The Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaDukuza Local Municipality welcomes the opinion from National Treasury advising that the Mayor Ali Ngidi and the Deputy Mayor Njabulo Cele, halt the purchase of new vehicles until a comprehensive assessment has been done on the existing vehicles.
The existing vehicles include two (2) X3 BMW’s that cost over a million, National Treasury flagged the following:
– Low mileage (65 000 km and 70 000 km) with the completion set as 120 000 km before procuring a new vehicle
– No cost-effective measures to extend their lifespan
– No detailed analysis on the cost to repair existing vehicles versus cost to procure new vehicles
If had been approved by Treasury, KwaDukuza municipality would have had to include the vehicles in the 2024/25 adjustment budget, that would take away funds from services that prioritise residents so that politicians could drive SUV’s.
The rental of vehicles for political office bearers in KwaDukuza has also been shrouded in mystery and controversy since the DA blew the lid on this scandal at the end of November 2024.
It simply cannot be a case of the KwaDukuza council discarding functional fleet in the name of opulence. Even from the correspondence received from National Treasury, the administration in the municipality failed to provide the relevant vehicle assessment reports, most likely to influence the decision of treasury.
The response also refers to the municipality making a budget provision in the adjustment budget, exactly like a budget provision was going to be made for the director in the office of the mayor position.
We are also concerned that our request for the financial implication attached to hiring of vehicles remains outstanding. In addition to the immediate implementation of the recommendation from national treasury for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor to immediately commence utilising the municipal allocated vehicles , we proposed that the current back up vehicle of the mayor is immediately returned to the relevant service delivery business unit to provide services to the residents of KwaDukuza, and the backup vehicle is returned to the Mayor, a vehicle that was allegedly being used for the purposes of “malume transport” (scholar transport )
As the DA we are taking a firm position around the prioritisation of services to the people of KwaDukuza over the opulent tokens for political office bearers.
Those in power must be aware that their short-lived tenure should focus on changing the lives of the people of KwaDukuza. The display of luxury vehicles, high-end brands, and bloated media teams during ceremonial parades is a distasteful slap in the face to the communities who need real leadership now.