Five months after a gas explosion ripped through parts of Lilian Ngoyi Street (previously Bree Street) sending taxis and cars flying, killing 34-year-old Joseph Dumisane and injuring 48 others, the City of Johannesburg has neither been able to establish the origin of the blast nor started to rehabilitate the road.

At the time of the incident, which occurred on 19 July, city officials confirmed that its preliminary investigations pointed to methane gas as the cause of the explosion, but could not say for sure where it emanated from.

Johan la Grange, a civil engineer and city consultant said at the time that explosions of a similar nature were common across the globe. He said this incident was linked to minor seismic activity on the day and an earthquake earlier in the week.

Read more in Daily Maverick: City of Joburg confirms gas caused deadly explosion, but can’t say from where

The city has conducted a preliminary investigation phase, which is said to have cost about R4.5-million, and spent R7.3-million on the design phase of the reconstruction. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

Investigations five months later have not led to a conclusive answer.

City spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said, “We have not yet established where the gas came from… We will undertake additional investigation activities as we start to remove rubble.”

The city has conducted a preliminary investigation phase, which is said to have cost about R4.5-million, and spent R7.3-million on the design phase of the reconstruction.

It appointed a contractor on 1 December 2023, but rebuilding is yet to begin as the city is waiting for the go-ahead from the labour department and other stakeholders.  

While the city can’t say when work will begin, it anticipates that reconstruction on the 700m damaged stretch will be finalised by December 2024.   

“It is important to note that the city seeks to rejuvenate the entire street, so further public environment upgrades will take place from January 2025. However, through construction now, we will evaluate the most appropriate construction method that will minimise further impact on businesses,” said Modingoane.  

Daily Maverick’s Ferial Haffajee reported that the explosion had exposed a dire skills gap in a city that employs more than 40,000 people, but its engineering teams had been depleted through years of cadre deployment, which has continued under the coalition government that now runs the city.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Johannesburg’s emergency call for engineers, gas-detection experts after CBD explosion exposes dire skills gap

Daily Maverick visited the road recently. It remains cordoned off and a handful of businesses have either closed or moved shop.

The closure of the road has also led to unprecedented traffic jams. People wander in and out of the cordoned area and some of the barriers have been removed. Residents say there’s been an increase in crime.

Read more in Daily Maverick: ‘I felt my intestines go cold from fear’ — Joburg residents describe blast scene chaos

Resident Lungile Zondi said: “It was not really safe here, but after the explosion things just got worse. We no longer walk around at night. We see or hear people screaming after they have been robbed of their belongings.

“During the day, we do not walk around with money or cellphones… that’s just our life now,” she said.

Another resident, Foreman Moyo, said noise levels had also become worse during peak hours.

“The congestion is so bad in the morning, and even worse during load shedding when the traffic lights are not working. We are always woken by the hooting of vehicles or the sound of car accidents.”

Modingoane said, “The city is aware of this and is a matter constantly raised at the Joint Operations Committee. The Joburg Metro Police Department is assisting with additional resources. The city is also looking at interlocking the barricades and welding them together so that they cannot be moved.”

On the issue of congestion, he said the city had opened up multiple parallel streets to alleviate the pressure and was constantly monitoring the impact. 

“In terms of criminal activity, while the stats from SAPS do not reflect what is said by property owners and citizens, CoJ has taken this seriously in that we are deploying additional resources in the area. Monitoring at night has intensified.”

The festive season law enforcement programme was in place and additional resources would be deployed, he said.

From 15 December, there had been an increased police presence on the streets, residents confirmed.

State of disaster  

In July, the city began a legislative process with the Provincial Disaster Management Centre (PDMC) to declare a local state of disaster. This would unlock resources from the provincial government for the rehabilitation of the road and underground tunnels.    

However, during a council meeting on 1 December, it emerged that the request had been rejected, forcing the city to find more than R170-million to fund the rehabilitation. 

“The response from Gauteng province was that the request to declare a local state of disaster did not meet the conditions, allocation criteria and sections 56/57 of the Disaster Management Act. 

Daily Maverick has been reliably informed that without the provincial funds, the city is in no position to finance the reconstruction. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

“Therefore the occurrence could not be classified as a ‘local state of disaster’. However, the City has requested to further engage with the PDMC to determine what areas of the application needed re-evaluation as the incident has had a significant negative impact, especially in terms of the impact on citizens and businesses,” a city official said.  

Daily Maverick has been reliably informed that without the provincial funds, the city is in no position to finance the reconstruction.

Modingoane however denied this, saying the city had already spent R7.3-million on the design phase of the reconstruction. This money came from internal funding from the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) and the Department of Transport, as well as the Office of the City Manager.

Some of the more than R170-million required would come from the city’s insurer.

“The city is sufficiently covered… it has taken proactive steps in identifying funding from within its own budget. At the moment, the city is also working with its insurer to finalise the claim which will assist in addressing the funding requirements.” DM