An attempt by a rural Limpopo municipality to spend a whopping R1.8-million to lease a car for the use of the council speaker has been exposed and halted.
The matter came to light when the Bolsheviks Party in the Ephraim Mogale Municipality expressed concern over the R45 000 leasing of a sleek BMW X5 SUV for council speaker Ruth Maloka.
The deal was pushed to go through via a different car dealership, while the municipality still has an existing contract with another company.
The decision for the approval was allegedly taken during an online meeting in which some opposition councillors who questioned the lease agreement were muted and prevented from participating further.
Bolsheviks’ secretary-general Seun Mogotsi said as much as they agreed with the council’s decision to replace Maloka’s car, which was recently involved in an accident, they are questioning why the council decided on leasing the new car from a
different company.
“Ephraim Mogale Municipality currently holds a valid service-level agreement with Afrirent, a service provider supplying vehicles on a 36-month financial lease, effective until May 2026. So why go and lease the car with another company?” asked Mogotsi.
The decision to replace the speaker’s car was taken after a recommendation made by the insurer, Makopo Kunene, who confirmed that the vehicle was a write-off.
“To our surprise, we learnt with amusement that the council has decided on this lease with another leaser, while the existing contract’s options include both finance and operating leases for various vehicles as needed. Currently, the contract allows for two SUVs under the operational lease, of which one such SUV is already allocated to the mayor,” said Mogotsi.
“The second SUV is proposed to be allocated to the speaker to replace the written-off one. Given the total status of the speaker’s current vehicle and to ensure continuity of official functions, it is recommended that a replacement vehicle be leased through the existing Afrirent operational lease agreement rather than on such a wasteful expenditure, because this is exactly what it is,” added Mogotsi.
According to Mogotsi, this is the second time the speaker has been involved in an accident.
“The first incident involved a donkey, and the report on that accident is still outstanding.
“This is the same municipality that was in the news not so long ago after the mayor’s official vehicle was crashed by his friend while on his way to buy firecrackers on New Year’s Eve, and the public was fed all kinds of lies about the incident, and now this.”
Sunday World has learnt that the decision has since been rescinded following pressure from Bolsheviks and other opposition parties.
“We wonder how many similar purchases were made that we did not know about. This is a step in the right direction, but we believe we have just scratched the surface,” said Mogotsi.
Ephraim Mogale Local Municipality spokesperson, Serekhu Legale, confirmed to Sunday World that the decision to replace the speaker’s car with the new BMW SUV was indeed approved by the council, but was later rescinded.
“It is not true that we were pressured by the Bolsheviks Party, but we realised that the car was going to cost us a staggering R1.8-million over this three year lease. We are looking into other options,” said Legale.
The Auditor-General’s 2022/23 report on the Ephraim Mogale Local Municipality, which incorporates rural villages and the town of Marble Hall in southern Limpopo, found that the quality of financial statements submitted for auditing was poor. The AG also highlighted this was the case in the five financial years from 2018/19 to 2022/23.
