The Democratic Alliance (DA) will refer concerns over alleged procurement irregularities, to the MEC of COGHSTA, Bentley Vass, after the delivery of 10 bakkies to the municipality last month.
Emthanjeni budgeted R5,5 million for the year ending 30 June 2025, for the purchase of vehicles to improve service delivery, such as yellow fleet vehicles, and vehicles to replace the traffic department fleet, which is in a very poor condition. To our surprise, however, the Mayor, the Speaker, and the Municipal Manager (MM), handed over seven double cabs and three single cabs to the municipality, on 18 June.
The question is, how are these vehicles meant to expand service delivery to the much deserving community of Emthanjeni, and replace the functionality of road scrapers, honey suckers and cherry picker trucks?
This bulk bakkie purchase has sparked an outcry from the public. Emthanjeni remains in the grips of a water crisis. Its tar streets are impassable and there is no tar available to patch potholes. The town is also without streetlights at night, leading to more burglaries. Residents hoped that improved resourcing of the fleet would at least lead to a better response to critical issues like water leak repairs, blading of roads and broken street light replacements but to no avail.
The DA submitted a letter to the MM on 19 June, asking him to provide us with a copy of the tender advertisement in our local media, as required by procurement regulations for competitive bids.
In the absence of a response from the MM, the DA Constituency Head, Fawzia Rhoda, has referred this matter to MEC Vass, to ensure oversight and accountability in municipal spending in Emthanjeni. Subsequent to his response, the DA will further report the matter to the MEC of Provincial Treasury, Venus Blennies, who is the custodian of the provincial purse.
Municipal funds must be spent prudently, to the benefit of residents and service delivery, not for the advancement of tenderpreneurs.