The City of Johannesburg employs more than 40,000 people, but its engineering teams have been depleted through years of cadre deployment, which has continued under the coalition governments that now run the city. Wednesday night's explosion in the CBD has exposed its lack of capacity.

A panicked WhatsApp message from the Johannesburg development planning directorate reveals the city did not have requisite engineering or gas-detection skills.

"WE DEFINITELY NEED ANY STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS, CIVIL ENGINEERS, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS OR WATER ENGINEERS/GAS DETECTION EXPERTS. The City COO has undertaken that they will be paid and will conclude contracts within the hour," said the message circulated by WhatsApp on Thursday.

On Wednesday at dusk, a massive explosion ripped through Lilian Ngoyi Street (previously Bree Street) in Johannesburg, sending taxis and cars flying. One person died, and at least 40 were injured as the street collapsed.

By the end of Thursday, the city could not say what had caused the blast, and speculation veered from a gas explosion to informal miners who may have hit a pipeline. No experts spoke in the first briefings to the public, and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi took over the role of Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda, who was out of his depth.

The message circulated by a senior bureaucrat reveals that Johannesburg lacks requisite engineering skills and does not have the required gas detection experts. The city employs more than 40,000 people, but its engineering teams have been depleted through years of cadre deployment, which...