City’s fleet ‘sabotaged’ following repossessions
MMC Leah Knott assures that the City’s fleet will be back up and running before the end of the week, following allegations of non-payment after a number of vehicles were repossessed.
Group Corporate and Shared Services MMC Leah Knott assured that the City’s non-specialised fleet would be back in commission by the end of the week following the repossession of several vehicles.
This followed the withdrawal of the fleet, which included several JMPD vehicles, on November 16 due to alleged delays in contract approvals.
ANC Johannesburg Regional Chair Dada Morero, however, alleged that the repossession was the result of ‘non-payment’.
Today, Avis car rental is removing all its cars due to non-payment by the DA lead multiparty government, compromising the ability of the City to maintain road safety during the festive season. @CityofJoburgZA pic.twitter.com/7GuYNQs2Ik
— Leader of ANC Caucus Cllr Sello Dada Morero (@MayorDadaMorero) November 16, 2022
According to a statement by Knott on November 12, the fleet was part of a non-specialised fleet that included more than 4 000 vehicles.
Knott claimed that due to irregular procurement processes, and over the past two years when the multiparty came into office last year, many contracts such as the fleet contract had already expired, forcing it to restart the process from scratch.
The procurement process was restarted in early 2022 and the public participation process and conclusion report were submitted for tabling in council.
Knott said during Morero’s time in office an executive had signed the report to award the contract.
When the multiparty returned to office in October 2022 it found issues with the awarded contract. The City’s Group Forensic and Investigation Service was investigating the alleged irregularities and one of the service providers was set to appear in court in November to challenge the contract.
“We thus engaged with the City Manager with a view that a deviation to remain with the current provider and hold off on the award was the soundest solution until both these processes could be finalised before the end of 2022 which would prevent a very real risk of the City being left without a fleet,” said Knott.
The matter was raised with Speaker Colleen Makhubele on multiple occasions as well as at the Programming Committee on October 27 where Knott requested the inclusion of three urgent items (including the fleet contract) during a council meeting on November 3.
By way of a vote, the fleet contract was to be excluded from the council meeting.
“Another Programming Committee was convened by the Speaker on November 1 wherein it was again requested that the three items be tabled at council which the Speaker and ANC vehemently shut down again,” added Knott.
27 October 2022 council meeting it begs the question – why is Dada Morero misleading residents when his own party backed the Speaker in not allowing this report into council. We’ll resolve these issues despite them & they should be ashamed of how they’re conducting themselves https://t.co/4TNEcxvzuC pic.twitter.com/SIXdwTAE5D
— Cllr Leah Knott (@LeahK28) November 16, 2022
The council meeting on November 3 was subsequently cancelled.
“So it is really political sabotage that we are dealing with which is really not fair to our residents and it is not fair to the City,” alleged Knott.
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