Members of the Democratic Alliance (DA) conducted an oversight visit to the Johannesburg City Library on August 22.
This comes after the library had been closed for four years.
The inspection, led by Kingsol Chabalala, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, and Cllr Lyrics Mazibuko, DA Shadow MMC for Community Development in the City of Johannesburg, aimed to investigate delays in the library’s refurbishment project.
Accompanying them were DA PR Councillor for Joburg Central, Cllr Alex Christians, along with representatives from the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation, Flo Bird and Wynard Dreyer. Zarina Motali from the Johannesburg Crisis Committee also joined the visit.
ALSO READ: Joburg Great Revival promotes health awareness in Orlando
Their focus was on understanding why the facility, which had been closed since March 2020, remained inaccessible despite the extensive work that had already been carried out.
The library had originally closed during COVID-19 and to allow for much-needed repairs, including addressing roof leaks, upgrading fire safety systems and fixing mechanical and electrical faults.
Although the City of Johannesburg has invested over R21 million into the project, it has still not been completed.
The total refurbishment cost is now expected to exceed R45 million.
During the visit, Bird, a heritage activist expressed her frustration over the prolonged closure.
“This is blatant neglect of the people who live around here. Why did it take a historical researcher to discover that there seems to be no valid reason for this library to remain closed? Somebody should be concerned about the human beings affected by this,” she said.
ALSO READ: Joburg organisation support breast cancer patients in Soweto
Councillor Christians also voiced concern over the slow progress, particularly given the significant financial resources that have already been poured into the project.
Meanwhile, Chabalala revealed that the City had originally promised a partial reopening by June this year.
However, a new target has now been set for six months from November, adding further delays to the project.
“I feel like this is still inconveniencing the people who use this library especially because this library is of historical importance. We will not let it continue to deteriorate,” said Chabalala.
The inspection allowed the DA and other stakeholders to scrutinise the work done so far and continue their efforts to ensure the library’s reopening.
In response, the Johannesburg Development Agency’s Siyabonga Genu and Johannesburg Director of Projects, Stanley Mlambo said, “There is a new contractor called Dignity Iqhawe Joint Venture that will take over the project. We are trying to get the library to be partially opened around next year in June.”
