The redevelopment of Lilian Ngoyi Street, damaged by a deadly methane gas explosion in 2023, has faced repeated delays, with the City now targeting completion by 31 October 2026.
By Mapaballo Borotho
There have been concerns about the amount of money spent on fixing Lilian Ngoyi Street, affectionately known as Bree Street, in the inner city of Johannesburg.
It has been three years since a methane gas explosion rocked the affected area, but the redevelopment of the street is still ongoing.
The area being redeveloped has faced repeated deadline delays, despite the City paying R185 million to two contractors for the project.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has also raised questions about the funds spent on the redevelopment.
Phemelo Motene discussed the issue with Joburg Transport MMC Kenny Kunene, who addressed questions about where the money has gone and accountability surrounding the unfinished project.
Kunene said it was important to remember that the first phase of repairing the affected section of the street was completed in record time.
“There was a second phase that needed to be concluded. We had two challenges; one of the challenges was beyond our control, which is the weather. The rainy weather caused some delays in finishing on the 31st of August,” said Kunene.
Kunene also raised concerns about how payments to service providers are prioritised, saying this had affected the project.
“I intervened that we need to make sure that we do oversight on how officials deal with project issues. You will find that there are companies that have been owed for months, but there are companies that have just been appointed and their payments are being prioritised. The problem we are dealing with here is the unfair allocation of the service providers.”
He said the company working on the redevelopment has given the City a new deadline of October 2026.
Listen to the podcast for the full discussion.
Meanwhile, City of Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero has defended the funds allocated to the rehabilitation of the street, saying much of the cost went towards underground infrastructure work.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, 9 September 2026, during a walkabout at the construction site, Morero said the project should not be judged solely by what is visible on the surface.
“That is why you see the cost goes to about R192 million for the entire project, but part of that amount goes into the tunnels and the infrastructure that were to be built, and there’s also additional infrastructure that also came out as they were doing the construction that needed to also be covered,” Morero said.
The project was triggered by a methane gas explosion on 19 July 2023, which killed one person and injured several others.
The project was originally scheduled for completion last month.
The City has now pushed the completion date to 31 October 2026.
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