Johannesburg - The City of Joburg has called off a press briefing following yet another fire at the metro building in Braamfontein that had forced the closure of the building
Johannesburg city manager Floyd Brink, Joburg Property Company CEO Helen Botes and other officials were on Tuesday morning expected to brief the media on a fire that had led to the closure of the Metro Centre.
However, the briefing has been postponed until further notice, and the reason for this has not been communicated.
“Please note that the media briefing scheduled for today regarding the closure of the Metro Centre has been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances,” the city said in a statement this morning.
An internal memo that was circulated indicates that the cause of the fire that gutted the building on Saturday was old, faulty transformers.
Situated in the city centre of Braamfontein, the building is home to City of Joburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda, city manager Brink and Speaker Colleen Makhubele, who were evacuated after the latest blaze.
The fire at the offices comes barely three weeks after a fire in Usindiso Building killed 77 people and another at another building just over a week ago. Both buildings are in Marshalltown in the CBD.
A memo signed by Botes advises that the municipal building be closed and officials be given an alternative work space.
“Last week, the service provider determined that the transformers were problematic. We are awaiting a full diagnostic report from the service provider in this regard,” the memo read.
“However, the 2019 engineer’s report, which served on the council, also highlighted the state of the transformers.
“The Engineer’s Report of 2019, which we submitted to the council, flagged this issue. It also stated that the transformers were 40 years old at the time.”
Botes said the team was concluding the evaluation of requests for proposals.
“We are confident that we are likely to submit a report on the work of the bid evaluation committee to the executive adjudication committee for consideration and approval by the city manager next week.”
Botes said the city was racing against time to ensure it found immediate office accommodation for the mayor, speaker and city manager.
The Star