Staff Reporter
Industrial and warehousing developments helped lift the value of building plans approved by eThekwini Municipality to R3.97 billion in the first half of 2026, the city said.
The total represented an 18% increase from the same period in 2025 and a 24% rise compared with the first six months of 2024.
Growth was driven by non-residential developments, with the value of approved plans rising 166% from R536 million to R1.43 billion.
Approvals for industrial and warehousing developments increased by 167% in value, while their approved floor space grew from 24,497 square metres to 83,708 square metres.
The value of approvals for office and banking developments rose by 158%, while approvals in the municipality’s northern region nearly doubled to R1.16 billion.
The municipality said the figures coincided with improvements in two economic indicators.
Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey recorded eThekwini’s unemployment rate at 21.2% in the second quarter of 2026, down from 26.8% a year earlier and the lowest among the country’s metropolitan municipalities.
GCR Ratings reaffirmed the municipality’s long-term AA-(ZA) investment-grade credit rating in July and revised its outlook from negative to stable.
City Manager Musa Mbhele said the composition of the approvals indicated increased investment in productive sectors of the local economy.
“Investment follows confidence and growth. Investors do not commit capital to industrial and logistics infrastructure in cities where they anticipate stagnation; they invest where they see expanding economic activity, rising demand, and increasing volumes of trade and movement. The significant growth in industrial and warehousing developments is therefore a strong endorsement of eThekwini’s economic trajectory and future potential,” he said.
Mbhele said the municipality was working to provide greater certainty to investors and ensure that new developments were supported by adequate infrastructure.
“As a City, we are prioritising effective by-law enforcement, directing capital investment to areas experiencing sustained development activity, and providing investors with timely and informed decisions regarding site servicing. Every development approval represents not only private-sector confidence in eThekwini, but also our commitment to enabling sustainable growth through responsible planning, infrastructure provision and service delivery.”
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