By Anita Dangazele
- A mayor crashes their official car and keeps quiet while the municipality spends R50,000 monthly on luxury rental cars.
- Opposition parties say the crash was hidden from the council while poor municipality wastes money on expensive rentals.
A struggling Eastern Cape municipality has been paying up to R50,000 a month to rent luxury cars for its mayor after he crashed his official vehicle – but ratepayers were kept in the dark.
Amathole district municipality mayor Anele Ntsangani crashed the car on the N2 near Qumrha while driving between East London and Willowvale in April 2024.
Amathole’s head office is in East London.
The mayor was behind the wheel because his driver had left his job and his bodyguards didn’t have licences.
But according to co-operative governance (Cogta) MEC Zolile Williams’ spokesperson Pheello Oliphant, politicians aren’t allowed to drive state cars themselves.
Opposition parties say the crash was hidden from the council, breaking the rules that say all accidents must be reported.
“It is shocking that the mayor took it upon himself to drive the official car, leading to the accident. Even worse, the municipality chose to keep this incident quiet and then rented another vehicle without the council’s approval.
“This shows a complete lack of accountability and transparency,” said the UDM Chief Whip in Mbhashe local municipality.
The EFF and DA councillors say they were never told about the crash in any council meeting.
But municipality spokesperson Sisa Msiwa claims the council was informed through Section 56D reports.
“These reports are processed and discussed through the appropriate municipal channels in line with standard governance procedures and brought to council for either noting (in this case) or approvals,” she said.
Msiwa also claims the South African Local Government Association’s mayoral handbook allows mayors to drive themselves, contradicting what Cogta says.
Pictured above: The official mayoral vehicle of the Amathole district municipality that was crashed by Mayor Anele Ntsangani.
Source: Supplied
