Thaba Chweu Local Municipality’s mayor will soon be driving a BMW X3
The DA has accused TCLM's mayor of overspending on a luxury vehicle while the municipality's finances are in dire straits
Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM) voted to purchase a new BMW X3, worth R1.1m, for Friddah Nkadimeng, the executive mayor.
In a council sitting, the DA voted against this decision on the basis that amount of the vehicle exceeds limits set by the Municipal Finance Management Act no 56 of 2003. According to this Act the council is not supposed to spend more than 70% (VAT included) of the mayor’s annual remuneration package or the amount of R700 000.
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The DA argued that local dealerships in TCLM could offer a modest and effective mayoral vehicle within the perimeters of National Treasury.
“TCLM is listed among the municipalities that have been operating on unfunded budgets in the province for the past five years. With this in mind, one would expect that Mayor Friddah Nkadimeng would be concerned with the municipality’s financial status and start ensuring financially sound decisions. Our spokesperson for co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta), Trudie Grové-Morgan, will ask the department to urgently issue an interdict against this misguided mayoral vehicle purchase. However, Cogta plays an advisory role and can’t veto TCLM’s vote,” said the DA’s Comfort Sibiya.
“The BMW X3 will be purchased directly from the manufacturer using the National Treasury’s transversal term contract. This will bring the purchase price of the vehicle to R786 295, including VAT. This is well within the National Treasury’s regulations and the stipulated threshold of R700 000 for purchasing a mayoral vehicle. Opting for this purchase route conforms with sub-regulation 6.2 of the municipal cost containment regulation. This regulation provides that the procurement of vehicles for political office bearers must be undertaken using the national government transversal contract mechanism, unless it may be procured at a lower cost through other procurement mechanisms,” said Themba Sibiya, TCLM media and marketing manager.
