Mayoral vehicle written off, Mayor feels unfairly punished

AbaQulusi’s mayoral vehicle was written off in a Durban crash.

Mayor, Patience Khaba, now admits feeling as though she is being punished by the municipality after being forced to use her personal vehicle since the collision took place more than a month ago, with no plans being made to either replace her official vehicle or hire a courtesy car.

At a recent council meeting, the possibility that Cllr Khaba was not even on official municipal business was raised, and municipal manager, Bongiwe Mnikathi, said she was unable to confirm whether Cllr Khaba was on official business or not.

Speaker, Mphumzeni Mtshali, asked that the council be furnished with a full report on what had transpired before any decisions were taken.

Cllr Khaba told the Vryheid Herald that she had been attending a Salga community working group meeting in Durban, which she chairs, when the collision took place.

“My driver had dropped me off at the venue and took the car to put in fuel and have the car washed. While I was in the meeting, I got a call from a man saying that there had been an accident but luckily, the driver had survived with minor injuries. My bodyguard, who was with me, and a Salga representative went to the scene of the accident and took my driver to the police station to report the incident. I contacted the chief financial officer and the municipal manager to tell them about what happened, but it was Salga that had made arrangements for a car to drop me off at home in Vryheid,” explained Cllr Khaba.

She continued, “I indicated to the municipal manager that I would need a vehicle for the budget roadshow. To my surprise, she still hasn’t even asked me about the accident or about how I was coping. My driver is now taking me on official business in my own car. The mayoral vehicle is a tool of the trade that you have to have because you have meetings all around the country. You cannot perform your municipal functions and be found wanting for transport.”