JRA Defends Lilian Ngoyi Street Reconstruction Delays Amid Scathing Oversight
- The state of the disrepair of Lilian Ngoyi Street in the Johannesburg Central Business District has continued to linger
- An underground explosion, initially attributed to a gas line leak, rocked the major traffic route on 19 July 2023
- The DA Johannesburg caucus conducted its latest oversight, inviting Briefly News to the site on 13 November 2024
- The JRA told Briefly News the project had stalled due to the termination of a contractor due to poor performance
Source: Original
JOHANNESBURG — The previously busting Lilian Ngoyi Street in the Johannesburg city centre was noticeably quiet on Wednesday, 13 November 2024, but not for the expected reasons.
While businesses and foot and commuter traffic have been brought to their knees after a devastating explosion rocked the primary access road, formerly Bree Street, on 19 July 2023, the lack of progress in fixing it has many on edge.
Municipality defends road repair delays
The promise to repair and rehabilitate the road by December 2024 and the inactivity of contractors on-site compounded expectations to return the Central Business District (CBD) to normalcy after the blast, which an investigation later attributed to an underground leak, caused extensive infrastructure damage.
In its wake, one person was killed, several were injured, and five taxis overturned while trapping some motorists in their cars, shutting down several roads amid widespread panic and service disruption.
On 11 January 2024, then-Johannesburg Executive Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda announced the commencement of a 12-month construction project to rehabilitate the street.
A contractor had been appointed at an astronomical, approved budget of R200 million. After 10 months and a ton of empty promises later, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Johannesburg caucus conducted its latest oversight of the site.
While a few contract workers milled about at the site, the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), responding to a Briefly News inquiry, said the project had stalled due to the termination of a contractor because of poor performance.
The agency attributed the same reason, including a contract breach, after DA Johannesburg caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku criticised the ongoing delays amid revised project timelines of August 2025 and August 2026.
"This is an absolute disgrace and a shocking failure by the City of Johannesburg's (CoJ) ANC, ActionSA, EFF and PA coalition," Kayser-Echeozonjoku told Briefly News.
"We've written to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) to investigate the contractor over the terminated contract and the National Treasury about possible violations of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) when the contract was awarded."
JRA spokesperson Bertha Scheepers said the contractor could not address the nonconformances to meet the timelines, leading to the contract termination.
Scheepers said rehabilitating the exploded road section would take nine months to complete, although the new contractor, appointed at a value of R192 million, had not yet begun work.
This first phase has been set a completion date of August 2025.
"The rejuvenation of the remainder of Lilian Ngoyi Street remains 12 months and is expected to be completed in August 2026," she said.
However, Kayser-Echeozonjoku reiterated that she didn't think the project to repair the street would take off.
"With little happening at the site, we struggle to see how the city will be able to repair the street by [August] 2026. The massive hole remains bare, turning into a freshwater attraction. It is a hazard waiting to happen.
"Due to the CoJ's failures, members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature will urgently raise the issue with the Gauteng MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs," she said.
Scheepers added that the new contractor could not commence work while an ongoing court case involving the previous service provider was pending.
JRA fixes roads in a frenzy
In related news, Briefly News reported that the JRA planned to repair numerous streets, seal cracks, and add extensive asphalt overlays ahead of the elections.
When TimesLIVE reported on 9 February 2024, the agency was assessing the roads in seven city regions to determine their conditions.
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Source: Briefly News
