As residents continue to struggle with dry taps across Bloemfontein, the Metro has revealed that lack of diesel has hindered them from removing refuse across parts of the municipality. According to a waste and fleet management collection report by the Metro’s waste management division, the availability of dumpster trucks has also contributed to residents’ refuse not being removed. The report also revealed that there is only one truck available in some areas.

ALSO READ: R500k unaccounted for at cash-strapped Metro

The Metro has previously come under scrutiny for an alleged missing R500 000 meant to purchase diesel for the municipality’s fleet. The leader of the Democratic Alliance(DA) caucus, Johan Pretorius, said at the time the Acting City Manager, TebogoMotlashuping, confirmed that he had approved a payment of R500 000 to buy diesel on a Wednesday, but by the Friday the diesel and the money were nowhere to be found.  

ALSO READ: Metro denies claims of missing R500k

Following an investigation into the matter by the Metro, Motlashuping explained that there was never a loss of R500 000. He added that what happened is that they were ensuring that when fuel is purchased, there is accountability for it. 

“There was carelessness in relation to that particular aspect but we have put systems in place to make sure that petrol and diesel is accounted for.” 

The Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke previously revealed that the Metro’s road and water network infrastructure has deteriorated because it failed to properly spend its infrastructure budget.

“Unmetered consumption, theft and a lack of maintenance resulted in average water losses of 49% and electricity distribution losses of 20%. Service delivery protests increased as residents grew increasingly dissatisfied with pothole-riddled roads, having to go for days without water, and refuse sometimes not being collected for weeks,” she added.

ALSO READ: Water to slowly return to Bloemfontein taps after repairs

Areas that have been affected by the lack of diesel are Opkoms, Phase 2, Bloemanda, Hillside view, Rockland Mafora, Freedom/ MK2, Waverley, Heuwelsig, Hilton, and Mandela View. The areas that have been affected by the lack of dumpster trucks includes, Botshabelo Sections D, L, M and N. 

The Hawks in the Free State earlier this year began an investigation into alleged fraud and corruption at the main depot of the municipality’s Solid Waste Management Sub-Directorate.

OFM News had confirmed this investigation with the South African Police Services' Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), and the Hawks. The investigation involved alleged excessive payments of overtime to some employees at the metro’s main depot. This came after a barrage of allegations of fraud and corruption against the metro, alleged to have occurred over a couple of years. 

OFM News/ Lucky Nkuyane and Tshehla Koteli