The City of Johannesburg has allocated R194 million to revive the rehabilitation of Lilian Ngoyi Street (formerly known as Bree Street) with completion expected to be in August 2025, Mayor Dada Morero confirmed.
Morero made the announcement during a media briefing next to the project on Monday, where he was providing updates on the stalled project.
Lillian Ngoyi Street has been closed since July 2023, after a devastating gas explosion which claimed the lives of over 15 people and left others injured as it ripped up the key route into the CBD.
After a mutual separation agreement and settlement with the first contractor, Step-Up Engineering, the new contractor, Korone Engineering has been reassigned, marking a significant step forward in the rehabilitation efforts.
Morero reaffirmed the City’s commitment to the completion of the project stating: “We want to reaffirm to the people of Johannesburg that come August 2025, the road will be functional, and all motorists will be using the road.”
Morero confirmed that the total cost of the project will be R194 million.
“We hope that we will deliver the final product with the budget and not go to escalate the costs,” Morero said.
He said the completion of the first stream of the project will be in August 2025, where the explosion happened.
“The second stream will be completed in August 2026, which is more about the complete street project to extend the pavement and beautify the entire Lilian Ngoyi Street ... For now, we are focussing on restoring the explosion site.”
The City’s MMC for Roads and Transport Kenny Kunene said the disputes between Step-Up Engineering, which was the previous contractor, caused the delays.
“It also brought some legal disputes where Step-Up took to the courts…I had to step in to interview between the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) and Step-Up.
“By the grace of God, JRA and Step-Up Engineering found each other after my intervention, which saved costs, but importantly saving a lot of money, as the contractor was demanding money for lost profit. However, we agreed that we would pay them for the work done,” Kunene said.
He, too, expressed commitment to the completion of the project, stating that 80 jobs would be created in the project.
“Job creation is always important to mention, we have about a few SMMEs that are going to be contracted to work on the project. There’s about R26 million that would go to the SMMEs development.”
Meanwhile, JRA chief executive officer Zwelithini Nyathi explained that it was a challenge with getting funding.
“As you know, it was a disaster area, and we didn’t get any disaster funding. The city has to cough up and make sure that they provide the citizens from other locations.”
Nyathi called on the locals to co-operate with the team working on-site, expressing concern about those who jaywalk and cross the site which he said was not safe.
“We are pleading with the residents to co-operate with us. I also want to highlight the working hours because a lot of people tend to jaywalk and cross there which is not safe.”
He said between 7am and 5pm, people should refrain from using the construction site as a walking path.
“Because we don’t know what might happen,” Nyathi said.
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