ELM vehicle ‘graveyard’ exposed
While the Emfuleni Local Municipality says it is acquiring new vehicles to address the service delivery backlog, 41 vehicles belonging to the local municipality are gathering dust at a workshop in Vereeniging.
VEREENIGING. – The owner of a local hydraulic repairs and engineering workshop in Unitas Park is taking legal action against the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) to recover the R2.7 million that he says the municipality owes him for services rendered.
Vaalweekblad can now reveal that 41 vehicles belonging to ELM are being kept at a workshop as the municipality has failed to pay for repair work rendered.
Accordingly, Tommy Steyn, owner of Protea Hydraulics and Engineering, says he will not be releasing the vehicles until he has been paid in full.
The vehicles on Steyn’s property includes five fire trucks, garbage removal vehicles, compactors, cherry pickers, bakkies and vehicles belonging to Metsi-a-Lekoa and the Emfuleni Local Municipality’s electrical department.
Some of the vehicles have been at the workshop for more than eight years.
This raises questions about the municipality’s acquisition of new vehicles.
In 2023 ELM acquired two new fire engines at a cost of R6.2 million each, while several fire engines have been gathering cobwebs at Steyn’s workshop for years.
Last week the municipality announced that it had acquired 12 new compactors to tackle the backlog in service delivery, while several compactors have been standing at the same site for years.
Steyn says that his company, which had previously belonged to his father, had been doing business with ELM since 1980 (for the last 44 years).
Steyn says in court documents that the problems started in 2014 since his father’s passing.
ELM was placed under administration in 2018 as a result of the collapse in service delivery and irregular expenditure.
While the executive mayor, Sipho Radebe, and the MMC for environment and planning, Jonas Radebe, were seen bragging about the 19 vehicles at their disposal to tackle the backlog in service delivery on social media, a storm was brewing behind the scenes and Steyn’s legal team were preparing court documents.
In court documents that Vaalweekblad has seen Steyn demands payment for services tendered and storage fees within ten days.
Failure to settle the outstanding amount will result in the vehicles being actioned off on a public auction.
