COVID can't break South Africa's love affair with shopping malls

A shopper pushes a trolley as logos of shops are seen on a wall at a shopping mall in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, South Africa, June 28, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

With two days to go until opening to the public, workers rush to put the finishing touches on the Kwena Square shopping complex, a shiny $13 million sign that South Africans are defying the global "retail apocalypse".

Not even COVID-19 could separate them from their beloved malls.