Some essential services in Emfuleni have ground to a halt following a diesel shortage, which means municipal vehicles cannot attend to waste collection and electric faults.
Firefighters also claimed they could not do their work as their trucks were stuck at the three stations under the council.
An employee who works at the fire department said while they have diesel challenges, their trucks have some fuel but could only go to fires within short distances.
However, another employee claimed they had not had diesel for 11 days, and that they failed to attend to a vehicle accident in Sebokeng on Monday morning.
“As a firefighter, I have nothing to do if there is no diesel. I cannot go to the streets without diesel. To put out a house fire, I need a fire truck that is running, but without diesel I cannot go out. We have not had diesel for 11 days now. We go to work and just do nothing,” said the employee.
A manager at one of the stations was reluctant to comment.
Finance MMC Hassan Mako said the fuel contract with the previous provider had expired, and that the appointment of a new contractor hit an administrative snag last week.
“The municipality does not have any financial challenges; it is just an issue of appointing service providers. Had everything gone well, the new contractor should have started last week,” said Mako, adding that fuel would be available on Tuesday.
He, however, rejected that firefighting was affected.
“I don’t think there has been any fire that we could not attend to, so that would be false. There has been delays with the appointment [of a contractor], affecting some of the services, especially electricity and waste removal departments.
Ward councillor Peter Verbeek said residents were “livid” after having no electricity for more than 28 days, and having their rubbish not collected.
“My understanding is that there is no diesel coming in, and as of today, my understanding is that Rand Water has attached our accounts,” he said.
“As far as waste collection is concerned, we haven’t had diesel since last week, and there is nothing moving around.
“There are a lot of [electricity] street boxes that have been vandalised, and I have been told there is no diesel, therefore no vehicles. Lack of diesel is going to affect a lot of things,” he said.
Another councillor, Elize Aucamp, said Rand Water has attached Emfuleni bank accounts for owing R100m, which she said was the main reason why “Emfuleni has been brought to a complete standstill”.
However, Aucamp said there was a new contract to supply fuel, which only needed a signature. “But there is no money, so that contract serves no purpose,” she said.
But Mako said the municipality did not have financial issues.
“It is true that our accounts have been attached by Rand Water, but the municipality does not have a financial issue, and the lack of service delivery due to fuel has nothing to do with the attachment of the municipal bank accounts. Salaries will be paid on time. The attachment is not affecting services at this point,” he said.
Mako added that operations should go back to normal should the municipal manager conclude signing the new supply papers.
“From an adjudication point of view, everything is done and all documents are on the table of the MM [municipal manager]. Should the MM be able to appoint the service providers concerned, the appointed service providers will be able to deliver all the fuel required by the municipality tomorrow [Tuesday],” he said.
Sowetan
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.