Mpumalanga High Court orders Bohabels Region Fire Emergency to return vehicles to manufacturer
Thaba Chweu Local Municipality did not provide information to the court to clarify its working relationship with Bohabelo.
On July 20, the Mpumalanga High Court ordered Bohabela Region Fire Emergency to return its fleet of three vehicles to the manufacturer, Marcé Fire Fighting Technology. It is worth nearly R5 million.
Arthur Wright-Baker, the director of Bohabela, was ordered to deliver the vehicles to Marcé within 24 hours. Additionally, Bohabela is liable for Marcé’s legal fees.
During a meeting with Wright-Baker at TCLM on May 5 last year, a person who introduced himself as the TCLM financial manager allegedly told Marcé that TCLM would pay for the delivery of the vehicles, scheduled for June that year. Marcé’s affidavit states that Wright-Baker, the director of Bohabela, conducted business with Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM).
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According to submitted court documents the South African National Standard (SANS) code of practice was not adhered to and no payment was made for the three vehicles.
The court documents state: “A contractual obligation on the part of the guarantor to pay the beneficiary on the occurrence of a specified event is dependent on the underlying contract, which gave rise to the guarantee.”
Although the municipality was also a respondent, it did not provide any information to the court to clarify whether Bohabela was indeed acting on behalf of TCLM.
TCLM was not available for comment.
Wright-Baker provided the original agreement between Marcé Fire Fighting and Bohabela to Steelburger/Lydenburg News.
The agreement states: The scope of work is the area in an agreement where the work to be performed is described. A copy of the Local Government Municipal Systems Management Act 32 of 2000, Chapter 5: Integrated Development Planning (IDP) Section 23 (1). A municipality must undertake developmentally oriented planning to ensure that it states: “Providing support through emergency vehicular donation in the form of rescue and extrication with fire suppression units is essential to being an active member of a community, creating a meaningful connection to these communities”.
Bohabela Region Fire Emergency Services has been responding to emergencies in the greater Lydenburg area since 2011, in a joint venture agreement with TCLM.
