The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng demands that the City of Johannesburg (COJ) Mayor, Dada Morero, provide detailed facts about the project to repair Lilian Ngoyi Street, previously Bree Street, in the inner city, which was originally scheduled to be completed in December 2024.
This follows his recent commitment to expedite and complete repairs by June 2025.
Earlier this year, former Johannesburg Mayor, Kabelo Gwamanda, announced that the 1.8-kilometer-long Bree Street damaged by a gas explosion in July 2023, would be restored by December 2024 for R200 million. However, this commitment has not been met. This week, Mayor Morero apologised to Johannesburg residents, business owners, and property owners for the delays in rehabilitating this popular route, which is a significant transportation artery for inner-city residents.
Based on this experience, the DA takes Mayor Morero’s pledge with a pinch of salt and calls on him and Premier Panyaza Lesufi to provide a full roll-out programme for this project. This includes the following:
• What budget has been set aside for this project?
• Who is the appointed contractor?
• When will they start work on the construction site?
• What monitoring process will be used to ensure effective work?
• What are the timelines for the project?
Without clarification of the above, the mayor’s vow is another commitment made on the spur of the moment because of the media attention. The DA’s oversight inspections revealed that the site is a scene of unmitigated destruction, with no progress after more than a year since the disaster.
The local and provincial leadership must be held accountable for this botched project that has wreaked havoc upon the residents of Johannesburg, and the DA demands nothing but answers.
The residents of Johannesburg who rely on Bree Street deserve immediate action; not false promises designed to deceive them into thinking that progress is being made on the ground.
A DA government will end Gauteng’s infrastructure decay with its Infrastructure Rescue Plan, which involves forming a multi-stakeholder Integrated Infrastructure Management unit to overhaul all planning, monitoring, implementation, and infrastructure maintenance.