R94 million Lillian Ngoyi Street overhaul back on track after contractor dispute

City of Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero has expressed confidence that the initial phase of the Lillian Ngoyi Street rehabilitation project will meet its August deadline during a media briefing on Monday.

Morero and Johannesburg’s Transport MMC, Kenny Kunene, addressed the media briefing on Monday, at the construction site in the heart of Johannesburg’s CBD.

He reported that Korone Engineering, the newly appointed contractor following a legal dispute with the previous contractor, Step Up Engineers, has already completed 15% of the work.

This follows a tragic methane gas explosion in July 2023, which claimed one life and injured 41 others, causing a section of the street to collapse.

Morero told reporters that the project’s second phase, aimed at rejuvenating a 1.8-kilometer stretch from Ntemi Piliso to End Streets, is scheduled for completion by August 2026.

The rehabilitation efforts, initiated after a thorough investigation pinpointed a gas explosion in a service tunnel