{"id":645064,"date":"2026-05-04T14:10:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=645064"},"modified":"2026-05-04T14:15:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:15:23","slug":"the-unique-castle-in-south-africas-capital-which-became-a-telecommunications-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wireless\/645064-the-unique-castle-in-south-africas-capital-which-became-a-telecommunications-hub.html","title":{"rendered":"The unique castle in South Africa’s capital which became a telecommunications hub"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bronberg Castle in the East of Pretoria is a valuable high site that served as a telecommunications hub before it was transformed into a guesthouse and wedding venue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2013, when electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa was still mayor of Tshwane, the South African capital had embarked on an ambitious project to launch an extensive free Wi-Fi network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organisation supplying the network was Project Isizwe, the brainchild of Alan Knott-Craig Jr, who was the former CEO of iBurst and Mxit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forbes reported<\/a> that Project Isizwe had taken up residence in Bronberg Castle, where it established its network operations centre (NOC) and used the property as a Wi-Fi high site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not long after launching Project Isizwe, Knott-Craig co-founded a business called Herotel, which aimed to consolidate several smaller wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) under one banner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Herotel also operated out of Bronberg Castle. However, after a dispute with the owner, the companies moved out of the iconic property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MyBroadband spoke to representatives of Bronberg Castle Lodge, who said that Herotel moved out seven years ago, which would be around 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe premises are not used for telecommunication services any more. It will only be a guesthouse going forward,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the castle may no longer be used for Herotel or Project Isizwe\u2019s offices and NOCs, at least a dozen antennas are still visible on the roof of the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, it remains prime real estate for wireless networks, even while it now serves as a picturesque getaway within the capital city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBronberg Castle Lodge is a unique mountain-top destination in the prestigious suburb of Faerie Glen, Pretoria East, offering a blend of luxury, privacy, and natural beauty,\u201d the venue stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe feature exclusive accommodation options \u2014 Castle View with panoramic vistas and Nature\u2019s View in a tranquil forest setting \u2014 along with a scenic outdoor function venue and a secluded mountain lapa retreat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change of tack at Herotel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Knott-Craig is no longer involved at Herotel. He was effectively ousted from the company<\/a> in 2022 following an acrimonious dispute with the company\u2019s co-founder and leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Herotel still operates a wireless network for customers without access to fibre, it has also built an extensive fibre network for underserved communities in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Herotel is the third-largest fibre network operator in South Africa, with over 606,388 homes covered by its network, of which 273,289 have a fibre drop installed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a closed-access fibre provider, which means it provides end-user services directly and does not work through third-party ISPs like Afrihost, Axxess, and Mweb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 2025, the Competition Tribunal approved a merger<\/a> in which South Africa\u2019s largest fibre network operator, Vumatel, acquired control of Herotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vumatel and its parent company, Community Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH), first announced the acquisition of a 45% non-controlling stake in Herotel in February 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That had increased to 49.96% a few months later. The plan to acquire all of Herotel was first announced in August 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tribunal\u2019s approval last year aligned with a Competition Commission recommendation<\/a> greenlighting the transaction in March 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like that recommendation, the approval was subject to certain conditions to address competition and public interest-related concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These included that Vumatel would remain an open-access network and continue providing services to third parties on transparent and non-discriminatory terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vumatel is also prohibited from using Herotel\u2019s metropolitan backhaul, FTTH or FTTB infrastructure to provide wholesale FTTB, wholesale FTTH, or other wholesale services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may use Herotel\u2019s infrastructure to provide wholesale services if they are offered on an open-access basis with non-discriminatory terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, it may not procure or receive any services from the Herotel Group unless such services are offered on an open access basis and on non-discriminatory terms by the Herotel Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another condition is that Vumatel may not reduce its rollout plans for its lower-income Vuma Reach product in favour of rollout through the Herotel Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVumatel shall pass 540,000 premises (not already passed as at the implementation date) in Reach Areas within three years from the implementation date,\u201d the tribunal ordered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maziv, the holding company for CIVH\u2019s assets, previously told MyBroadband that it would not change anything about how Herotel operated as the company had found a model that worked for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos of Bronberg Castle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A castle in the East of Pretoria is a valuable high site that served as a telecommunications hub before it was transformed into a guesthouse and wedding venue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":645072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28470,13],"tags":[309,104992,29548,20971],"class_list":["post-645064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fibre","category-wireless","tag-alan-knott-craig-junior","tag-bronberg-connect","tag-herotel","tag-project-isizwe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645064"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645064"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":645086,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645064\/revisions\/645086"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}