The City of Johannesburg says it has made a breakthrough in its investigation over the causes of the Lillian Ngoyi explosion a few weeks ago which claimed the life of one person, had 48 others hospitalised and destroyed 34 vehicles and infrastructure.
Lilian Ngoyi Street popularly known by its original name Bree Street is one of the busiest taxi ranks in the Joburg CBD and also houses thousands of minibus taxis which ferry commuters in and out of the city daily.
Joburg City Manager Floyd Brink said on Wednesday the cause of the explosion was methane gas which is lighter than air and traveled up along the services tunnel from an unknown source, to the crest of the tunnel near Von Brandis Street.
Brink said the delivery of the report marks the end of speculation that the cause was the work of illegal miners or cable theft or foul play.
“No terrorist action or Zama-Zamas or cable theft or foul play by anybody, all emergency responses by Emergency Management Services (EMS), Johannesburg Metropolitan Department (JMPD), and all departments are effective and compliant, and no shortcomings are to be addressed,” he said.
He also ruled out the possibility of the Egoli gas pipeline being the cause of the underground explosion.
“It was not an Egoli pipeline explosion or pipe rupture nor a large leak before the explosion, only post-explosion as confirmed on the timeline of the Egoli Gas SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) monitor system. No negligence by electricity or any department or any intentional action by individuals or intentional release of gas into the tunnel.” The City is now planning to repair the damage estimated at R178 million to fix.
“Our rough estimate for repairs currently sits at R178 million. This estimate might change once we receive the detailed designs for the entire project. In the interest of transparency, it is important to report to residents of Johannesburg that the City has so far spent around R4 million in this project on professional experts’ services, cording off the site, technology used and the provision of temporary relief services in a form of water tankers and temporary ablution services,” he added.
He maintained that the City has qualified skilled professionals for the job.
The professionals who have been hard at work include specialists with experience in industrial explosions and gas systems, international fire dynamics and explosion simulation specialist Engineer, specialist in explosion gas and fire dynamics at university and International network of fire engineers and various engineering specialists, Brink said.
