In April, the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality unveiled 20 new vehicles, saying they would boost safety and security in the metro. Now that the metro’s fuel contract has lapsed, concerns have been raised that officials will be unable to respond to emergencies. (Photo: Nelson Mandela Bay municipality) After severe weather warnings for disruptive rain and possible flooding were issued by the South African Weather Service, questions were raised on Tuesday about whether Nelson Mandela Bay metro officials could deploy emergency services after a failure to renew its fuel supply contract.
On Tuesday night, the metro admitted that its fuel stocks were depleted, but said urgent work was under way to refuel vehicles needed for emergency response.
Metro communications director Sithembiso Soyaya confirmed that the contract expired on 30 April and had not been renewed in time.
“The Municipality had already initiated the required supply chain management process ahead of the contract expiry to appoint a new service provider. The process is currently at the Bid Specification Committee stage, and is being prioritised and expedited to finalisation,” he said.
The fuel crisis comes as metro mayor Babalwa Lobishe heads for Parliament to appear before the cooperative governance committee to explain several serious concerns committee members have with the way the metro is being run – contract management is among these issues.
Soyaya said the metro would be forced to use interim procurement measures “to maintain continuity of operations”.
On Tuesday night, he admitted that non-critical municipal services would be affected by the fuel shortages, but said priority would be given to frontline services. But on Tuesday afternoon, there were already reports of metro electricians unable to attend to a fault due to fuel shortages.
It remains unclear how the contract was allowed to lapse. It is understood from sources familiar with supply chain management systems that the municipality would have received a reminder of the expiry of the contract at least six months ago. Executive directors and acting executive directors also receive a list of contracts due to expire within the next 18 months.
It is understood that even if the process is now with the bid adjudication committee, this alone will take at least 30 days.
But Soyaya said the municipality would step up “strengthened central oversight to stabilise fuel supply across services”.
“The municipality acknowledges that limited and localised service disruptions have occurred during this transition. Immediate corrective actions will be implemented, with fuel prioritised for critical and frontline services. Emergency and disaster response units remain operational and contingency measures are in place to support service delivery, particularly in light of the forecast adverse weather conditions,” he said.
According to a notice seen by Daily Maverick, refuse collection in parts of Nelson Mandela Bay was disrupted on Tuesday after the Harrower Road depot was unable to refuel its trucks.
Suburbs including Mill Park, Linkside, Mount Croix, Glendinningvale and North End were among those affected.
“The municipality takes full accountability for ensuring continuity of critical services and has moved to strengthen internal planning and contract management controls to prevent a recurrence,” Soyaya said.
Warning letter
The alarm bells about the situation were first sounded by DA caucus chief whip Gustav Rautenbach in a letter to the city manager on Monday.
On the same day, an official managing the newly launched Safety & Security WhatsApp line for the metro told a resident reporting a dangerous traffic situation that they could not attend to the matter because their vehicles had no fuel and “everything is at a standstill”.
In his letter, Rautenbach wrote: “The Democratic Alliance has become aware that the contract for the supply of petrol and diesel to municipal vehicles has expired, with no new contract currently in place. This is a matter of serious concern, as it will significantly hamper service delivery.
“In light of the Level 6 inclement weather warning issued for Nelson Mandela Bay ... this situation is even more alarming. The lack of fuel and diesel supply means that emergency personnel and disaster management teams may be unable to respond effectively to emergencies.
“In the event of power outages or flooding of streets, no emergency vehicles will be able to respond.
Timeline
Councillor Lawrence Troon from the Good Party called for a proper timeline to be made public on when vehicles would be operational again.
“This failure in basic administrative foresight has left emergency vehicles and essential service delivery fleets at a total standstill across the metro. It is an indictment on the leadership of this municipality that such a predictable administrative milestone was allowed to pass without a contingency plan or a new contract in place.
“The timing of this crisis is particularly perilous. With severe weather and storms predicted for the region, the metro is being left completely vulnerable. Without operational emergency vehicles, the municipality will be unable to respond to flood-related emergencies, road accidents, or urgent medical needs during the anticipated adverse weather.
“The residents of Nelson Mandela Bay cannot be held hostage by administrative incompetence, especially with a potential weather disaster on the horizon,” Troon wrote.
Ironically, the fuel crisis comes just after the metro paid R16.1-million for a new emergency fleet to assist in times of crisis.
The allocation includes two vehicles for Metro Police valued at R555,600, two fire tankers delivered with two additional tankers pending, valued at R7.9-million, traffic and licensing vehicles including a utility vehicle, a breakdown truck and two bakkies valued at R4.45-million, security services vehicles valued at R3.13-million and three disaster management vehicles valued at R1.75-million.
By last night, it was unclear if these vehicles would have fuel to operate. DM