Two weeks — that is how long the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality’s fleet department needs to repair a flat tyre on a small car.
It also takes about two months to repair a refuse compactor truck and a week to fix a broken windscreen.
Adding to the department’s woes is its obsolete vehicle-monitoring system, which creates the ideal conditions for staff to abuse the city’s cars.
These were among the shocking revelations made by the city’s fleet management director, Zukile Magongo, at a recent roads and transport committee meeting.
Magongo spoke candidly about the beleaguered fleet department, laying bare the issues at the Diaz, Deal Party, Uitenhage and Struanway depots.
At the centre of the department’s challenges, he said, were staff shortages and the lack of a succession plan to replace key officials when they left.
“We are currently facing that situation purely [due] to a lack of planning,” he said.
Magongo said the retirement or resignation of past directors, heads of fleet operations and workshop assistants had left the department vulnerable.
This, along with the reliance on external service providers, was a direct threat to service delivery.
“The procurement processes are really hamstrung at fleet.
“We take on average five days to change broken or damaged windscreens and two weeks to change a flat tyre due to the supply chain processes that we are subjected to,” Magongo said.
This created a huge backlog in the department.
“Also there is a massive vehicle abuse in the municipality,” he said.
“The vehicle management system that we had 10 years ago is obsolete and that has created a system whereby we cannot do proper fleet monitoring in ensuring that the vehicles that are out there are monitored — for example, where are they driven, how are they driven and other factors related to maintenance.”
This added to the pressure on an already aged fleet.
“The industry norm is that refuse compactors should be kept for at least seven years but the average age in the institution is 15 years.
“We also don’t have our own plant — the institution heavily relies on external service providers and this at times compromises service delivery,” Magongo said.
“For any institution to survive or succeed we need to take care of the human capital.
“And fleet is a highly technical department and presently we do 80% of outsourcing due to lack of resources, in particular artisans and mechanics.”
The lack of skilled artisans also meant the department was forced to outsource simple auto bodywork repairs.
“The role and primary responsibility of the workshop is to do repairs and maintenance.
“We, however, don’t have staff that are skilled, therefore 90% of auto body works we are obliged to outsource those functions to external service providers.”
The Herald reported earlier this year that officials at the fleet department had no clue how many vehicles should reflect on the metro’s books, and a municipal depot was so poorly guarded that thieves often strolled in and stripped parts from damaged cars, bakkies and trucks.
Fleet assessments are meant to be undertaken every quarter as part of the audit with the auditor-general (AG).
Property, plant and equipment owned by the metro have repeatedly been flagged by the AG over the years — one of the reasons the city received qualified audit outcomes.
After Magongo’s report, the shocked councillors called for the department to hire qualified mechanics immediately.
ACDP councillor Marianne Lotter said the party was tired of blame-shifting and excuses.
“Fleet management is critical and important for service delivery.
“It is time to appoint competent and qualified mechanics in our fleet department,” Lotter said.
“In this municipality, we have seen the dilapidation and all the time we get more excuses.
“We can come and fix the tyres ourselves because it is time that we take ownership of what is happening here.”
ANC councillor Lona Makwetu said the time it took to repair tyres did not make sense.
“I had a flat tyre this morning and I was able to repair it in less than an hour.
“We need this department to tell us what is really happening here, because it does not make sense,” Makwetu said.
DA councillor Rano Kayser said Magongo’s revelations were shocking.
“We see that fleet is understaffed and under-resourced — this is worrying because it affects the city’s ability to render services.
“In the absence of a proper and functioning fleet, we won’t be able to render services.
“The DA is also in talks with the city manager [Noxolo Nqwazi] about how the situation can be addressed, especially in terms of budget,” Kayser said.
Committee chair Itumeleng Ranyele said the state of the fleet department was concerning and that the committee would organise an oversight visit to the depots soon to address the crisis.
HeraldLIVE