A new vogue as auctions go online

THE ethekwini Municipality has moved into top gear by encouraging more and more previously disadvantaged communities to take the gap and bid online for 245 motor vehicles, mainly trucks, bakkies, vans and cars – and as well as assisting the bidders with online registration and deposit payments on site in the City’s main hubs in Springfield Park this week.

The municipality confirmed that its 9th online public auction will be co-ordinated by a black-owned firm, Auctions Specialists, which supervised and hosted the viewing of a total of 345 lots ranging from motor vehicles to office equipment and a diverse range of stock running into hundreds of millions of rand.

“A variety of movable goods and as well as vehicles will be on offer. The public is invited to attend the auction, with previously disadvantaged individuals encouraged to participate to advance the agenda of Radical Economic Transformation,” said municipal spokesperson Romita Hanumanpillay.

While the traffic on the online portals and websites are abuzz, droves of bidders mainly black Africans and Durban Indians – including Muslim businesses – have been viewing the goods since Monday and Wednesday at the 102 lots of goods and 243 lots of motor vehicles camped at Sites 11, 17 and 30 Electron Road, Springfield.

Vehicles, IT equipment and office supplies from the City Fleet and Electricity Unit are open for viewing and bidding at 11 Electron Road.

Light and heavy-duty vehicles from the Water and Sanitation Unit are parked at 30 Electron Road, while Cleansing and Solid Waste Unit vehicles are lined up at 30 Electron Road.

The old tradition of public auctions has been changing in the past decades and the paradigm shifts opens new vistas for communities who were marginalised under 50 years of apartheid rule as progressive local governments like the Ancled metropolitan government champions the broader participation of Africans, Indians and Coloureds in this multi-billion industry.

MARLAN PADAYACHEE | Durban