Joburg CBD Explosion: Geographer Says Illegal Mining Will Destroy Joburg As City Searches for Cause of Blast

• A geographer speculates that illegal mining contributed to the Joburg CBD explosion this week
• Expert Malaika Mahlatsi says Bree Street (now Lilian Ngoyi) sits on a mining area called the Witwatersrand mining basin
• However, the City of Joburg has given three possible explanations for the explosion, and illegal mining is not one of them

JOHANNESBURG - Illegal mining has become a hot topic in South Africa following two explosions in Johannesburg this week.

One explosion caused major infrastructure damage in the Joburg Central Business District (CDB), leaving 48 people and one dead.

Geographer says illegal mining might have caused explosion in Joburg CBD

Speaking to SowetanLIVE, Geographer Malaika Mahlatsi explained that several mine shafts were scattered around the Joburg CBD.

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Mahlatsi stated that she firmly believed that illegal mining contributed to the explosion seen in the CBD on Wednesday, 19 July. She explained that the unlawful mining activity in the area ruined the quality of soil, water and infrastructure.

The Geographer added that if illegal mining is not stopped, it will cave in Johannesburg. Mahlatsi said Bree Street (now Lilian Ngoyi) was on top of an old mining area called the Witwatersrand mining basin.

City of Joburg gives three possible explanations for Joburg CBD explosion

The Johannesburg City Manager Floyd Brink says preliminary investigations indicated three possible explanations for what caused the Joburg CBD explosion.

The first is an ignition of methane gas from the underground stormwater systems due to sewerage ingress. The second possibility is an ignition caused by natural gas mixed with air from underground stormwater drainage systems or service ducts.

The last possibility is the ignition of gas from a gas pipe burst.

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Johannesburg CBD explosion: 1 person killed as officials shutdown Bree Street to find cause of explosion

Johannesburg Street explosion cause still unclear after suspicions pointed to gas line leak, multiple injured

Briefly News previously reported that the Johannesburg CBD descended into chaos when a section of Lillian Ngoyi Street (also called Bree Street) split into two after an explosion on Wednesday, 19 July.

While initial reports indicated that a gas line caused the explosion, authorities are not sure about the true root of the disaster.

Egoli Gas, which manages the municipal gas lines in the city, released a statement claiming that it cannot be sure that a gas line caused the explosion.

Source: Briefly News