ETHEKWINI Mayor, Zandile Gumede said on Monday at a special meeting of Exco that the city will seek political guidance over the issue of 20 police dogs the city purchased at a cost of R123 0915 from Denel Land Systems, a division of Denel SOC Ltd in Pretoria. According to its website Denel is a diversified hi-tech industrial group registered under the South African Companies Act, with the state as the sole shareholder.
Gumede said she had requested a report on the matter from Metro Police, but was still waiting. “This has taken too long and we will seek political guidance on the way forward. As a matter of principle, we have always received dogs as a donation to us and we don’t understand why we had to pay millions this time around,” she said.According to the Sunday Tribune, documents leaked to the media showed that the requisition was negotiated and signed off by an operational constable while the offer was accepted and letter of award was signed off by the deputy head of supply chain operations.
As far as the purchase of the four Casspir armoured personnel carriers the city ordered from Denel Mechem, a division of the Denel Group, the mayor refused to get drawn into a discussion pending a report to be delivered regarding the matter. The vehicles are to be used for dealing with crowds during riots and land invasions in Durban and surrounding areas. The contract for the four vehicles is worth R19.9 million.
Gumede confirmed that one of the four vehicles had been delivered to the city. “We are still waiting for the report and will decide from there on the way forward.”
