The Community and Individual Development Association (CIDA) City Campus is presented by Heaton as an innovative African alternative to traditional business education. However, he considers the model in isolation from the unique educational and economic circumstances of postapartheid South Africa. As a response, this article goes beyond the CIDA model to consider the effect of the unique circumstances in South Africa on the formation and success of the CIDA City Campus. It then considers the elements of the CIDA model to examine whether they are radical innovations, as Heaton claims, or extensions of accepted theory and practice. The purpose of this is not to discredit the CIDA model. Rather, this article supports the model by showing that it is well grounded in accepted pedagogy. It concludes by considering whether CIDA provides a model for business education in developing countries or whether it is uniquely suited to the unique conditions in South Africa. (Contains 1 figure.)