The J.B. Marks municipality launched a new fleet of seven vehicles to accelerate service delivery. The municipality officially presented the fleet during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Dan Tloome Chambers on Tuesday, 28 November.

Three of the seven vehicles are available now, including two tipper trucks and a skip truck.

The other four vehicles include two waste removal trucks, an excavator and a bulldozer, totalling R19,450,661.

The executive mayor of J.B. Marks, Gaba Ka Qhele, addressed the media and emphasised the importance of using municipal resources to provide services instead of using contracted services. “We are happy to have received this fleet to accelerate service delivery. Two tipper trucks have arrived to help with illegal dumping. We also expect two waste removal trucks – in December and January, to assist in service delivery,” stated Ka Qhele.

The municipality will also use the fleet in the Thuntsa Lerole Service delivery programme the mayor launched last week. This programme has seen the mayor and councillors attend to various service delivery issues daily. Last week councillors were seen with municipal workers where they fixed pot holes in Sarafina and other areas in Ikageng.

“We want to do away with contracted services and depend on our fleet, which will be much more cost effective. We, as a municipality, must use human and capital resources properly to tackle service delivery issues,” stated Ka Qhele.

In the same breath, the mayor said contracted services would still be used if the municipal fleet needs maintenance.

“When our fleet undergoes maintenance, we will use contracted services to narrow the gap,” stated Ka Qhele. The mayor also highlighted the problems of economic sabotage across the municipality. “We are working with the defence force and police to deploy skillful personnel over the festive season to deal with illegal activities like the cable theft we have experienced in Ventersdorp.”

The current Thuntsa Lerole Service delivery programme, part of the District Development Model (DDM) plan at a provincial level, must also be implemented in the long term, says Ka Qhele.

“Our Thuntsa Lerole project focuses on the work we do at ground level. We will not stop on 14 December. We will prioritise it for two to three weeks a month in the future to ensure that services are rendered. We must better the lives of the people because they pay their dues. I enjoy it on the ground. The people of this city elected all the councillors of this municipality, and it’s our task to make sure we, as politicians, deliver.”