Joburg officials to brief on Metro Centre blaze
Johannesburg City Manager Floyd Brink, Joburg Property Company CEO Helen Botes, and other officials are expected to brief the media on Tuesday morning on a fire that led to the closure of the Metro Centre.
According to the internal memo that leaked on Tuesday, the fire on Saturday was caused by old, faulty transformers.
The Metro Centre is located in Braamfontein and houses offices for Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda, Brink and Speaker Colleen Makhubele.
They have since been moved out of the building.
This is the latest in a series of fires in the inner city, including the devastating blaze that claimed 77 lives in August.
On Friday last week, another fire broke out in a three-storey building in Delver Street.
In a memo signed by Botes, she recommended that the building be closed.
"Last week, the service provider determined, that the transformers are problematic. We are awaiting a full diagnostic report, from the service provider, in this regard,” the memo read.
“However, the 2019 engineer's report, which served on the council, also highlighted the state of the transformers.
“The Engineer's Report of 2019, which we submitted to the council, flagged this issue. It also stated that the transformers were 40 years old, at that time.
Botes said the team is currently concluding the evaluation of requests for proposals.
“We are confident that, we are likely to submit, a Report on the work, of the Bid Evaluation Committee, on the to the Executive Adjudication Committee for consideration and approval by the city manager next week.”
Botes said the city would find immediate office accommodation for the mayor, speaker, and the city manager.
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