Johannesburg – New state-of-the art police cars, ambulances and refuse collection trucks will soon be rolling on the streets of Ekurhuleni.
In a massive display on Wednesday, the city unveiled its new fleet of service vehicles, which included fast cars like VW GTIs and BMWs, and double cab bakkies for the police.
In total, 610 vehicles were purchased at a cost of R214 million. The vehicles were assembled at the Sam Ntuli stadium in the nearby Thokoza township for all to see.
They include 48 new ambulances and nine paramedic vehicles. There are also new service cars, including 27 refuse trucks, water tankers, mobile clinics and medicine trucks. It is the largest number of vehicles procured since the municipality came into existence 13 years ago.
City authorities say people should not just concentrate on the money spent, as the new fleet will improve service delivery. The municipality is important as it is home to Africa’s biggest airport, OR Tambo International. Ekurhuleni also has the largest number of manufacturing industries in Gauteng, which employ thousands of people.
“For instance we had a challenge on the ambulance side; we had about 38 ambulances that operate 24 hours, seven days a week. That’s too little for a city of three million people,” mayor Mondli Gungubele told SAnews.
He said the city’s response times in emergency situations were getting badly affected by the limited fleet. He said criminals were also getting away as police could not be where they are required on time.
“We were actually on the verge of a particular crisis… This new fleet will take our response time to a new all high level. If you look at the refuse trucks, we are adding 27 because we have a huge challenge of managing our waste in Ekurhuleni.”
The mayor said the city was not worried about its staff capacity to drive the vehicles but said the process to recruit new additional skills was underway.
“We are ready for this. I can tell you when it comes to Ekurhuleni, we have the skills and capacity. We are not going to be taking chances… If you put half-cooked people here, the delivery of that service will not be realised,” said Gungubele.
Moshema Mosia, the city’s head of disaster management, said new the vehicles were what the police and ambulance personnel needed to discharge their duties effectively.
“We are highly excited about this fleet and are looking forward and hoping that the response times in terms of ambulances, metro police, refuse removals we will see an improvement,” said Mosia.
Gungubele said by the end of the current financial year, all the fleet should be on the road. – SAnews.gov.za
