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By Palesa Matlala
- Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero will unveil plans for a massive Archbishop Desmond Tutu Precinct project despite growing anger over the city’s collapse.
- Heritage experts say the City of Johannesburg has failed before and warn the latest CBD revival promises could become another expensive dead end.
Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero will stand inside one of the city’s most historic churches on Wednesday and promise to rebuild a city many residents believe is falling apart.
Morero will deliver his State of the City Address at St Mary’s Anglican Cathedral in the Johannesburg CBD while the metro faces mounting crises.
The Human Rights Commission is investigating the province’s water disaster. Eskom is threatening to switch off power over unpaid debt. Residents are furious about crime, filth, broken infrastructure and the rapid decay of the city centre.
But despite the chaos, Morero is placing the spotlight on an ambitious urban regeneration project around the cathedral.
The City wants to transform the troubled area into the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Precinct, a massive redevelopment plan aimed at reviving part of the inner city.
The cathedral itself has become a symbol of Johannesburg’s collapse.
For years, church leaders have complained about overflowing rubbish, illegal trading, sanitation problems, crime and people urinating against the historic building’s walls.
The once proud precinct has been swallowed by grime, congestion and neglect.
Built in 1906, St Mary’s Cathedral remains one of Johannesburg’s most important religious landmarks.
The neo Gothic church was designed by architect Herbert Baker using locally quarried stone.
The cathedral later became internationally known when Archbishop Desmond Tutu became the first Black Anglican Dean of Johannesburg there in 1975.
Over the years, the church became a powerful symbol of resistance, justice and civic activism during apartheid.
Now the City wants to use that legacy to drive a bold regeneration project.
Planning documents show the proposed precinct stretches from Sophie De Bruyn Street to Commissioner Street and across several CBD blocks.
The project includes shutting Hoek Street to vehicles to create pedestrian friendly public spaces around the cathedral.
The City also wants to rename several surrounding streets.
Plein Street could become Desmond Tutu Street.
Wanderers Street may become Simeon Nkoane Street.
De Villiers Street could become Trevor Huddleston Street.
Hoek Street may become Cathedral Street.
Speaker of Council Margaret Arnolds called the cathedral “a beacon of hope” for the city’s revival.
But not everyone is buying the promises.
Morero’s speech on Wednesday will be his final State of the City Address before local government elections later this year.
Pictured above: Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero will deliver his State of the City Address at St Mary’s Cathedral in the decaying CBD.
Image source: City of Johannesburg
This article has been updated.
