BARBERTON – The executive mayor of Umjindi Municipality, Cllr Lazarus Mashaba’s former car which was claimed to be “unsafe for use”, was bought by businessman Elvis Mathabela, for R63 000 last Wednesday.
But Mathabela will have to wait a bit longer before he could drive his new Mercedes-Benz E280. He might even end up not driving it all.
Auctioneer Johannes Mathibela of Shatandi Auctioneers and Asset Disposal, was instructed by Umjindi to supplement and sell the Mercedes-Benz along with other council-redundant assets, but said the car was sold subject to confirmation.
According to Mathibela, the sale now needs to be confirmed by Umjindi, in other words whether it wants to accept the bidder price or not. “This may be due to reasons like the client (Umjindi) not being sure whether it wants to sell the said property or the offer is below its estimate,” he said.
The council had expected the vehicle to be sold for at least above R80 000. It had previously reported that it would place it on an auction with a bid opening value of R80 000, which was offered as trade-in by a garage. And the R63 000 offered by Mathabela was far below what was expected.
People from all walks of life, including local prominent businesses people and those from around the province flocked to the municipal workshop in Hospital Road where the auction was last Wednesday.
The bidding of the Mercedes-Benz, which lasted only a few minutes, opened at R50 000. There was a flurry of offers from several people.
Mathibela upped it to R60 000 and only two remained raising their bidding cards. But Mathabela kept his up the whole time, making it clear that he was going to bid irrespective of the price.
His chief opponent gave up at R63 000.
Mathabela said his desire to purchase the vehicle had nothing to do with the fact that it was owned by the mayor.
Controversy surrounding the whereabouts of the Mercedes-Benz prior to the auction arose. It was excluded from several assets that were listed to be sold at the auction. Many who attended the viewing on Tuesday, claimed that it was not available. An employee at the workshop, who chose to remain anonymous, said the vehicle had only been brought in that afternoon.
During the auction, several assets which were regarded by the council as redundant, were sold. These included Toyota Tazzes, Nissan 1400s, Toyota Corollas, Citi Golfs, office chairs and computers.
The sheriff’s office refused to disclose the total amount raised.
“The estimates will be available from our client. We will send our final report to Umjindi after the confirmation of sale,” said Mathibela.
