An iconic Joburg monument is crumbling, and officials are scared they’re running out of time to save it.
The Johannesburg Civic Centre Precinct in Braamfontein, once the symbol of the city’s administration, is now a safety hazard and a growing crime den. The 16-storey main building, built in 1975, has not been in use since September last year after a second fire broke out and the building used to house the mayor’s office was deemed too unsafe for use. It’s riddled with cracks and leaks, and homeless people have started using the building as a shelter.
On a site visit to the precinct, Joburg council speaker Nobuhle Mthembu said the visit was to determine whether the building could be repaired so that the 48,000 civil servants who once worked there could return to work. Many of these civil servants are now being housed in rented offices across Braamfontein or working from home. “This is our building, and we must look after our own before we go out and try and reclaim other buildings from hijackers. As councillors, we must make a resolution [on the way forward],” said Mthembu.
But how much could repairs cost? Well, a 2019 report by the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) in collaboration with the Department of Safety, Health and Environment, as well as the Department of Labour, put forward a hefty R800 million price tag on refurbishment while razing the buildings and rebuilding could cost up to R2 billion. Musah Makhunga of the JPC said that now, repair and maintenance of the building would cost R1 billion. This is how much would be needed to ensure the building was safe for use. Makunga said that if the City of Joburg decided to rebuild the precinct, this cost could go up to R3 billion.
Makhunga said he believed that some parts of the buildings were structurally sound while others needed to be reinforced and that he would salvage the buildings rather than destroy them. “There’s a lot of value still within the building; it just needs to be secured [so looters cannot further damage it],” he said. He believes refurbishing the precinct would be a nice way to show the City’s plans to revitalise and clean inner Joburg.
How much do the rentals for the civil servants cost the taxpayer? That is, believe it or not, currently unknown. City of Joburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said the procurement process was still “in progress.” Modingoane said that most employees were working from home, and those required to work from offices were placed in offices leased by the JPC, ensuring that the City would incur no additional costs during this transition. JPC spokesperson Lucky Sindane also couldn’t say how much the rentals were costing the City, only that “[an] open tender process to secure the office space around Braamfontein, which is the space being utilised to house the staff” had been followed and that the procurement process was still ongoing.
The decline of the civic centre, unfortunately, mirrors the decline of Jozi over the years. If it’s not hijacked buildings catching fire, it’s repair work not being fixed. The damage caused by the gas explosion on Lilian Ngoyi (formerly Bree) Street last year has still not been fixed. This is despite former Joburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda promising earlier this year that the street would be fixed by December 2024. There’s also the looming water crisis, which frustrates residents to no end. Sadly, our elected leaders are seemingly just in it for power, not meaningful change. Hopefully, come the 2026 local government elections, residents show the power of their votes. If there’s anything 2024 showed us is that it’s possible.
Tshego is a writer and law student from Pretoria. A keen follower of social media trends, his interests include high fantasy media, politics, science, talk radio, reading and listening to music.
He is also probably one of the only people left who still play Pokemon Go.
