Critical plans inaccessible as Joburg Metro Centre remains abandoned after 3 years

After three years, the Johannesburg Metro Centre, formally known as the Civic Centre, has remained abandoned and left in ruins.

The once-thriving hub of city planning and services now resembles a ‘place of ghosts’ with wires ripped out, and an acrid smell and signs of people temporarily living there, says Daily Maverick's Ferial Haffajee.

She explained that the Metro Centre holds critical plans for the city, but despite promises to digitise and move them, they remain inaccessible due to non-functioning lifts.

“That was 251 days ago; that hasn’t happened at all. Files and files of documents are all stuck there.”

Haffajee added that the city continues to waste much-needed funds renting alternative space despite owning nearly 29,000 properties.

She said that instead of having a centralised space, departments are being scattered across the city, making it difficult for citizens to access services.

“The mayor is not in his offices or in this public space; he sits in a rented building. I don’t know how this was allowed to happen when the city has all these properties. I, of course, asked Lucky Sindane (Johannesburg Property Company spokesperson), and he said it’s because none of those properties is properly habitable.”

To listen to Haffajee in conversation with 702’s John Perlman, use the audio player below: