More than a year since a gas explosion tore down Bree Street, now known as Lilian Ngoyi Street, in central Johannesburg, opposition parties are demanding answers as to why the street’s rehabilitation has stalled.
The DA in the province is now seeking concrete details from City of Johannesburg (COJ) mayor Dada Morero regarding the repair project.
Originally slated for completion in December 2024, Morero is now guaranteed to expedite and finish repairs by June 2025, two years after the explosion.
The city closed the street after the blast forced some businesses to shut down when the road caved in leaving a series of ditches on the road.
Former Joburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda announced earlier this year that the 1.8km-long street would be restored by December 2024 at a cost of R200 million. However, this commitment remains unfulfilled.
The DA is sceptical of Morero’s promise, citing a lack of progress at the site over a year since the disaster.
The DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Human Settlements, Mervyn Cirota, demanded a comprehensive roll-out programme for the project, including budget allocation, contractor information, construction timeline, the monitoring process and the project timelines.
The party insisted that Morero and Premier Panyaza Lesufi provide clear answers to these questions.
“The party’s oversight inspections have revealed no progress at the site, underscoring the need for accountability…
“The residents of Johannesburg deserve immediate action, not empty promises…
“The DA government plans to address Gauteng’s infrastructure decay through its infrastructure rescue plan, which includes establishing a multi-stakeholder integrated infrastructure management unit to overhaul planning, monitoring, implementation, and maintenance,” Cirota said.
Explaining the delay, Morero said the contractor that was hired initially had his contract terminated, and he apologised to Johannesburg residents for the delay with the repair project.
“There were processes that needed to be taken and one of them is that we had to conclude an investigation to know what the cause of the investigation was and that process was concluded and a contractor was put in place.
“We first got a contractor that was going to assess the level of the damage, then after a contractor who would implement the work. That contractor breached the agreements with the city in terms of what was to be delivered… On the basis of that the contractor had to be terminated.
“Another company was then appointed and is now in place… We gave them a timeline so we can conclude this process because it is affecting our economy and movement of goods and we think it's necessary to conclude the project asap,” Morero said.
He apologised to residents and people in town, especially businesses.
“We will make sure that we will conclude by June or August next year, 2025. We have received a report that the Johannesburg Roads Agency is at an advanced stage and the company has the necessary capacity to deliver,” he said.
The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) terminated the contractor, Step Up Engineering’s, intended to restore the road to normality after it breached its contract.
The company was also alleged to have defrauded City Power of R94 million, prompting the DA to call for the Special Investigating Unit to look into the matter.
The party accused Morero of dragging his feet on the matter despite his having been elected recently after Gwamanda’s resignation.
The Star