eMalahleni mayor won’t be getting a new R1.5m car

14 September 2016 - 15:30 By TMG Digital
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The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday claimed a win in the local government “Car Wars”‚ following a decision by the eMalahleni Municipality “to reverse the purchase of a R1.5-million luxury vehicle for its new mayor”.

“This is not only a victory for the people of eMalahleni but also for accountability and the principle that the people come first‚ not political elites‚” the party’s Naritha Naidu said.

She noted that the “decision comes after the DA publicised this wasteful expenditure and called on (mayor) Lindiwe Ntshalintshali to reject the car”.

“The money for this luxury vehicle was to be sourced from service delivery budgets‚” Naidu added.

The Sowetan reported earlier this month that the eMalahleni local municipality had decided to use a R1.5-million rollover budget from developmental projects to buy the car.

A report from Ntshalintshali’s office said a suitable vehicle for her has a "typical price range benchmark between R1-million and R2-million”.

Naidu said on Wednesday that this “is not the end of the road” and reiterated a call for the “mayor to suspend the municipal manager‚ Theo van Vuuren‚ pending the outcome of the corruption charges laid against him”.

The DA in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature had moved to “call on the MEC of CoGTA to intervene in the eMalahleni Municipality and put…Van Vuuren on suspension immediately pending the investigation into his corrupt dealings in the municipality”.

The party has‚ since the local government polls in August‚ embarked on a campaign to cut down on luxury vehicles‚ which included its executive mayor of the City of Tshwane‚ Solly Msimanga‚ rejecting 10 BMW 3 Series which were bought by his predecessors for use by the executive.

– TMG Digital

 

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