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The half-broken fleet of Kai !Garib municipality is gathering cobwebs as opposed to collecting refuse and performing other service delivery functions. This has prompted the DA to request ZF Mgcawu district municipality to schedule an oversight tour of the workshops of all local municipalities falling within its jurisdiction.

A recent oversight inspection to the municipal workshop in Kakamas exposed a number of vehicles, all in some form of disrepair, parked at the workshop for an undetermined period of time. Included in the stationary fleet is a tipper truck, with a broken window and new tyres, as well as a refuse removal truck with new tyres and a new propshaft. Refuse containers and cars stand on supports. The vehicles and parts have clearly been standing there for some time and some have allegedly had parts stolen and appear beyond repair. See pics here, here, here, here and here.

A new JoJo tank that could have been used to provide residents of Vredesvallei with water during their recent water crisis, was also found unused.

The workshop smacks of neglect and mismanagement of municipal resources.

When government fleets fall into disrepair, it is only a matter of time until services also decline and institutions start to collapse. As a district council, we therefore need to take urgent action to prevent a bad situation from becoming even worse.

Given that a previous oversight inspection by DA councillors to the workshop in Upington, in Dawid Kruiper municipality, revealed a similar situation, the DA has submitted a letter to the newly appointed Municipal Manager of ZF Mgcawu to urgently arrange an oversight visit of the municipal workshops in Kai !Garib, Dawid Kruiper, !Kheis, Tsantsabane and Kgatelopele municipalities. This, as district municipalities have jurisdiction over district-wide functions, such as the facilitation of shared specialised capacity and equipment between municipalities. 

After all inspections are conducted, the DA proposes that the District meet with the respective local municipalities to present them with recommendations that may include selling off unusable vehicles parts, and ultimately request them to table turn-around strategies for each of the workshops.

Issued by Deeyone de Koker, Cllr - ZF Mcgawu District municipality