By Levy Masiteng
DA Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille and party councillors said security staff blocked them from an oversight visit to the Metro Centre on Thursday, fuelling a row over the future of the shuttered building.
The incident comes as Zille has stepped up a highly visible pre-election campaign built around Johannesburg’s numerous service delivery failures.
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Since launching her mayoral bid, she has repeatedly used oversight visits and viral stunts to spotlight potholes, flooding, and broken infrastructure, angering city officials.
In a statement, the DA said Zille and the party representatives were denied access by security personnel and briefly prevented from leaving the premises while the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department was called.
Zille described the incident as deeply troubling, saying: “The refusal to allow oversight is sinister and undemocratic, especially as billions in public money is at stake”.
At the centre of the dispute is the future of the Metro Centre building, which has been closed and evacuated.
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The DA said the visit was intended to assess the condition of the property and determine how and where municipal records, including residents’ building plans, are being stored following the evacuation.
The party has raised concerns about the cost of temporary office accommodation and the city’s longer-term plans for the site. It has also questioned whether proper public oversight is taking place over decisions involving the building and the records linked to it.
But the City of Johannesburg and the Joburg Property Company have maintained that the Metro Centre was declared uninhabitable after professional assessments found structural deterioration and non-compliance with occupational health and safety requirements.
The city has also said its temporary Newtown office lease was concluded after the Metro Centre was closed, with the municipality occupying more than 31,000 square metres at a monthly rate of R95 per square metre, excluding operating costs.
The DA said it would continue pursuing answers on the condition of the building, the handling of municipal records and the rationale behind the city’s plans for the Metro Centre.