who writes often about capital growth, yield and reinvestment potential, the story of the Carlton Centre is to me a stark reminder of a universal truth when it comes to the importance of location in real estate. More than building height, more than marble finishes, more than celebrity footfall, the surroundings of your investment will directly affect its potential for capital growth. A property, no matter how grand, is only as strong as the community, infrastructure and economic ecosystem that surrounds it. That's where the Carlton Centre got left behind. The Johannesburg city centre, once vibrant and cosmopolitan, fell victim to urban flight, municipal neglect and rising crime rates. As the city expanded northward, investment followed. Sandton, in particular, exploded with new developments, better infrastructure, security and a perception of safety. That shift in energy starved Joburg's centre of the oxygen it needed to remain competitive. Buildings like the brutalist Carlton were left to age. This isn't only about a building, it's about urban decay, poor governance and the missed opportunity of repurposing legacy infrastructure. It's about the cost of letting history go. The Carlton Centre was more than a landmark, it was a monument to ambition, design excellence and what South Africa could achieve when it bet big on itself. It is a loss for the landscape of Jozi. That's what makes its current state feel so tragic. We didn't just lose a luxury hotel, we lost a piece of collective identity. Imagine if the top floor, with its full 360-degree panoramic view of Johannesburg were turned into a world-class restaurant, art gallery or sky bar. Imagine a revitalised Carlton Hotel reimagined for a new generation of travellers and infused with culture, heritage and style. Imagine a retail arcade filled with proudly South African brands, artisans and makers. The surrounding area would need to speak the same language. I visited the top of this tower on the 50th floor many years ago. Seeing the City of Gold from this 360-degree view was an overwhelming experience. A city full of promise. The view from Jozi's tallest towers are always a humbling and exhilarating experience. It's now a bittersweet memory. We often speak about property in terms of numbers: yields, square metres, price per square metre. But buildings also carry emotions. They're woven into our memories. And few buildings in South Africa have played as big a role in our public imagination as the Carlton. Have you ever visited the Carlton Hotel? Attended an event at the ballroom? Shopped in the underground mall? Please email me with your memories; I'd love to hear your stories. Ask Ash examines South Africa's property, architecture and living spaces. Continue the conversation with her on email (
Daily Maverick
06-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Forever Committed: For 130 Years, SAB's Legacy Is South Africa's Story
In a country as complex and extraordinary as South Africa, few companies can say their history is bound as tightly to the nation's progress as ours. 130 years ago, South Africa was a land of possibility, booming with gold, bursting with change, and bracing for a new century. That same year, in 1895, a brewer named Charles Glass started something small in Johannesburg that would go on to become something much bigger: a business rooted in South African soil, shaped by South African people, and built to serve South African communities. South African Breweries (SAB) is part of the nation's economic and cultural DNA. But this isn't just a story about a company, it's about what happens when a business grows with a country, not just in it. From the early days, brewing wasn't just about beer, it was about building something sustainable. Today, 95% of what we produce is locally sourced. That means value chains that run deep into the heart of South African agriculture, logistics, small businesses and local suppliers. It means jobs, with one in every 66 supported by the beer industry. It means platforms for entrepreneurs, ladders for upward mobility, and consistent investment in infrastructure and innovation. This is what it looks like when an industry is built for inclusion. Of course, the real test of commitment isn't in the good times, it's in the hard ones. SAB stayed when others left. We invested when others paused. In the 1980s and early 1990s, as the country faced its most pivotal political and social shifts, we took action. We empowered Owner-Drivers. We created jobs. We diversified our leadership. We used our fleet to deliver ballot papers in 1994's first democratic elections, because playing a role in history is part of our responsibility. Representation wasn't just something we added to our advertisement, it was something we believed in from the start. Our brands have championed South Africa's diversity, passion, and spirit long before it was expected, and long after it became the norm. From sponsoring Bafana Bafana and the Springboks at critical national moments to celebrating the everyday heroes who make our country what it is, we've stood not just beside South Africa, but inside it. Innovation has been a constant, not just in our products but in how we think. We were the first to launch a low-alcohol