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Just months after parting ways with South African property mogul Michael Georgiou, its longtime board member and former chief executive, Accelerate Property Fund, a Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed real estate investment trust (REIT), has continued selling off its properties. With only a few remaining, the fund is looking to dispose of more assets as it seeks to stabilize its finances, which currently hinge heavily on Fourways Mall.
On Tuesday, Accelerate announced the sale of the Bosveld Bela Bela shopping center, known locally as Bosveld Mall. The transaction is part of a series of sales aimed at using proceeds to reduce debt. Accelerate reported receiving R88 million ($5.57 million) in cash for the property, which was valued at R95 million ($6.02 million), marking a disposal yield of 8.6 percent.
Recent disposals include Buzz, Waterford
At present, the REIT still owns 50 percent of Fourways Mall, valued at R4 billion ($253 million), along with Cedar Square at R897 million ($56.8 million), KPMG Crescent at R618 million ($40 million), Citibank House at R469 million ($29.7 million), and BMW Fourways at R220 million ($13.9 million), plus a few smaller properties. At its peak in 2019, Accelerate managed 62 sites across retail, office, industrial, and offshore holdings. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, offshore assets were swiftly sold, and much of the industrial portfolio was divested.
Eden Meander, once considered one of the fund’s top assets aside from Fourways Mall, was sold to the Sasol Pension Fund for R521 million ($33 million) in 2023. Other disposals include Valley View Centre in Krugersdorp and Beacon Isle in Roodepoort. Late last year, Accelerate sold The Buzz and Waterford shopping centers near Douglasdale for R215 million ($13.6 million), including vacant land behind The Buzz. Some of these sales, including Eden Meander and Portside—the tallest building in Cape Town—represent what analysts call the REIT’s ‘family silver,’ leaving Fourways Mall and Cedar Square as the remaining core assets.
Georgiou leaves after investor pushback
The Bosveld Mall sale comes months after shareholders overwhelmingly rejected Georgiou’s attempt to return to the board, with more than 97 percent voting against his reappointment at the October 15, 2025 annual general meeting. Georgiou, who co-founded the fund in 2013 and guided it through its JSE listing, departs after growing tensions over Fourways Mall’s debt and strained relationships with lenders and investors.
In June 2025 the Bloemfontein High Court placed Georgiou’s family company Azrapart (Pty) Ltd., which co-owns Fourways Mall, under business rescue after it defaulted on R2.3 billion ($132.82 million) owed to Investec and RMB, a FirstRand unit, following the collapse of a refinancing plan. The decision marks a turning point for Accelerate, as the fund works to shore up its remaining portfolio and reduce its reliance on a single major asset.
