eThekwini mayor unveils new municipal fleet
The City has invested R270m to replace the fleet of heavy commercial vehicles and yellow plant vehicles.
LAST week, eThekwini mayor Councillor Mxolisi Kaunda unveiled a fleet of 127 new vehicles to enhance the Roads and Stormwater Management fleet.
The City invested R270m to replace the fleet of heavy commercial vehicles and yellow plant vehicles.
“Road infrastructure is critical in facilitating development and economic growth in the City, which is why we took the decision to invest in this fleet. This new fleet will also help the City speed up the process of rehabilitating infrastructure that was damaged during the April floods,” he said.
He added that the move to invest in resources was in line with the commitment made by the City to improve service delivery.
“Recently, we launched the Cleansing and Solid Waste fleet to improve waste management in the City. Over a period of five years, we plan to spend about R500m on waste management infrastructure. We also recently unveiled the R380m new bus fleet to provide safe, affordable and reliable transport to commuters, particularly the poor and the working class,” Kaunda explained.
The new fleet consists of super pothole units, road patchers, high-pressure-jetting units, construction water tankers, ten-cubic-meter tippers, a combination jetting-vacuum truck, crane tippers and graders, as well as lines-and-signs units.
Currently the City has 320 vehicles, which have exceeded the optimum life span of 12 years. These vehicles already require major refurbishment. This includes three vehicles that were damaged in the recent floods, which need to be replaced immediately.
“With this fleet, we will also be able to accelerate road maintenance across the City and eradicate potholes. Some of the equipment will be used to maintain our stormwater drainage system. This is critical as we are approaching the rainy season,” he said.
