THE DA in Abaqulusi Municipality, northern KwaZulu-Natal, has confessed to exaggerating the cause of an accident involving a hired car assigned to Mayor Khehla Mkhwanazi, where the party claimed the driver crossed red traffic lights before colliding with another car.
In a media statement issued on Thursday, two days after the accident that happened before 6am on Tuesday, the DA called for Municipal Manager Sbonga Dhlamini to institute a thorough investigation into what the party called “the potential misuse of municipal resources (vehicle)”.
“It has been alleged that the driver of the municipal vehicle was driving recklessly, speeding, and skipping red traffic lights at the time of the accident,” read the statement.
However, during an interview with this reporter, DA Councillor Magda Viktor, who issued the statement, said the skipping of the red traffic lights was untrue and that she had been misled by a person who called her about the accident.
“A community member who was on his way to work called me to say the car drove through the red robots, but there were no robots in that area.
“That was a mistake that slipped from someone else,” she said.
She also stated that in the drafting of the statement, she said the crossing of the red robots happened earlier before the accident.
“We sent it (statement) to someone else and some rephrased our sentences.
“The robots are not where the accident happened because it is more rural and out of town,” said Viktor.
She also alleged that it was common for the residents of Vryheid to complain about the driver of the mayor driving recklessly, including speeding.
The mayor’s driver and bodyguard were driving along the R69 highway going to fetch Mkhwanazi from his home when their Toyota Prado collided with another car at a junction.
They were going to ferry the mayor to Durban to attend an imbizo called by Premier Thami Ntuli.
Viktor said the driver was speeding, but when asked how she knew that, she said “I am not going to give you my sources, I have got more than one source.”
She said she requested Dhlamini and the fleet manager to conduct an investigation.
“All of our cars have speedometers measuring the speed as you drive, I am sure they will be able to get that,” she said.
Viktor also revealed that the Prado was a hired car since the municipality was too broke to afford to buy a car to ferry the mayor.
“I exposed this (hiring a car for the mayor) right from the beginning when they hired a car for the previous mayor, I was told that the municipality’s finance is not in good standing.
“I think (hiring the car) is around R50 000 a month, but I stand to be corrected.”
She said two days after the accident, the council held a special meeting where the issue of hiring another car for the mayor was tabled.
However, Mkhwanazi said the driver and bodyguard told him that as they were driving along the R69 highway, a car, which came from Hlobane village, did not stop at the stop street, which led to the collision at a T-junction, which had no set of robots.
“That area is rural and has no robots. The DA knows that there are no robots and that Hlobane, where the accident happened, had no robots,” said Mkhwanazi.
He said one of the occupants sustained minor injuries while another one had no injuries.
This reporter had been informed that the T-junction was known for accidents as it was in a blind spot.
“As my driver was trying to avoid this car, it then hit our car on the back and our car lost control and veered off the road.
“I cannot answer the allegations of reckless driving because I was not in the car at the time, but the failure of the car to stop at the T-junction can determine who the reckless driver was,” he said.
He welcomed the DA’s call for an investigation.
The DA first complained about the hiring of cars for the mayor, which it described as wasteful expenditure.
Party provincial chairperson Dean Macpherson in 2022 stated that the renting of a mayoral Toyota Prado and Toyota Fortuner cost R281 551 and R187 489 respectively. This reporter has been informed that Mkhwanazi inherited the Prado from his predecessor Mncedisi Maphisa.
Dhlamini said the investigation into the cause of the accident was under way and the DA’s misleading information would be dealt with by the municipality council and decide on the matter.
He said the occupants of both vehicles sustained minor injuries “with one of the bodyguards being in a stable condition”.
He said after the accident, the mayor could not proceed with his trip to Durban.
Dhlamini said the mayor’s car was leased, not hired, following the municipality’s policy.
“The car is under Lease To Own Agreement and this is in compliance with the municipality’s policy. The mayor has the car (the one involved in this accident) and it is under the Lease Agreement and it is the same car that was used by the former mayor.”