IN THE MUD: Kensington businesses suffer 70% decline as Joburg Water rips up Queen Street

Queen Street, the main commercial thoroughfare in Kensington, Johannesburg, has been torn up for six months, leaving cars and trucks stuck in mud, businesses battling restricted access and traffic spilling into surrounding streets – and Johannesburg Water still cannot say when the road will be permanently restored. 

The road forms part of Johannesburg’s M33 metropolitan route, running through Kensington between Malvern and Bruma and carrying traffic through one of the main corridors in the city’s eastern suburbs.

About 400m of pipeline have been replaced since work began in March, but residents and businesses have endured months of mud, dust and disrupted access, while traffic avoiding Queen Street has spilled into surrounding streets.

Businesses say the impact has been severe. Some report falls in customer numbers and sales of between 40% and 70%, and traders have appealed for urgent intervention, warning that jobs and businesses could be at risk.

The disruption is also frustrating a wider community drive to revive Kensington, a historic suburb on the eastern edge of Johannesburg’s inner city where residents and businesses have been cleaning streets, removing illegal dumping, planting greenery and restoring neglected public spaces.

“The ongoing refusal or inability by the City to fix Queen Street is having terrible consequences for the suburb – for businesses and residents alike,” said Kevin Pass of Better Kensington, a newly launched initiative to bring the community together to uplift the suburb.

“Just as we as a community are starting to uplift the area with our clean-ups and planting, and working so hard, this is pulling us back. It is not only harming the suburb, but the morale of people living here who are trying so hard to uplift it.”

And there is no end in sight.

‘R13m’ to finish the job

Johannesburg Water told Daily Maverick that another section of pipeline still needs to be replaced. Additional material is being sourced, and work will continue once sufficient material is available, the entity said.

Meanwhile, the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) quotation to permanently reinstate Queen Street remains “in discussion and pending approval”, according to Johannesburg Water, with no confirmed date for when the road will be restored to its original surface.

Ward 118 councillor Neuren Pietersen has appealed to the City’s mayoral committee members (MMCs) to intervene.

“I understand that the quotation received from JRA to fully reinstate the road amounts to approximately R13-million,” Pietersen said.

He warned that the prolonged deterioration of the road was affecting businesses, residents, commuters and the broader local economy.

Pietersen also said there was “evidence of further infrastructure failure beyond the phase 1 scope of works”, raising concerns that without timely intervention there could be further deterioration, increased costs and more disruption.

That concern appears to have been borne out. Part of Queen Street at the intersection with Derby Road subsequently collapsed, prompting a resident to report the failure to the City.

The incident adds to concerns about the condition of Queen Street while the original infrastructure project remains unfinished.

Six months of disruption

Johannesburg Water spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala said work on Queen Street began in March 2026, and approximately 400m of pipeline had been replaced.

The work was carried out by a Johannesburg Water team, while fusion welding of the high-density polyethylene pipeline was outsourced.

But the underground work is not finished.

“There is still another section of piping that needs to be replaced. Additional material is being sourced, and work will continue once there is sufficient material,” Shabalala said.

Johannesburg Water did not say how long the outstanding section of piping was or when the necessary material would arrive.

The utility also did not provide the cost of the pipe replacement.

Unanswered questions

Pietersen has also tried to get answers from the council.

In a detailed written question presented at the August council meeting, he asked for the reasons for the prolonged delays, projected completion dates and the identities of the contractors and municipal units responsible for the outstanding reinstatement.

He also asked whether a risk assessment had been conducted into a single narrow section being used by opposing traffic, the broken and eroded road surface, dust and debris on surrounding properties and the risk of further erosion, flooding and deterioration during heavy rainfall.

None of those questions was answered. The response recorded in the council document consisted of a single line: “Question to be redirected to transport”.

Pietersen, after the non-response at the council meeting, appealed directly to the relevant MMCs.

“Given the strategic importance of Queen Street, I respectfully implore the MMCs to explore all available options and funding mechanisms to facilitate the resurfacing and reinstatement of the roadway as a matter of urgency,” he said.

Johannesburg Water did not directly confirm Pietersen’s R13-million figure. It said the JRA quotation remained “in discussion and pending approval” and that the work would entail reinstating the road to its original surface.

Asked whether the reinstatement had been funded, Shabalala said: “The JRA quote is pending approval and when allocated funds will be accessed to address this.”

Johannesburg Water said the pipe replacement and road reinstatement fell into different municipal financial years.

“The pipe replacement was done during the 2025/26 [year], and the reinstatement request came in during 2026/27,” Shabalala said.

Asked when Queen Street would be fully restored, Johannesburg Water said this would happen “as soon as the JRA quote has been approved to commence with the work”.

In the meantime, Johannesburg Water said it would backfill the site to ground level, as a temporary measure, and arrangements are currently under way to start by 30 September 2026, Shabalala said.

Daily Maverick also sent questions about the Queen Street reinstatement to JRA, but had received no response by the time of publication.

Businesses count the cost

For businesses along Queen Street, the uncertainty comes after months of disruption.

In an open letter, businessman and local resident Nico Brandt, writing on behalf of the Queen Street business community, said traders had endured road closures, blocked pavements, dust, noise and restricted access.

Some businesses were reporting declines in customer visits and sales of between 40% and 70%, he said.

“This is not temporary inconvenience – it is long-term economic harm,” Brandt wrote.

He warned that businesses could be forced to reduce staff or close if conditions continued.

Businesses are calling for a firm completion timeline, better communication from the City and consideration of relief for those suffering measurable losses because of the prolonged disruption.

But Queen Street’s problems predate the excavation.

Once a destination for visitors from across Johannesburg and neighbouring Ekurhuleni, the street was known for its restaurants, antique stores, galleries and independent shops.

The frustration over the roadworks comes against the backdrop of a longer campaign to revive Queen Street.

A petition started by Kensington resident Lyn Francis, which she closed after attracting 520 signatures, recalls a very different Queen Street.

“Queen Street in Kensington was once more than just a road – it was the heart of our community,” the petition says.

It recalls a time when residents could walk along the street in the evenings and encounter neighbours and friends.

Today, residents and businesses are trying to bring that Queen Street back while simultaneously dealing with a road that has been disrupted for six months.

Fighting for Kensington

Better Kensington is part of a broader community effort to halt the deterioration of the historic suburb. Residents and businesses have been cleaning streets and public spaces, planting and tackling litter and neglected areas in an attempt to improve Kensington themselves.

Jeppe High School for Boys has also taken its clean-up efforts beyond the school gates.

The school employs four full-time workers to clean surrounding streets and pavements, while staff, pupils and community members have participated in clean-ups of parks and other public spaces.

Headmaster Brendan Gittins has previously described Kensington as a gateway to Johannesburg and said the school wanted families and visitors to travel through a clean and safe neighbourhood on their way to Jeppe.

For residents and businesses putting their own time, labour and money into reviving Kensington, the continuing state of Queen Street has therefore become more than an unfinished road project.

While the community is working to uplift the suburb, as Better Kensington’s Pass put it, “this is pulling us back”. DM