DURBAN – The Ndwedwe Local Municipality has had six vehicles from its fleet attached by the sheriff of the court because it owed a service provider R400 000.
Acting on behalf of the service provider that had renovated a sports field at KwaMandlakazi village in ward 4, the sheriff pounced on the premises of the municipality in the north of Durban and removed the vehicles.
Mayor Sam Mfeka confirmed that the vehicles were taken but denied that his municipality owed money to the service provider. He said they were all shocked to see the sheriff attaching the municipal assets because its lawyers were preparing to defend the matter in court.
Mfeka said the municipality terminated the agreement it had with the service provider because of some differences and did not understand why the court would grant permission to attach goods to a service provider who had no agreement with the municipality. He said the municipality had lodged an urgent court application to retain the vehicles.
“We were shocked to see this happening and it confused us. How was it possible that the court granted an order like this to someone we had no contract with, to attach our assets? We do not owe this service provider as we never entered into any work agreement with him or his company, so we wonder how the service provider obtained this order. That’s why we have lodged an urgent court application. We are waiting for our lawyers to tell us how soon the matter can be heard in court,” said Mfeka.
He said that the municipality had awarded a service provider to renovate the ground who in turn sub-contracted the one who attached the six vehicles. He said that what confused him most was that the municipality had recently received the notification to defend itself in court over the matter. He said that the service provider which the municipality had awarded the tender to – and later cancelled the agreement with – had taken the municipality to court, challenging the cancellation.
Mfeka said the amount demanded by the sub-contractor was R400 000.
He said the sub-contractor was supposed to demand his payment from the person who gave him the job, not the municipality.
A legal expert, advocate Mpumelelo Zikalala, said in the absence of an objection to the request, the court was bound to take the side of the applicant. He said if the municipality did not oppose the matter, the court was bound to grant the order, adding that the municipality must hold its lawyers accountable for the problem because it was highly unlikely that they did not know about the case.
He advised the municipality to urgently lodge a court application to prevent the auction of the vehicles, which he said would happen within two weeks.
A source in the municipality who was present when the sheriff arrived at the premises said it was embarrassing as the mayor and councillors had just started a council meeting.
They alleged that this came at a time when the municipality’s coffers were empty, adding that this had been the case since last year.
However, Mfeka denied that the municipality’s finances were in a mess, saying even the treasury could attest that the municipality was one of the best-run in the province.
After the local government elections last year the ANC retained the municipality by 19 seats, followed by the IFP with 11, while the EFF, which had one seat previously, secured four.
The DA and African Freedom Revolution has one seat each in the 37-seat council.
Daily News