Excavation on Republic Road remains open 9 months later

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30-04-2025
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Randburg Sun
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Businesses at the shopping centre and the Mercure Hotel have been affected negatively since the excavation, blocking their entrances.

It still remains unclear when the mess outside the Ferndale on Republic entrance, which is three months away from its one-year anniversary, will be backfilled.

The pipe burst happened around July last year. It took about 3–4 weeks for the entity to fix the burst, with constant pressure from businesses and Ward 102 councillor Lucinda Harman, however, after fixing the burst, the area was not reinstated, and a big hole was left open with the pavement completely closed. The lane that turns into the shopping centre is completely affected by the rubble, which causes traffic congestion and delays. It also suffers from constant potholes.

Nombuso Shabalala, spokesperson for Johannesburg Water (JW), confirmed in September last year that they had completed the repairs, however, they cannot backfill the site because there was a damaged storm water pipe, which needs to be repaired by Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA).

JRA was contacted and they acknowledged the issue, confirming that they are making plans to fix the storm water drain. Khaya Gqibitole, JRA head of regional operations, admitted that delegations from both entities met on September 6, 2024, to discuss resolutions regarding the reinstatement.

According to Gqibitole, a technical assessment was conducted on September 10, 2024. JRA was then going to issue a jobbing quotation to JW, with commencement of repair work taking place once the jobbing quotation was accepted, and a purchase order was issued to JRA.

Nine months later, and the conditions remain the same, with no work having been done by either entity.

Shabalala said that JW is aware of the open hole, and they are currently finalising discussions with JRA to ensure the remaining work, including the storm water drain replacement and full road reinstatement, can resume as soon as possible.

The issue has had a negative impact in the businesses around the area, affecting mostly the shopping centre and the Mercure Hotel. Harman is concerned about the negative impact that the issue has had on the businesses. “We’re looking at three months now, when the hotel and Ferndale on Republic have planned a birthday bash for the one-year anniversary of this monster hole.

“I don’t know what it’s going to take to get JW, or JRA, to fix the hole, because it’s damaging businesses. It’s stopping tourists from staying in the hotel. There’s a huge loss of revenue coming into this ward, and to the businesses. It’s hurting people. I hope this will push the entities to start doing something,” she added.