Joburg service delivery crisis looms
Wheels could stop turning as fleet provider threatens to put brakes on city over R30m debt
A SERVICE delivery crisis looms in Joburg over more than R30 million in unpaid bills, which could grind the city’s ambulance fleet and fire trucks to a halt.
This potential crisis comes at a time when the city is without any political leadership, including a mayoral committee, following the October resignation of former mayor Herman Mashaba, and last week’s failure to elect a new one.
The Star has seen a letter sent to the City of Joburg on Monday by its vehicle service provider Afrirent, threatening to suspend 746 city vehicles “due to accounts which are in arrears; that is, non-payments and overdue accounts by over 60 days”.
The vehicles include 596 for the Joburg metropolitan police department, 57 for the city’s emergency services (ambulances and fire trucks) and 93 for its core administration functions.
The letter stated that the fleet should be halted by yesterday, but insiders have said that, following negotiations which lasted well into the night on Monday, the city was given a reprieve until Friday.
“Please note that the suspension of services will have a negative effect on service delivery. Please also note that should there be any attempt to start the affected vehicle by any means possible, the resultant damage will be for the city’s account,” the Afrirent letter read.
Afrirent has a 30-month, R1.2 billion contract to provide more than 2 700 vehicles to the city.
The company acknowledged yesterday that it had sent a letter on Monday, but declined to comment further.
Insiders, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the R30m owed was a 60-day lapse for payments on the 746 vehicles.
“However, if we were to quantify the total amounts owed, the city owes Afrirent well over R60m. But Afrirent can only claim R30m because its contract with Joburg has a 60-day clause,” a source said.
Joburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said contract obligations prevented the city from revealing how much it owed.
“Save to say that the city makes any payment after it has subjected the invoice to strict internal control measures, which in this case have subsequently been applied to ensure that the Afrirent payment is made expeditiously and within the prescripts of the law.
“The city and Afrirent have been engaged in positive discussions in line with control measures and, as such, both parties are comfortable that there will not be any need for contingency measures at this stage,” Modingoane said, adding there was no threat to service delivery.
The failure of the city to form a local government stems from last week’s decision by council speaker Vasco Da Gama to suspend the mayoral election pending a legal opinion on what constitutes a majority in the 270-seat chamber.
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GAUTENG Premier David Makhura has issued a stern warning to the City of Joburg to elect a new mayor or his government would intervene in running the affairs of the metro.
Makhura issued the warning during his address in the Gauteng Legislature yesterday as the City of Joburg is widely expected to elect a new mayor today following the dramatic resignation of Herman Mashaba in October.
Last week, the speaker of council Vasco da Gama postponed a meeting which was due to elect the mayor – a decision which irked Makhura and his Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Lebogang Maile. As a result, Maile threatened to place the City of Joburg under administration.
Yesterday, Makhura vowed to intervene within seven days if the City of Joburg fails to elect a mayor by today.
“As the premier, I would like the City of Joburg to move swiftly and elect a new mayor who will set up a new mayoral committee before December 15.
“I would like to warn that should the City of Joburg fail to elect a mayor on Wednesday (today) or within seven days thereafter, the provincial government will intervene decisively.”
He added: “We will not allow political games on matters that fundamentally affect the lives of millions of Gauteng residents.”
Makhura highlighted that it was time for swift and decisive action where there was governance or service delivery failure.
“This is what I promised during the first State of the Province Address (Sopa) of the sixth administration and it shall be done. We mean business,” he said.
Makhura said in his Sopa in July that they would be more proactive and intervene where necessary to ensure improved oversight and support to municipalities in the province.
He said over the first 100 days, the provincial government had moved swiftly to intervene in terms of Section 139 of the Constitution in the West Rand District Municipality over governance and financial challenges that hampered service delivery.
“The provincial government has, over the past five months, together with national government, strengthened measures to ensure that the Section 139 intervention in Emfuleni is adhered to by all to ensure financial recovery and economic viability of the municipality,” he said.
But Da Gama’s spokesperson Lillian Kolisang was adamant that voting of the mayor would go ahead.
Kolisang said the speaker had already received a legal opinion on how to conduct the elections of the mayor today.
Kolisang denied allegations that members of the mayoral committee who were appointed by Mashaba were still enjoying privileges, while the City of Joburg did not have a mayor.
“They are no longer in their positions,” she said.
Earlier, Makhura had said he was concerned about the state of affairs in the City of Tshwane.
“I am also deeply concerned about what is taking place in our capital city, the City of Tshwane. There is administration and governance chaos in the City and all surveys point to service delivery taking a knock and residents are suffering. There is total mismanagement of the City, which has eroded public confidence,” Makhura said.
He said they would not “sit back and watch while people suffer as a result of mismanagement and maladministration”.
“I have asked MEC Maile to submit a full report,” the premier said.