The cancelled R161 million fire engine contract has set back the process of getting the 29 much-needed new emergency vehicles for the City of Johannesburg.
The City currently has 29 fire stations, each equipped with an unreliable fire engine.
The contract was cancelled, Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba said after it was found that the tender was awarded on forged Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC) documents.
“The agreement, entered into in 2015, was allegedly entered into on condition that the contractor furnished the City with a performance guarantee of R16 million and that it demonstrated that it had sufficient cash flow to enable delivery,” Mashaba said.
An order of R19 million was also issued in favour of the contractor for delivery of the first set of fire engines to the City.
“Alarm bells rang after the contractor not only failed to provide the performance guarantee but also failed to deliver the 29 new fires engines per the contract.
“This contractor has since been placed under business rescue proceedings.”
The City has now begun a new process to obtain the fire engines. According to its website, the City’s Emergency Management Services (EMS) is one of the biggest emergency services units in Africa. It covers an area of 1 620km² and serves a population of almost five million.
It also faces a shortage of rescue vehicles such as fire engines. MMC for Public Safety, Michael Sun, previously defended firefighters, saying the lack of fire engines are to blame for long response times and not lazy firefighters. The MMC was praised last year, in October for putting 29 fire engines back on the road after some were in for repairs from as early as November last year. But the additional fleet would have assisted the City’s EMS, helping them deliver faster.
Spokesperson Luyanda Longwe said the City is, however, expecting five engines from the dismissed contractor before their agreement ends. A new tender process will be undertaken for the remaining 24.
But for now, firefighters have to make do with crumbling fire engines that break down every other day.
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