Vehicle repair backlog catches up with police
Several local SAPS officers had contacted Lowvelder at the end of May with complaints that the backlog had severely affected their work and ability to get to emergency scenes.
The national police have said the backlog in vehicle repairs at the Nelspruit SAPS garage can be attributed to the implementation of a new fleet- managed maintenance contract (RT46) as well as a lack of inspectors at WesBank earlier this year.
Several local SAPS officers had contacted Lowvelder at the end of May with complaints that the backlog had severely affected their work and ability to get to emergency scenes.
Some officers said repairs could take anywhere between three weeks to three months, with some even going as far as asking community members for spare parts to have their cars fixed.
The national police spokesperson, Col Athlenda Mathe, said now that the RT46 contract had been implemented, it would reduce the procurement time for fixing vehicles by three weeks.
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The RT46-2020 is a centrally facilitated contract arranged by National Treasury for goods or services and is for the provision of vehicle fleet management services to the state for a period of five years from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2026.
Mathe said some divisions have been waiting since the beginning of April for their cars to be fixed and that Nelspruit has a total of 61 vehicles that would take between 31 and 60 days to be repaired. She said procurement processes could take anywhere between four and six weeks.
“The RT46 has set benchmarks for repairs and the contractor (WesBank) has signed a service-level agreement which is being managed daily.”
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She added that provincial management and station commanders must redistribute cars to address their operational needs and that proper asset and vehicle fleet management principals must be implemented to ensure vehicles are cared for as per the SAPS standards.
“Vehicle fleet managers must conduct weekly inspections and station commanders must take responsibility of their cars,” Mathe said.
“It needs to be noted that vehicles recommended for boarding are being parked at the garage, which creates the picture that there is a backlog. Vehicle fleet managers must complete the prescribed disposal process and cars must be moved to the VISS unit to be disposed of in terms of the current disposal policy.”
She said the disposal is not the responsibility of mechanical services or garage commanders. Mathe added that the safety and security of communities are of great concern to the police. We are doing all we can as an organisation to ensure all resources are in a good condition, so that our members can continue to serve and protect the people of South Africa.”
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