The idea has been two decades in the making. An official sod-turning ceremony took place. Renderings circulated globally. A 2023 completion date came and went. And yet the God’s Window Skywalk — which was designed to be one of the highest glass skywalks on earth, and the first of its kind in South Africa — remains unbuilt. What has changed is the political urgency around it.
What the project involves
The skywalk, located at the zenith of Mpumalanga’s Panorama Route in the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve, will be a cantilevered glass walkway suspended off the edge of the cliff. It will protrude approximately 12 metres out from the cliff face and measure about five metres wide, offering a 360-degree panoramic view of the Lowveld more than 900 metres below. On a clear day, the views extend as far as the Indian Ocean and Maputo, Mozambique.
The procurement process for the skywalk was first envisioned in 2004, with formal procurement beginning in 2019. The development is structured using a design, build, finance, operate and transfer approach, with Mapulana Canyon (Pty) Ltd appointed to invest, design, operate and manage the project before transferring it to the landowners at the end of the concession period.
The facility’s design, by Boogertman + Partners, is organised around five courts — an Arrival Court, Market Court, Museum Court, Main Court and Conference Court — arranged beneath an elevated roof garden and leisure venue. Winding paths lead visitors through a ticket office, craft market, gift shop and museum before revealing sky nests, a sky swing, zorbing, a sky bridge and the skywalk itself.
The 900-metre drop would make it significantly higher than the Grand Canyon Skywalk, which stands between 150 and 280 metres, and the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge in China, which peaks at 260 metres.
The operator and the community stake
The concession is operated by Motsamayi Tourism Group, which also runs the funicular at Cape Point, Kruger Shalati: The Train on the Bridge, and Sanctuary Mandela in Johannesburg. The project is a partnership between Motsamayi Tourism and land claimants from the Blyde River, through the Blyde Valley Community Property Association, under the entity Mapulana Canyon (Pty) Ltd.
The construction phase was projected to create more than 300 jobs, with a further 100 positions expected once operational. The Mapulana Tribe, which owns the land, will receive a shareholding in the concession through the Blyde 04 CPA.
“This project means a lot to us as a community,” Blyde 04 CPA Secretary Hezekiel Nkosi said at the sod-turning ceremony on September 17, 2021. “It will serve as a catalyst to bring jobs to the community and spark entrepreneurship among young people. We’ve been waiting for something like this for a long time.”
Where it stands
The 2023 opening date passed without announcement. As recently as March 2026, the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency was still describing the Skywalk as under development, with Acting CEO Lemmy Mdluli citing it as one of the agency’s major infrastructure initiatives.
In January 2026, Mpumalanga Premier Mandla Padney Ndlovu referenced the skywalk alongside a planned cable car at Mariepskop, water-based attractions and a new international conference centre as projects that would position the province as a premier leisure and business tourism destination. The language of the State of the Province Address was forward-looking: these are still goals, not completions.
No official revised opening date has been publicly confirmed at the time of writing.
Why it still matters
The Blyde River Canyon region already attracts close to one million visitors annually. Travel Weekly The skywalk was always conceived not as a standalone attraction but as a reason to stay longer — an anchor that would feed dwell time and spending across the broader Panorama Route. MTPA CEO Johannes Nobunga said at the groundbreaking that once the skywalk opens, visitors would need to add an extra day or two to fit all the province’s attractions into their itineraries.
The province’s 2026 calendar adds further context. Mpumalanga is positioning 2026 as a signature year for tourism, marking the centenary of conservation in Kruger National Park, one of the most visited wildlife reserves on the continent. Delivering the Skywalk in that window would amplify the moment. Not delivering it would mean a second consecutive headline date missed on a project the province has been publicly committed to since before a generation of schoolchildren was born.