By SIMTHANDILE FORD and BONGANI FUZILE
Over 1000 government vehicles worth an estimated R30-million are rotting at three government garages across the Eastern Cape while the department of transport haggles over their prices.
Some cars have been there since 2011 with insiders saying revenue from their sales would buy 100 much-needed ambulances for the struggling health department.
The cars are supposed to be auctioned every year, but so far only a few hundred have been sold as the department has yet to find an auctioneer to sell the cars because Bhisho wants too much for them.
To make matters worse, each car has to be licensed every year while gathering dust at the garages, while the garages have run out of space to accommodate more cars.
A Saturday Dispatch investigation found that the department spent millions on licence fees every year.
The cars are part of the province’s fleet which are decommissioned when vehicles reach a certain mileage – normally 150000km for sedans and 180000km for bakkies. Emergency vehicles are sold at 300000km on the clock.
Most cars at the East London depot are sedans bought through Fleet Africa, a company that last had dealings with the department in January 2012.
A source based at the transport department, with intimate knowledge of the current fleet problems, said the reason for the delay in selling the vehicles was the reserve price set for auctioned vehicles.
“These vehicles are not being sold as we would like because the bidders are not happy with the high prices. Also, the delay in this is poor planning on disposing of old vehicles,” said the source.
The source further said it was impacting on their departmental budget as they had to license all the vehicles in all the three garages in Port Elizabeth, East London and Mthatha.
“Yearly we have to license each vehicle and we lose roughly between R5-million and R8-million on licensing,” said the source.
Last year there were two auctions in March and December which according to the source sold fewer than 100 vehicles from all three depots.
This year not a single auction has taken place.
“This month (August) there was supposed to be one auction but nothing happened.”
Apparently there are more than 1000 vehicles waiting to be auctioned.
On average each vehicle is auctioned for between R40000 and R50000. The vehicles range from small cars to high-end sedans and SUVs like Mercedes-Benz MLs.
The cars could end up being scrapped as they lose value and deteriorate due to rust or other damage.
When the Dispatch visited the state garage in West Bank, East London, four ML63 Mercedes Benz SUV’s – one previously assigned to the Mpondo King Ndamase Ndamase and another to the premier of the province Phumulo Masualle – lay at the entrance of the garage.
The garage has three levels, with each level able to accommodate 300 vehicles. The cars outside have the most damage after exposure to the weather.
The department of transport leases vehicles to the other departments for a period of four years or until they reach their distance limit.
The department is supposed to have a yearly disposal plan, but sources said there was no disposal plan with some vehicles dating back as far as 1993.
However the department insisted the cars in the depot only arrived last December.
Acting transport spokeswoman Ntombizomzi Bala said there were some vehicles that may have been there before last year but did not say when.
“The vehicles that are standing in our premises would have arrived after the last auction in December 2015 save for those that we were not able to auction off at the latter auction,” said Bala.
One bidder who tendered to dispose of the vehicles and who wanted to remain anonymous said he was not happy with how the system worked.
“We want these vehicles as much as government wants the money to buy a new fleet but their prices are high.
“We don’t make money here and when we told them that these vehicle had no value the officials refused to sell us cheaper,” said the bidder.
This is confirmed by a department source who said the longer the vehicle was in their garage depot, the more value it lost. — simthandilef@dispatch.co.za / bonganif@dispatch.co.za
EC’s rotting R30m fleet
Over 1000 government vehicles worth an estimated R30-million are rotting at three government garages across the Eastern Cape while the department of transport haggles over their prices.
Some cars have been there since 2011 with insiders saying revenue from their sales would buy 100 much-needed ambulances for the struggling health department.
The cars are supposed to be auctioned every year, but so far only a few hundred have been sold as the department has yet to find an auctioneer to sell the cars because Bhisho wants too much for them.
To make matters worse, each car has to be licensed every year while gathering dust at the garages, while the garages have run out of space to accommodate more cars.
A Saturday Dispatch investigation found that the department spent millions on licence fees every year.
The cars are part of the province’s fleet which are decommissioned when vehicles reach a certain mileage – normally 150000km for sedans and 180000km for bakkies. Emergency vehicles are sold at 300000km on the clock.
Most cars at the East London depot are sedans bought through Fleet Africa, a company that last had dealings with the department in January 2012.
A source based at the transport department, with intimate knowledge of the current fleet problems, said the reason for the delay in selling the vehicles was the reserve price set for auctioned vehicles.
“These vehicles are not being sold as we would like because the bidders are not happy with the high prices. Also, the delay in this is poor planning on disposing of old vehicles,” said the source.
The source further said it was impacting on their departmental budget as they had to license all the vehicles in all the three garages in Port Elizabeth, East London and Mthatha.
“Yearly we have to license each vehicle and we lose roughly between R5-million and R8-million on licensing,” said the source.
Last year there were two auctions in March and December which according to the source sold fewer than 100 vehicles from all three depots.
This year not a single auction has taken place.
“This month (August) there was supposed to be one auction but nothing happened.”
Apparently there are more than 1000 vehicles waiting to be auctioned.
On average each vehicle is auctioned for between R40000 and R50000. The vehicles range from small cars to high-end sedans and SUVs like Mercedes-Benz MLs.
The cars could end up being scrapped as they lose value and deteriorate due to rust or other damage.
When the Dispatch visited the state garage in West Bank, East London, four ML63 Mercedes Benz SUV’s – one previously assigned to the Mpondo King Ndamase Ndamase and another to the premier of the province Phumulo Masualle – lay at the entrance of the garage.
The garage has three levels, with each level able to accommodate 300 vehicles. The cars outside have the most damage after exposure to the weather.
The department of transport leases vehicles to the other departments for a period of four years or until they reach their distance limit.
The department is supposed to have a yearly disposal plan, but sources said there was no disposal plan with some vehicles dating back as far as 1993.
However the department insisted the cars in the depot only arrived last December.
Acting transport spokeswoman Ntombizomzi Bala said there were some vehicles that may have been there before last year but did not say when.
“The vehicles that are standing in our premises would have arrived after the last auction in December 2015 save for those that we were not able to auction off at the latter auction,” said Bala.
One bidder who tendered to dispose of the vehicles and who wanted to remain anonymous said he was not happy with how the system worked.
“We want these vehicles as much as government wants the money to buy a new fleet but their prices are high.
“We don’t make money here and when we told them that these vehicle had no value the officials refused to sell us cheaper,” said the bidder.
This is confirmed by a department source who said the longer the vehicle was in their garage depot, the more value it lost. — simthandilef@dispatch.co.za / bonganif@dispatch.co.za
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