How much it costs to repair a single road in South Africa’s largest city

Lilian Ngoyi Street in Johannesburg has still not been repaired, two years after the area was destroyed by an explosion.

The ongoing rehabilitation of the area is racking up millions of rands in escalating costs, which taxpayers are ultimately footing the bill for.

On 19 July 2023, the arterial road (formerly known as Bree Street) was shattered by an explosion caused by a buildup of methane gas in the pipes running underneath the tarmac.

The gas was trapped in the pipes because the road’s manhole covers were welded shut to prevent cable theft. It is unknown what led to the initial spark that ignited the gas.

The resulting eruption was powerful enough to send minibus taxis into the air, rendering the road surface unsafe to travel on.

Repairs at the site are ongoing, and the city now estimates that it will cost R192 million to fix Lilian Ngoyi Street.

Despite the severity of the explosion, the province refused to declare the blast zone a disaster, meaning that taxpayers are the ones paying for the repairs, according to News24.

Kwazelela Mcetywa, head of infrastructure and development at the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), stated that the street was 75% fixed.

The repair effort is split into two phases, the first of which is fixing the road between Harrison and Wanderer Street, which were completely destroyed by the blast.

These repairs include reconstructing the tunnel for the stormwater, water, and sewage pipes, and resurfacing the road itself.

According to the JRA, these repairs will be completed by 30 August 2025.

The second phase, which will only begin once the first phase is wrapped up, will “beautify” the surrounding pavements – a task that is only expected to be completed by 30 June 2026.

Essentially, the city is using the repairs as an opportunity to revamp the surrounding area, converting the street into a more pedestrian-focused scene that better accommodates the activities in Joburg’s CBD.

“Additional street furniture will be introduced, such as bollards, benches, tables, planters, and other soft landscaping, which will transform the street into a pedestrian-friendly one, taking into consideration he evident high foot traffic and business activity,” said Mcetywa.

The rehabilitation of Lilian Ngoyi Street suffered a major setback last year when Step Up Engineering, the first contractor hired for the job, was fired for not adequately meeting the task’s requirements.

The group reportedly delivered low-grade results, leading to the termination of their contract.

This meant that the city’s original completion date of 15 December 2024 was pushed all the way back to June 2026.

Despite its poor effort, Step Up Engineering was still paid R19 million for its work.

A new contractor, Korone Engineering CC, has since taken over the job.

The repairs are now estimated to cost R192 million, taking up a not-insignificant portion of the R2.8-billion allocated to the JRA to complete seven major road projects around the city over a three-year period.

Growing repair costs

The rehabilitation of Lilian Ngoyi Street is just one of hundreds of repair efforts the JRA is responsible for.

The City of Joburg previously revealed that one in five of its roughly 2,000 traffic lights are out of order as a result of theft, vandalism, and car accidents.

Authorities suspect that a syndicate is behind most of these cases, as criminals are selling traffic and street lights on the black market to turn a quick buck as the infrastructure regularly contains valuable materials such as copper and aluminium.

The city’s management claimed that it costs around R300,000 to repair a single light, and that it is currently looking at a backlog valued at over R70 million.