Municipality pays R2 million per year for a truck which they can buy for R1 million and use forever

The Tokologo Local Municipality pays R2 million every year for a drain truck, which it can buy outright for R1 million and use indefinitely.

This was revealed by Tokologo Local Municipality Councillor Hismajesty Maqhubu, who highlighted the financial problems.

“Tokologo Local Municipality continues to lose millions of rands annually through irregular expenditure on contracted services,” Maqhubu said.

“This crisis has been repeatedly flagged by the Auditor-General as one of the municipality’s largest leakages of scarce public funds.”

According to the Auditor-General’s latest findings, Tokologo’s spending on contracted services has become the biggest drain on its finances.

Numerous service providers operate without service-level agreements (SLAs) or memoranda of understanding (MOUs).

This means the municipality is paying for services without enforceable performance standards, accountability mechanisms, or legal protection for residents.

One example is the long-running contract for a drain truck, a basic sanitation service that costs Tokologo over R2 million every year.

There was no competitive bidding process for the contract. It is also something the municipality can do itself for much less.

“Tokologo is paying more than double what it would cost to own a brand-new truck outright,” Maqhubu said.

A new FAW JK6 15.220 FL 8000L Septic Tank Truck with a standard 2-year, unlimited-mileage factory warranty costs R1.029 million.

This means Tokologo could purchase its own truck at half the annual cost of the current irregular contract and still save millions over the vehicle’s lifespan.

“This is a textbook case of irregular expenditure and a direct violation of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA),” he said.

The justification previously given to Council was that the municipal fleet had become too expensive to maintain due to over-ageing.

However, the municipality has never presented a cost-benefit analysis, nor has it demonstrated that outsourcing at inflated prices is more economical.

“Tokologo is outsourcing core municipal functions at exorbitant prices, without contracts, without oversight, and without protecting the public purse,” Maqhubu said.

“Tokologo cannot continue to operate as a municipality where irregular expenditure is normalised, oversight is ignored, and public funds are treated as disposable.”

He called for an investigation into all contracted services flagged by the Auditor-General and the suspension of irregular contracts without SLAs.

There must also be a plan to rebuild Tokologo’s municipal fleet, and consequences for officials who approved unlawful expenditure.