beer, the first with flavoured beer, the first with an alcohol-free option. Today, brands like Brutal Fruit and Flying Fish are reaching beyond our borders. They carry with them the message that local excellence can lead globally. But our impact isn't measured only in bottles brewed or brands built. It's in how we show up when it matters. South Africa faces real challenges: youth unemployment, social inequality, gender-based violence, erosion of trust in institutions. Businesses can't afford to be bystanders. Our initiatives, like the SAB Foundation and SAB Sharp, are aimed squarely at helping build a more inclusive, responsible future. Supporting small businesses. Empowering women. Changing behaviour around harmful alcohol use. Because growth without accountability isn't real growth. Looking forward, we understand that legacy isn't something you inherit, it's something you earn, every day. In how you treat people. In how you partner with communities. In how you build towards progress, even when the path is difficult. So, what does 130 years really mean? It means we've been around long enough to know that words matter, but actions matter more. That real change doesn't come from standing at the centre of the story, but from helping write a better one, together. SAB is not just part of South Africa's past. We're part of what comes next. A more inclusive economy. A more responsible society. A more united country. We're not just raising a glass to where we've been. We're investing in where we're going. Author: Zoleka Lisa
The Citizen
30-04-2025
- Automotive
- The Citizen
Prime industrial area receives power upgrade
The Tshwane metro has completed critical upgrades to the Rosslyn Substation in the north of Pretoria. This promises to strengthen energy stability and support anticipated industrial expansion in one of the metro's most important manufacturing hubs. The upgrade, aimed at addressing current demands and future growth, included the addition of a 35MVA transformer to improve the substation's overall capacity. The key improvement means that in the event of a transformer outage, power supply to the area will remain stable, ensuring minimal disruptions for the major industries operating in Rosslyn, including automotive giants BMW South Africa and Nissan South Africa. Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said several enhancements were made to modernise the substation's operations and security. The metro procured an additional incomer breaker and an 11kV, replaced outdated ring main units with SBV3 switchgear to allow for better protection of the network, and installed new dry joints to reduce maintenance challenges. Mashigo said surveillance cameras were also installed at the facility to boost security. 'The project was supported through partnerships with local businesses. South African Breweries funded the procurement of the new breakers, while BMW contributed the security equipment.' According to Mashigo, these improvements are only the beginning of a broader vision for the area. Starting in the 2025/26 medium-term revenue and expenditure framework period, the metro plans to embark on a comprehensive restoration of the Rosslyn Substation over three years. This project will focus on restoring the substation to its original design specifications while integrating the latest technologies, including arc protection on 11kV boards. Mashigo said the future upgrades will not only solidify Rosslyn's energy reliability but also create additional energy infrastructure to accommodate the growing industrial footprint in the region. 'This includes industries beyond the automotive sector, such as rubber, petroleum, food production, metals, plastics, and steel manufacturing, all of which contribute to Tshwane's economic output.' The metro emphasised that maintaining and modernising the Rosslyn Substation is crucial for supporting existing industries and attracting new investment. A stable and reliable electricity supply is one of the primary considerations for businesses seeking to expand or relocate, particularly in highly industrialised zones such as Rosslyn. Mashigo said that contingency measures already in place, such as the spare panel installed for rapid feeder supply restoration, comply with national standards (NRS 047 AND NRS 048) that require minimal service interruptions. The metro's broader strategy, including the upcoming approval of its embedded generational policy, promises to integrate Rosslyn into future renewable energy initiatives which will pave way for sustainable industrial development. 'The planned upgrades will be carried out on the existing Rosslyn Substation infrastructure, and therefore, there is no requirement for new environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies. These assessments were conducted during the original construction phase of the substation, which dates back over 40 years. 'Given that the current work involves upgrading and modernising existing facilities rather than establishing new ones, the original EIA findings remain applicable,' said Mashigo. Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to bennittb@ or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord's websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
