Durban - The uMzinyathi District Municipality, one of the municipalities that have been perennially cited by the auditor general as being financially troubled, is facing the prospect of losing five vehicles to the sheriff.
The sheriff of Ladysmith has attached five vehicles to be sold in a public auction at the end of this month.
According to a legal notice circulated in local newspapers in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, the vehicles to be sold are two VW Polo Vivos and three Nissan bakkies NP 200.
The money to be obtained from the auction will be used to pay an unspecified debt the municipality owes to Durban-based construction company, Icon Construction.
It is not clear what services the company rendered to the municipality which then later failed to pay it. However, it is known that the municipality is currently undertaking several water projects in areas like Nquthu and Msinga.
The auction will take place in Ladysmith, following a ruling of the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
The mayor of the municipality, which is run by the IFP and head quartered in Dundee, Petros Ngubane, told IOL on Thursday that they are aware of the matter and they are working on getting it resolved.
NEWS: A sheriff in Ladysmith is set to sell five vehicles belonging to Umzinyathi district municipality in Dundee. The proceed will go to settling a multi-million debt the troubled municipality run by the IFP owes Icon Construction (PTY) LTD for a disputed water project. @IOL
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) September 15, 2022
"The municipal(ity) is aware of this. There was a dispute. The matter was at court but withdrawn to settle out of court.
"The contractor does not want to accept the terms put on the table.
"Our legal advisers are engaging their attorneys," Ngubane said, when he was asked what led to this embarrassing auction.
However, the legal notice announcing the auction said there has been a judgment against the municipality, hence the sheriff is set to auction the vehicles.
The municipality is not new to controversies around paying service providers. Last month, a budding businessman based in Dundee told IOL that his life and business had been turned upside down after the district municipality delayed paying him for services he rendered in January this year.
Simphiwe Mbatha of Zammagic (Pty) Ltd says he was contracted by the district municipality to supply bottled water to Zulu warriors during the commemoration of the Battle of Isandlwana in January this year.
Mbatha was then roped in to provide water, and he later billed the municipality for R54 000. He claimed that he has been sent from pillar to post despite the fact that he submitted the invoice immediately after the services were rendered and everything was filed accordingly.
In response to Mbatha, Ngubane said although he had nothing to do with issues of procurement, Mbatha should approach the municipal division which awarded the tender and deal with it.
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