Johannesburg - City of Joburg MMC for group corporate and shared services Leah Knott, said the multiparty government was working hard to ensure all municipal services run smoothly in spite of problems with service providers.
Knott said about 47 of the metro’s vehicle fleet were withdrawn by Avis, placing service delivery at risk. But she said the city was still in negotiations to get the vehicles back.
Some of the seized vehicles would affect operations of the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD).
“The non-specialised fleet contract, which covers JMPD vans, City Power bakkies, Joburg Water trucks and other branded regular vehicles, was already in its second extension, despite National Treasury ruling the portion of the contract with Afri-rent to be irregular and having to be cancelled. I must state for the record that the portion of the non-specialised fleet contract with Avis was not covered by the national Treasury instruction.
The national Treasury instruction was also based on the city not following regulation 32 requirements, and not any conduct of the providers.
“Following engagement with Joburg Water, as well as confirmation received by the Department of Corporate Services from all city departments and entities, the grounded vehicles consist of 17 out of the 124 JMPD vehicles and 30 of the 306 Joburg Water vehicles rented from Avis,” Knott said.
Joburg Water has 306 vehicles from Avis and 373 from Afri-rent. JMPD has 124 vehicles from Avis and 1 176 from Afri-rent. This equates to a substantial amount still in use for service delivery.
“It should also be noted that in terms of the Afri-rent portion of the contract, who have agreed to not ground any vehicles until negotiations are concluded, 63 vehicles are used by the Johannesburg Property Company, 232 by the Johannesburg Roads Agency, 36 used by Pikitup, nine by the Joburg Theatre, nine by the Joburg Market, 299 by City Power, 12 by Metrobus, 173 by City Parks and the Joburg Zoo, 150 by the city’s core administration, 78 by the Emergency Management Services, 1 176 by the JMPD, and 373 by Joburg Water are all in full use,” Knott said.
Knott said that when the multi-party government was elected to office, revenue collection was in a dire state, and the city’s core group contracts were either expired or on the verge of expiring.
“This included fleet maintenance contracts, non-specialised fleet, photocopy machines, fire engine purchase, cellphones, the travel desk function, as well as the system for occupational health and safety claims (COID System).
“A state we inherited from the ANC. Within a few short months, the multiparty government has turned this around, and we have concluded the process to buy 17 new firefighting vehicles, including heavy-duty engines, and are in the process of procuring another 25. We have awarded the fleet maintenance contract and contracts for cellphones, photocopiers, and the COID system,” she said.
The Star made numerous attempts to obtain comment from Avis, however, these proved unsuccessful.
The Star