MM pleads for new fleet
"If we look at what we are currently paying to rent the yellow fleet against outright purchase, you'll notice that ten months of rental is equivalent to a cash price when buying the item,"
Msukaligwa Municipal Manager Mr Zwelihle “Sabatha” Shongwe has pleaded with municipal Council to consider and approve a request for a R14-million budget for a new fleet to improve service delivery in the municipality.
Speaking at a recent council meeting, Mr Shongwe said the budget would be for the procurement of 30 vehicles.
In making his point, Shongwe told Council that some of the municipal vehicles were even older than he is.
“We don’t have enough vehicles to carry out our day-to-day duties. As a result we always have a backlog, which impacts negatively on service delivery. Some of the vehicles’ gear-levers are no longer intact. One can easily pull out the lever while the vehicle is moving, which poses a danger to our employees,” explained Mr Shongwe.
He also emphasised the need for the municipality to acquire the “yellow fleet”, which includes TLBs, front-end loaders and graders, among others.
He stressed the need for the municipality to own such fleet as it would be good value for money.
Currently, it costs the municipality R3 500 per trip to send a water tanker to Sheepmoor, which at times happens two to three times a week.
“If we look at what we are currently paying to rent the yellow fleet against outright purchase, you’ll notice that ten months of rental is equivalent to a cash price when buying the item,” Mr Shongwe said.
The Highvelder paid a visit to the municipal workshops and saw some of the vehicles Mr Shongwe was referring to. Some of the tyres are worn out with wires showing.
One vehicle’s engine could start with any key, the handbrakes of others are not working and some of the vehicles do not even have valid license discs.
Some of the employees who spoke on condition of anonymity said the vehicles were death-traps and a disaster waiting to happen.
They, however, welcomed the possible developments and said it would be a plus to service delivery.This year, municipal employees have downed tools twice in demand of proper and safe working tools.
The municipality was unable to comment at the time of going to print on the type and model of vehicles they want to procure and how they would be distributed within the municipality’s various towns as Council resolved that the matter be referred to finance Committee for further deliberations.
