The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape welcomes the commitment given by the municipal manager of the Emthanjeni Local Municipality that written solutions for service delivery failures in De Aar, Britstown, and Hanover will be provided to our offices by next week Friday. This commitment was given yesterday to a panel of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), conducting a provincial inquiry into the collapse of services in the Northern Cape and follows on complaints lodged by the DA.
We are particularly interested in explanations for the increasing costs of water tankers in the municipality. During yesterday’s hearing, the municipal manager said that Emthanjeni currently spends R600 000 each month to hire water tankers and claimed that these costs are justified because the municipality cannot afford to buy its own fleet. This raises further questions about the financial motivation behind the purchasing of ten Mahindra bakkies earlier this year.
With a five minute search on AutoTrader’s website, the DA already found two options that would be far more cost-effective and beneficial to residents than 10 luxury vehicles or monthly leases amounting to R600 000. One 2025 Nissan vehicle fitted with a 12 000lt water tanker would cost R2.1 million and one 2018 Scania 18 000lt water tanker would cost R1.1 million. With the money that Emthanjeni wastes in one year on leases, it could have bought five 2025 models and still have money left over for fuel and insurance.
The lack of common sense and the absence of cost-effective decisions, contributing to service delivery collapses, raises concerns about the municipal administration. It is worrying that the municipal manager was so extremely reluctant to reveal the name of the suppliers who benefit from this lucrative lease.
The DA will continue to monitor the situation and will always fight for the rights of the residents of Emthanjeni.