The DA in the Free State has slammed the aged, badly maintained, and insufficient fleet in the troubled Bloemfontein-based Mangaung Metro Municipality.

The party held a press briefing on Wednesday 10 May 2023 at its headquarters in Bloemfontein and addressed the alleged fleet issues. The waste removal services in the troubled metro have recently been low. 

OFM News previously reported that the Metro had revealed that a lack of diesel hindered them from removing refuse across parts of the municipality. According to the waste and fleet management collection report by the Metro’s waste management division, dumpster truck availability also contributed to residents’ refuse not being removed. The report also revealed that there is only one truck available in some areas.

ALSO READ: Mangaung service delivery hindered by lack of diesel

DA councillor Tjaart van der Walt revealed that waste had not been collected in most areas between February and March 2023. He says an ageing, poorly maintained, and an insufficient fleet of ten working trucks instead of 40 has been used as an excuse for overtime work, including broken trucks.

"The daily departmental report of the past 12 months clearly shows many weeks with almost no removal taking place in Bloemfontein North during the week, with only some progress over the weekends when overtime is worked," he says.  

The troubled Bloemfontein-based Mangaung’s road and water network infrastructure are also some of the things that deteriorated because the ailing Metro, amongst others, failed to properly spend its infrastructure budget accordingly. Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke’s damning report on the Metro shows that  2% of its infrastructure budget is spent on repairs and maintenance.

ALSO READ: AG exposes Mangaung's failed infrastructure maintenance

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OFM News/Lucky Nkuyane and Kekeletso Mosebetsi