R1m car for mayor of poor council

Chief Luthuli municipality owes Eskom millions

The mayor of a struggling Mpumalanga municipality is shopping for a new Mercedes-Benz SUV which will cost ratepayers over R1-million.

Chief Albert Luthuli local municipality wants the latest Mercedes-Benz GLE 250d 4MATIC complete with front and rear warning blue lights on the windscreen and the front grille for its mayor Dan Nkosi.

According to a recent Mercedes-Benz price list, the 2017 model of the car the municipality desires retail sat the recommendedprice of R 969600.

The council wants the mayor’s new wheels to have extras such as a sunroof, reverse camera, blind spot assist, heated seats and bixenon lights which will cost an additional R60 000. The council prefers the car to be white in colour with a black one as their second option, according to documents Sowetan saw.

The new car will replace the current mayoral vehicle, a white 2011 Mercedes-Benz ML350. The car has clocked over 400 000km which is “too much”, according to municipal spokesman David Nhlabathi.

“He [mayor] has a right to buy a new car,” Nhlabathi added.

“All previous [Chief Albert Luthuli municipality] mayors had blue lights in their cars.”

Economically depressed Carolina is the seat of the municipality which is among several across the country owing Eskom millions of rands.