Cape Town - The Department of Community Safety spent R19 million on car rentals for officials for the period from May 2019 up to February 28 this year and a further R9.5m on vehicle operating costs inclusive of fuel.
This works out to just over R28m over the last three years, R9m a year and R800 000 a month
Transport and Public Works MEC Daylin Mitchell, who provided the figures in a written answer to a question from ANC MPL Lulama Mvimbi, said that Government Motor Transport (GMT) had provided 221 rental vehicles to the department since the beginning of the current provincial government administration.
Mvimbi said on Wednesday that the amounts were “alarming and concerning” and wondered whether taxpayers were getting value for their money from the department officials for whom the cars had been rented.
Mvimbi had also asked Mitchell for details about how many of these vehicles were issued to staff members with a rank lower than assistant director, but Mitchell referred him to the Community Safety Department.
Mitchell said all costs in respect of the vehicles are incurred by GMT which in turn charges the department rental.
“GMT provided vehicles to the Department of Community Safety which is in turn responsible for allocating these vehicles to its staff members.
“GMT is therefore not able to provide this information, and this request should be referred to that department.”
With regard to fuel cards, Mitchell said these were allocated to specific vehicles and not to individuals, and as such GMT was unable to provide information in respect of individual drivers.
“The Department of Community Safety allocates the vehicle to specific individuals and this request should be directed towards that department.”
Responding to this, Mvimbi said Mitchell was being disingenuous.
“We thought this government that boasts of driving innovation and collaboration would have a one-stop shop for replies to such questions.”
He said he would continue probing the issue and would be asking further questions to get the answers he sought.