The City of Johannesburg has clarified its position regarding the closure of the Metro Centre and the temporary lease of office space in Newtown.
The Metro Centre was declared uninhabitable following structural, safety, and compliance assessments, including reports from Structural Engineers, Emergency Management Services, and the Department of Employment and Labour. Closure was a mandatory compliance and safety measure, not a discretionary decision.
The City has entered into a 24-month lease for 31,176m² of office space in Newtown at R95 per m² (excluding operating costs). Contrary to public claims, the lease is not valued at R1 billion and applies only to the space currently occupied.
A long-term refurbishment of the Metro Centre is underway through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) under the Office Space Optimisation Programme, in consultation with National Treasury and GTAC.
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