Mixed reaction over district council to purchase emergency vehicles

GROBLERSDAL – Mixed reactions filled the air during the last council seating of the Sekhukhune District Municipality held at the Ephraim Mogale Locale Municipality chamber in Marble Hall (SDM) over the purchasing of emergency vehicles worth millions.

Political party oppositions expressed their views over the council’s decision to purchase 11 emergency vehicles at the tune of R5.1 million.

The special council meeting noted reports of two evaluation task teams, comprising multiparty councilors, that assessed performances of two committees of council, the Audit Committee and (AC) and the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC).

Council approved the purchasing of 11 emergency vehicles. The vehicles currently belong to a service provider which is leasing them to the municipality. After receiving a report by an independent assessor, the district municipality agreed to purchase the 11 vehicles for R5.1 million.

Solomon Maila, SDM Democratic Alliance (DA) caucus leader, said his party has always been on the view that the district municipality ought to start buying its own vehicles instead of wasting millions of tax-payers money on vehicle leases, which only benefited those connected the decision making elite in the institution.

Maila said the party has also placed it in on record during the said council seating that they would like to see a situation in which the mayoral and the council speaker’s vehicles were not leased but bought by the municipality.

However, the Bolsheviks Party of South Africa (BPSA) condemned the decision by council to purchase the vehicles.

BPSA said it viewed the decision as unnecessary and unproductive because the vehicles were not going to change the lives of the people within the district.

Seun Mogotji, BPSA leader, said the vehicles will benefit few individuals who would use them to attend weddings and parties.

“We condemn the decision as being unnecessary, fruitless and unproductive. People cannot introduce fruitless projects when the economy is struggling. Young people are facing high unemployment rate and SDM is immune from that challenge. Value for money is great of importance.