Note to Editors: Please note Tim Brauteseth sound bite in English
The DA, as a responsible partner within KZN’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), is gravely concerned by the ongoing dysfunction in the management of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) government vehicle fleets – under the RT46 transversal tender – particularly when it comes to the devastating impact on policing and emergency medical services in the province.
The shocking situation was revealed during recent Health functionality oversights conducted by the provincial Legislature, with a focus on Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
A May 2025 response to a DA parliamentary question (view here) confirmed that only 240 (50%) of KZN’s 480 Department of Health (DoH) ambulances, were operational. Reports from the functionality oversights now reveal that this figure may have dropped to as low as 37%.
This appears to be a direct consequence of prolonged vehicle downtime due to inefficient fleet maintenance arrangements. This is not just a logistical failure – it is a humanitarian crisis. The inability to dispatch ambulances timeously is costing lives and undermining the constitutional right of citizens to access healthcare.
The RT46 contract, administered by WesBank, alongside NedFleet and Fleet Africa, was intended to streamline vehicle fleet management across government departments. Instead, it has become a bottleneck of inefficiency, exclusion, and economic devastation. The very entities entrusted with ensuring service delivery have presided over a system that has crippled essential services and excluded black-owned and SMME workshops from meaningful participation.
Submissions from affected stakeholders, including the Automotive Aftermarket Association Forum (AAAF), detailing how black-owned workshops in KZN have been systematically sidelined. Despite being BBBEE Level 1 compliant, these businesses have been denied access to repair work, leading to widespread closures, job losses and economic hardship. More than 162 000 jobs are at risk nationally, with R450million in monthly revenue losses reported across the sector.
National Treasury’s RT46-2026 tender – which closed on 11 August 2025 – was meant to correct these injustices. However, the DA remains deeply sceptical of its ability to deliver meaningful change unless there is transparent disclosure of awarded contractors, strict enforcement of equitable work distribution, and real-time monitoring of service delivery outcomes.
The DA now calls on KZN’s DoH to immediately account for the collapse of ambulance availability and to provide a detailed recovery plan.
As KZN SCOPA Chairperson I will also write to National Treasury to request the list of successful RT46-2026 bidders and their provincial allocations. SCOPA then intends to call these service providers to appear before the committee to account for their actions, which may have contributed to the current nightmare scenario.
KZN’s people deserve better. They deserve a government that prioritises lives over bureaucracy, empowerment over exclusion and accountability over complacency. SCOPA will not rest until this matter is resolved and those responsible are held to account.