The City of Tshwane agriculture and environment management department has increased its waste management fleet by acquiring new vehicles from Daimler Fleet Management (DFM), a pioneer in fleet management solutions. 

At a ceremonial handover at Mercedes-Benz South Africa’s (MBSA) head-office in Zwartkop,  the City of Tshwane today officially acknowledged acceptance of a massive fleet of 92 specialised Mercedes-Benz trucks for the city’s waste management service.

The fleet includes Mercedes-Benz Actros, Axor and Atego vehicles in a variety of tailor-made waste applications – from skip loaders to side loader refuse compactors.  These units are specifically built to the City of Tshwane’s requirements and the unique partnership with Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles allowed for some of the more specialised vehicles to be built at Wörth, Germany, shipped to Italy for specialised fitment and then sent on to South Africa.

The value of the three-year contract is around R216 million.

Tshwane’s executive mayor Councillor Kgosientso Ramakgopa was delighted with the progress made in this sector of the council’s service to its residents and expressed satisfaction that the partnership with DFM and the Mercedes-Benz dealer will assist in providing greater operational efficiencies.

Speaking at the function, the executive mayor of the City of Tshwane, Councillor Kgosientso Ramokgopa, said that the new fleet would assist the city to achieve its goals of being the cleanest city in the country.

“We have, over the years, constantly won the Bontle ke Botho award for a clean city. These trucks will ensure that we keep that track record,” said Ramokgopa. “Over and above that we will be able to fulfil our mandate to keeping the city healthy.”

During his budget speech a few weeks ago, the Mayor promised that waste management would receive increased attention. He said at the time that waste management was a critical function that needed to be fulfilled with care, lest there be disease outbreaks that can easily be prevented.

“This is the second largest single fleet lease contract that DFM has won and we are delighted that the City of Tshwane put its trust in us by awarding DFM the entire contract,” said Aluwani Ramabulana, CEO at Daimler Fleet Management. 

“We are delighted with this unique partnership between the City of Tshwane, the Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicle division at MBSA, equipment specialist OMB-SA and the servicing dealer Sandown Motors’ Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles Centurion,”  Ramabulana said.