Today, the Democratic Alliance (DA) was prevented from conducting an oversight visit to the City of Johannesburg Metro Centre, which was once the administrative heart of the City, but now stands empty and derelict.
The purpose of the inspection visit was to assess the condition of the building and determine where and how residents’ building plans and other sensitive records are currently being stored.
Upon arrival, DA councillors and a Member of Parliament accompanied by Helen Zille, found the ground floor gate open, and entered. Subsequently, duly elected public representatives were chased by security guards who prevented them from carrying out their lawful oversight responsibilities.
When the DA team exited the building, they were prevented from leaving the premises by security personnel, while they summoned the Metro Police Department. This amounted to forced detention without any lawful basis.
This conduct is deeply alarming and raises serious questions about what the ANC–EFF–PA–Al Jama-ah–ActionSA–AIC coalition government is trying to hide.
Former DA Economic Development MMC, Leah Potgieter MP, confirmed previously with engineers that the Metro Centre building is structurally sound. Despite this, the current administration has evacuated the building and rented office space instead, costing the City tens of millions of Rand.
At the same time, the coalition government is pursuing plans to demolish the existing building and construct a new Metro Centre at an estimated cost exceeding R2 billion, with a projected construction timeline of up to 10 years.
Seen in the light of this exorbitant expenditure, the refusal to allow oversight is sinister and undemocratic, especially as billions in public money is at stake.
The DA will not be deterred. We will continue to pursue all available avenues to uncover the truth behind the Metro Centre, including the handling of sensitive records, the justification for the decanting costs, and the rationale for the proposed demolition and rebuild.
As the City prepares to table its new financial year budget, residents deserve full transparency on how their money is being spent, not secrecy that benefits connected cadres at their expense.
The DA demands immediate answers and full disclosure from the City of Johannesburg.