Nketoana Local Municipality in the Free State has been accused of wasting R2.3-million to purchase a service delivery truck. The truck has been parked at the municipal offices since its purchase.
Sunday World understands that the truck was moved to another location when the matter was questioned.
According to an invoice seen by Sunday World, the Isuzu truck was purchased for R2,058 366 891.79 in May 2023. It was purchased for Mamafubedu waste management, and has never served its purpose.
DA suspects corruption around the purchase
The DA in the municipality said they will zoom into the matter themselves. They accuse the ANC leaders in the same municipality of failing to account for the truck.
DA councillor Thinus Blignaut said they suspected that the vehicle was not new. This considering that the main challenge was to have it registered at the traffic department.
He explained that the truck in question cannot obtain a license disk and a roadworthy certificate. This was due to an unmatching chassis number and engine number.
“This modification, or rather, unmatching numbers, is the reason this truck is not operational. [It] means that service delivery is disadvantaged, but such huge amounts have been popped out already,” said Blignaut.
He said he was trying to locate the vehicle, take the numbers down, and have them checked at the police station. The danger lies in not knowing if the car itself or the engine were stolen. Also if they were modified, or are incompatible with each other, said Blignaut.
Corporate services probes the matter
Lisebo Motaung, the newly appointed corporate services director at the municipality, acted on the matter. She wrote to the municipal manager to inquire about the dusty truck.
“The problem is that it is not functioning and is still standing at the premises of the municipality for almost a year now.
Motaung explained that the truck has been parked due to its incompatibility to carry out its duties. She said that the truck should be returned to the manufacturer. The manufacturer must work on the compatibility of the whole licensing of the truck, she said.
She said it seemed clear that the municipality did not follow proper processes to purchase the vehicle.
“I therefore recommend that this matter be investigated by relevant persons. [Those] who are inclined with the process of transversal contract. They need… to authenticate or verify the company that delivered the truck. Whether they appear on the database of the National Treasury or not,” said Motaung.
Attempts to reach Nketoana Local Municipality municipal manager Mokete Nhlapo drew a blank.
