JRA confirms Lilian Ngoyi repairs on track, budget intact

You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.

JEREMY MAGGS: Now let’s move on to this, Lilian Ngoyi Street, one of Johannesburg’s busiest thoroughfares, or at least was, has become a symbol, I think, of the city’s deeper infrastructure crisis. Nearly 12 months after a massive underground blast ripped through the road, businesses still remain shuttered. Many livelihoods have been lost, and questions are still persisting about how such a catastrophe was allowed to happen.

More broadly, across the city, the pothole epidemic continues to frustrate motorists, undermine confidence and raise serious concerns about road safety and service delivery.

Now, with public pressure mounting and a R196 million repair project underway, as far as Lilian Ngoyi is concerned, I want to talk now to Zweli Nyathi, who’s the chief executive officer of the Johannesburg Roads Agency [JRA].

Zweli, a very warm welcome. Maybe let’s start with an update on the progress of Lilian Ngoyi Street. Are you on track to meet the projected completion timeline?

ZWELI NYATHI: Yes, we are on track. Actually, there were a couple of site visits last week just to ensure that things are still on track. Even if you visit, you’ll see the street looks a bit different from what it was two or three months back.

So yes, we are on track, and we’ve accelerated plans to make sure that we meet the August deadline that we promised the community.

JEREMY MAGGS: The great tragedy, of course, around this was the prolonged closure significantly affected local businesses. I wonder if you think if enough was done to support these enterprises during the reconstruction period.

ZWELI NYATHI: Ja, consultations have happened, but from our end as the Roads Agency, it’s just to make sure that there is free mobility, as much as we have closed some of the roads for the businesses, but we have left a few spaces for people to be able to walk, considering that there are people who stay in those apartments around Lilian Ngoyi, but also considering their safety because it’s a construction site and there are cranes and all sorts of machinery.

So from our side as the agency, we have done so. But in terms of the SMMEs [Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises] as well, and other businesses, we’ve done consultation, and I can say that around that area, a lot of businesses have benefited because we’ve procured material for the project around that area and we are trying to support and revive, and even the SMMEs are from the inner city itself.

So economically, we have tried because we’ve put around R26 million of the project around local procurement and SMMEs on easy things like pavements, sidewalks, things that don’t need really highly skilled expertise.

JEREMY MAGGS: I think I’m correct in saying it was R196 million rand that was allocated to the project. Has the budget been managed sufficiently to ensure transparency, efficiency and to make sure that you will come in on that amount?

ZWELI NYATHI: It is being managed. I think we learnt a lesson, very early in the project, and that actually kept us on our toes, to make sure that we do enough balances and checks.

I can guarantee you that in terms of progress, we are ahead. In terms of budget, we are still within the budget that is expected, and I don’t foresee us spending beyond [it].

Yes, one has to take into account that we spent two months having rain that also had an impact on some of the infrastructure issues, because constantly, every two days we had to drain water the size of a dam, as it was raining non-stop. So a lot of things were affected, but I don’t foresee any exorbitant expenditures. We’re still within budget.

JEREMY MAGGS: Have lessons been learnt as a result of this incident? Are steps now being implemented to prevent similar underground explosions or infrastructure failures in the future?

ZWELI NYATHI: A lot. That is why, Lilian Ngoyi, when it’s complete, it will be a symbol of progress because we will do it using today’s technology. All sorts of technologies that are installed on the roads, sensors, and we’ll be able to install manholes that will be able to vent. Because in other countries or in first world countries, sometimes you will see those manholes being opened and venting, releasing the gas and anything that could possibly spark fires underneath.

But also, it gave us a chance to study what is underneath properly. So now we know what is really underneath in terms of gases and wires. We’re trying to put in all precautions so that we don’t have a recurrence of such again. Also, we have enhanced safety because some of these issues are related to safety.

As you know, that we have illegal mining and other things. So Johannesburg is very unique in terms of its layout and the infrastructure. So we are doing our best and we’re taking those lessons into the future so that we prevent such to happen again.

JEREMY MAGGS: Let me just widen the lens slightly. Johannesburg residents, as you are well aware, are becoming increasingly frustrated with the state of the roads, particularly the prevalence of potholes. Are you confident that your current strategy is sufficient to address this issue citywide?

ZWELI NYATHI: Indeed, Jeremy. Let me just start by saying, given the 150 years or 100 years of Johannesburg’s existence, a lot of infrastructure really, as it was a mining boom, has been laid out. But I must also admit that we have failed in terms of proactive maintenance and that’s what we’re looking at, because no matter how beautiful the road can be, if you don’t maintain it, you are bound to hit a disaster somewhere along the line.

So most of the roads that we’re doing now, we make sure that we have a proactive maintenance plan in place. One will also want to put it on record that one of the issues was the sourcing of material for road repairs. Now, ever since I came in, we recommissioned the asphalt plant.

Now we have high-quality asphalt that we’re also going to use on that Lilian Ngoyi being tested by the lab and CSIR [Council for Scientific and Industrial Research]. So we are seeing ourselves going into the future in terms of high-quality infrastructure and roads. Obviously, we’re dealing with the issue of potholes very seriously. As much as we were focused on the inner city, now we’re spreading back to the regions, and at least now we know that the rain is over there can be slight progress in terms of what we’re doing.

But also, we’ve come up with a plan, we’re not only dealing with potholes.

We are doing resurfacing because asphalt shortage is a thing of the past. We make our own. So we are doing resurfacing, which will give us a base layer of about five years without issues.

Of course, out of the 15 000 kilometres of road network, it’s practically impossible to achieve that in the next three years, 15 000 is a lot. But we’re doing our best. We’re prioritising roads that have deteriorated, and we are resurfacing them. That means once we are complete with this particular exercise, it will be just proactive maintenance, and the roads will have a new lease of life in terms of look and feel.

JEREMY MAGGS: Zweli Nyathi, thank you very much indeed. He is the chief executive officer of the Johannesburg Roads Agency.

Follow Moneyweb’s in-depth finance and business news on WhatsApp here.