VEREENIGING. – The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Sedibeng has welcomed the removal of R700,000 allocated for buying the Executive Mayor of Sedibeng District Municipality (SDM), Lerato Maloka.
The purchase would have been from the adjustment budget of the SDM but opposition parties such as the EFF and the Democratic Alliance (DA) had been against the purchase. The information regarding Maloka’s expensive official car was disclosed in a report that was tabled during a meeting of the SDM Council.
According to the report, the municipality’s capital expenditure budget for the 2023/2024 financial year was supposed to be increased by R700 000 to provide for the mayor’s vehicle because the high-cost maintenance of her old Mercedes and car rental is becoming too expensive and unfeasible to maintain.
In 2022, the DA discovered that a Mercedes-Benz GLB (X247) vehicle purchased for Maloka at a cost of R696 611.99 was collecting dust in the municipality’s offices when she refused to use it as it did not meet her specifications. Reports said this very vehicle stopped after a strange substance similar to sugar granules was found in the engine.
It cost the municipality R398 000 to repair.
Meanwhile, EFF Sedibeng Chairman, Isaac Khithika said that the bone of contention in the budget adjustment of SDM was the allocation of R700,000 for the purchase of the mayor’s car, which the EFF advocated to be removed from the budget, and the council agreed to this rationale.
Khithika said that SDM mainly relies on the equity share from the national government, with an estimated budget of R400 million annually, in contrast to local councils such as Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) with a budget of around R8 billion, Lesedi Local Municipality (LLM) with R1.2 billion, and Midvaal Local Municipality (MLM) with R2 billion.
“We strongly believe that the mayor does not deserve another car, and a report on the current car’s status must be presented to the council. The EFF in Sedibeng will not permit everything to revolve around the mayor; the focus should be on the residents of Sedibeng and service delivery, not on one individual,” Khithika said.
