The mayor has a new car! Despite all the efforts from opposition parties to block the purchase of a new vehicle a new mayoral car was purchased during December.
The BMW X3 is considerably cheaper than the X5 that she insisted on previously. The X5 was quoted at over R2m with extras such as tow bars and blue lights.
The Bulletin was told that the X3 will fall within the R700000 range that the minister once said in his speech.
Residents are expected to be outraged at the purchase as Govan Mbeki Municipality is under severe financial strain.
Rand Water and Eskom constitutes the bulk of the outstanding debt that is now well over R1,5b.
All the communities are affected by the non-payment of these suppliers. Bethal Rand is continually without water as a direct result of the non-payment of the Rand Water account. Water is restricted regularly to GMM and several areas are affected to the extent that there is no water supply.
Sources revealed to The Bulletin that the Mayoral car is indeed fitted with a tow bar. There is no need for a tow bar on a mayoral vehicle. Official vehicles such as that should not be towing anything.
Opposition Leader DA Cllr Ciska Jordaan sent the following statement to The Bulletin: “The Democratic Alliance is appalled by the news that the Executive Mayor, Thandi Ngxonono and her mayoral committee has opted to purchase a new luxury vehicle with council funds despite the horrendous financial state of the Govan Mbeki Municipality.
The DA has highlighted its concern and condemnation of frivolous expenditure relating to the purchase of luxury vehicles numerously in the council but was repeatedly responded to by the ANC majority with quotations from the promulgated upper limits and benefits of executive mayors and the redundant reiteration of the high cost of rent of a vehicle that she was travelling with, since the prior mayoral vehicle is allegedly beyond repair.
In addition, several practical proposals have been made in the council by the DA to avoid hefty rental fees and the purchase of vehicles for political office bearers. With the GMMs ESKOM and Rand Water debt remaining yet at the incredibly staggering amount of over R1.5bn it is absolutely a violation of the trust that residents have placed in members of the council to abuse funds that are meant to deliver services for the comfort of someone who should be acting as a civil servant. This proves that the ruling ANC repeatedly expresses its disdain for the best interest of Govan Mbeki.
Furthermore, it is clear as daylight that service delivery deteriorates under the financial constraint of the municipality by the day, with residents experiencing to an unreasonable extent this past December, since several towns were often left without water or otherwise electricity for days on end.
Executive Mayors in DA metros such as Cape Town and Tshwane has denied or sold off similar benefits in the past with the interest of the public they serve at heart. The residents of Govan Mbeki deserve a ruling party that will ensure that money meant for the people, is spent on the people.”
It would appear to the public that the purchase was timed to coincide with the holiday season as the vehicle was delivered during December according to our sources.
