At least two out of ten brand new Mahindra bakkies are out of service, less than six months after Emthanjeni municipality procured new fleet vehicles at a cost of R5,5 million. This was confirmed during a recent oversight inspection of the government garage in De Aar.
One of the ten Mahindra vehicles has been severely damaged in an accident. The shock absorbers on another Mahindra bakkie have already failed after only four months on the road. See pics here and here.
The state of the brand new bakkies raises serious concerns regarding ongoing mismanagement of the municipal fleet and its impact on service delivery. This includes the municipality’s increasing inability to repair basic water leaks.
The new bakkies were recently purchased to help resolve service delivery challenges. If these vehicles are already failing at such a rapid pace, the pressure on the already outdated and overstretched municipal fleet will only worsen.
The municipality no longer has a functioning grader. This affects the Waterdal area, as well as the gravel roads in De Aar East, Britstown, and Hanover, which receive no blading.
The sewerage truck is also under pressure, as there is currently only one operational vehicle available to service Hanover, Britstown, and De Aar. Residents in Britstown are particularly affected, as the replacement sewerage truck does not have the same capacity as the original truck. This means that the old-age home requires eight suctions instead of the usual four, doubling the cost.
We have further noted that the sewerage truck is very active over weekends, raising concerns regarding overtime expenditure.
There is also only one cherry picker available for all three towns. This has resulted in De Aar being extremely dark at night due to streetlights not being serviced. This poses the risk of increased criminal activity.
The DA has reiterated our call on the municipality to prioritise the management of its fleet. We will also report the latest developments in relation to the fleet to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), which is busy with a provincial inquiry into the collapse of services in Emthanjeni.
Urgent intervention is needed to address Emthanjeni’s fleet mismanagement issues and prevent further decline in essential services.