Press release: The Executive Mayor puts the interest of residents and business first
“Her decision to postpone the purchase of the vehicle is purely based on putting the interest of the community first"
Press release:
The Executive Mayor of Emalahleni Local Municipality, Councillor Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, after considering the current situation the municipality is facing and after consulting broadly has taken a bold decision to put on hold a council resolution to purchase a mayoral vehicle.
Councillor Ntshalintshali’s decision was motivated by the reality that, owing to low payment levels to the municipality, Eskom could pull the plug because of an unacceptable high debt which is in the region of R940 -million.
Residents, business and government facilities owe the municipality R2,2-billion and as such the municipality could not keep up with its obligation.
During September 2016, based on the guidelines determined by the SA Local Government Association (Salga) and the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) regarding official vehicles for office bearers, the administration brought an item to council to replace the current vehicle.
Council, after deliberation, in which all political parties participated , resolved that normal procurement processes should be deployed in replacing the vehicle once it reached 150 000 km. Subsequently a tender to this affect was published. The tender was advertised in the council website and the Local newspaper in order to facilitate transparency as required by legislation. This matter caused a storm and even led to the DA laying charges of corruption against the Municipal Manager, Mr Theo van Vuuren, for managing this process.
Councillor Ntshalintshali commented that in the interest of the community all must contribute and make sacrifices. Therefore she decided that she will not accept a new vehicle at this stage despite the council resolution, SALGA and COGTA recommended guidelines.
“Her decision to postpone the purchase of the vehicle is purely based on putting the interest of the community first. This decision must be seen as a contribution towards cost curtailment and focusing resources on dealing with Eskom debt, despite the current old vehicle being out of the motor plan with issues of maintenance and safety emerging,” said Kingdom Mabuza from the municipality’s communication department.
