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A section 79 committee was on Tuesday briefed on approved plans to provide city officials with a workable metro centre.
The Johannesburg Metro Centre in Braamfontein is empty after being deemed unsafe for occupation. Picture: Michel Bega
Wrangling over the future of Johannesburg’s municipal head office is continuing along its pricey path.
The 50-year-old Metro Centre has been vacant since 2023, and city leaders and the opposition are at odds over its future.
A section 79 committee on Development Planning met on Tuesday to discuss the refurbishment efforts and associated timelines.
Figures ranging from R800 million to R3.2 billion have been quoted to restore the building, but word from inside the committee suggests the building could be demolished.
A new proposal would have the building rebuilt as a state-of-the-art facility by a private investor at the cost of R2.2 billion.
The motivation for a rebuild is based on a report suggesting the building was structurally unsound.
Committee member, Democratic Alliance councillor Daniel Schay relayed his belief that the building was “not terminally ill” and could still be salvaged.
The new Metro Centre is set to have a hotel and shopping centre as part of the larger complex, but Schay questions whether this is a financially prudent decision.
The lavish proposal has been approved by the council, but the project is yet to go to tender, where Schay and the DA will attempt to prove it is irrational or even appeal to the national treasury to reconsider.
“It is just a vanity project and an opportunity for corruption. We will keep looking for any opportunity to prevent this unnecessary expenditure,” Schay told The Citizen.
The justification for the project is that the city requires more office space, with JPC confirming they need to accommodate roughly 3 000 staff.
Since moving city employees out of the building, JPC has been renting office space at three privately owned buildings at a cost of at least R95 per square meter.
Schay said these leases have been signed for nine years and eleven months, with the municipality aiming to have a new metro centre built within three years.
Schay deemed this timeline unrealistic but insists, considering the city’s financial problems, that JPC buildings within the CBD should have been considered before a full rebuild was approved.
Crucially, the plan to build a new metro centre involves a private investor building the building, who will retain ownership while the government rents the space from said investor in a rent-to-own deal.
Only after 27 years will the building become the property of Johannesburg and its people, Schay explained.
“The truth is simple: repairs are possible, cheaper, and faster — but they’ve decided to go the long, expensive, wasteful route,” stated Schay.
The Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) are the custodian of the building, and they deny wanting to tear down the existing property.
“It is not true that the Metro Centre building will be demolished,” JPC spokesperson Lucky Sindane told The Citizen on Thursday.
However, Sindane confirmed the private-public collaboration with the National Treasury and insisted there were greater plans in the pipeline.
“The engagement forms part of the broader Office Space Optimisation (OSO) Programme and has been facilitated through the Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC), which is conducting procurement for a Transaction Advisor to do a feasibility study for the project,” Sindane added.
“The response from Treasury on the work to be undertaken will be formalised upon completion of the study, which will inform the most viable funding model,” he explained.
Sindane said the metro centre project is progressing as the feasibility study and funding processes are required, explaining that the scale of refurbishing the property and funding approvals were large challenges.
“The city is actively working with GTAC and other stakeholders to fast-track necessary processes.
“This initiative aims to transition the city away from renting office accommodation in the private sector, allowing us to utilise refurbished offices that are fit for purpose.”
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