Saps bans small panel beaters repairing its fleet, putting 54 000 jobs at risk

Small independent businesses in the automotive industry are bracing themselves for an estimated 54 000 job bloodbath and about R450 million monthly revenue loss after the SA Police Service (Saps) decided to ban small scale panel beaters from repairing state vehicles.

The Saps has written a letter to its fleet manager WesBank informing it to stop giving its cars to the small businesses for repairs because they apparently take too long to fix them – a situation which the police says affects its mobility and response time to crimes.

Critical shortage of police vehicles

The Saps made the move in an attempt to address a critical shortage of vehicles as some police stations sit without a single police van for months when vehicles are taken to garages for a service or for mechanical problems.

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The African Panel Beaters and Motor Mechanics Association (APMMA) says about 9 000 small, medium and micro enterprises currently sub-contracted by WesBank to fix police vehicles might have to close down due to the police’s “shocking” directive.

The association predicts that a further 15 000 indirect jobs, created by the participation of its members in the RT 46-2020 contract, are also at stake.

Established dealerships like Toyota, Ford, Isuzu and others will now eat the small stores’ lunch, thanks to the directive.

WesBank told to scrap contracts with small panel beaters

In a letter addressed to FNB WesBank, Saps divisional commissioner for supply chain management Lieutenant-General Dr MI Fani said the existing merchants on the contract were not complying with standards and timeframes set as per the service level agreement.

He added that the maintenance and repair jobs by the merchants were taking too long – mostly exceeding 30 days – which scuppers service delivery.

“In light of the current circumstances of the backlog of vehicles on RT46-2020 and going forward with new jobs to be registered, the Department requires FNB WesBank to only allocate vehicles to local dealerships of OEM [original equipment manufacturer],” said Fani.

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The APMMA said it is unfair that the police put the blame on the shoulders of its members when the Saps itself was to blame for the backlogs.

APMMA president Sisa Mbangxa said before merchants fix a car, they first diagnose a vehicle and do a quotation and then take it to WesBank for repair authorisation.

WesBank must then contact the police for clearance so the repair job can begin. But the cops, according to APMMA, take too long to issue a clearance.    

“At times we wait for more than three months to receive repair authorisations from WesBank. Merchants would phone WesBank on a daily basis checking for authorisations and WesBank would tell them that they are still waiting for the clearance from the Saps. At times merchants would threaten WesBank that they would start charging for vehicles storage, which is a problem on its own. Saps refuses to pay storage in workshops,” Mbangxa said.     

Police blamed for delays

The Citizen understands that whenever there is a repair job to be outsourced by Saps, the transport officer responsible in the Saps garage logs a call at WesBank.

WesBank then allocates a repair job to a workshop that is in its database and within the radius of the police station.

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A workshop employee tows the vehicle to the workshop and upon the vehicle’s arrival at the workshop, a mechanic then opens a job card and diagnoses the vehicle.

The workshop/merchant would then prepare a quotation and submit it to WesBank, which then books the car for inspection.

According to Mbangxa, the contract stipulates that inspections need to be done within a maximum of 72 hours (excluding weekends and public holidays) of receipt of a quotation from the merchant.

After the vehicle has been successfully inspected and the quotation accepted, WesBank sends the merchant’s quotation to the Saps for clearance.

“It is mostly where as the merchants we encounter lot of delays. We as the merchant must pay the security guards to look after Saps Vehicles. If (Saps) find anything missing in their vehicles, a merchant must pay, although the vehicle remained for an unreasonable period in the workshop due to WesBank’s and Saps’ fault,” Mbangxa added.

Police claim the move is a clampdown on shoddy panelbeaters

Mbangxa further said: “It came as a shocking surprise to us that the Saps decided to cut out all the merchants in this contract due to [Saps’] fault.”

He added that it was a pity that the National Police Commissioner did not consult the small panel beaters who will be affected by the decision.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said: “We have found that fleet availability in the police is compromised by service providers that have not been quality assured. Some have not been in business for too long, therefore they take too long to repair our vehicles which poses service delivery issues and we cannot afford to have police vehicles in repairs or being serviced for too long.”

Mathe said that using original equipment manufacturers was an interim measure put in place while the police try to sort out quality issues with emerging merchants.

“Vehicles are essential to ensuring Saps executes its mandate of serving and protecting the people of SA by responding to complaints and crime-related incidents swiftly. All decisions taken are to expedite service delivery,” Mathe added.

WesBank spokesperson Lebohang Gaoaketse said the 23 January 2024 SAPS directive stems from challenges experienced as a result of poor workmanship by certain non-OEM merchants.

He said the challenges primarily revolve around the prolonged unavailability of vehicles following delays in the repair process, which significantly impacts SAPS operational efficiency.

“WesBank implements the RT-46 contract on behalf of our client, National Treasury and various End-Users (participant Government entities). To this end, WesBank is actively engaging with National Treasury and working to address this issue within the established framework of the RT-46 contract,” added Gaoaketse.

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