MUNICIPAL DYSFUNCTION: NMB emergency and service vehicles immobilised by yet another fuel crisis

For at least 24 hours earlier this month, critical Nelson Mandela Bay municipal vehicles were unable to refuel, in what appears to be the metro’s third fuel-supply disruption since May.

The latest incident occurred on 5 August, when some vehicles needed to attend to service-delivery problems, including power outages, were reportedly unable to refuel.

At a council meeting the following day, Ward 40 DA councillor Jason Grobbelaar sought answers about the delays and was told the municipality did not have a fuel contract or another arrangement in place to ensure its fleet could refuel.

Grobbelaar then filed an urgent motion demanding answers over the grounded vehicles, but withdrew it before debate after fuel supplies were restored.

It is understood that the metro’s fuel-supply arrangement had lapsed because of tax-compliance problems involving the supplier.

The municipality said the latest disruption has been resolved, with a new six-month fuel-supply contract in place from 6 August 2026 to 5 February 2027.

However, the incident raises fresh questions about the metro’s procurement processes and its ability to keep essential services running, particularly after previous fuel-supply problems and warnings about the expiry of its contract.

The city’s fuel contract expired on 30 April. In May, after the first fuel supply disruption, the metro said it would use interim procurement measures “to maintain continuity of operations”.

Short-term reprieve

However, when questions were sent to the municipality, municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya on 11 August said he was “not aware” of any fuel-supply shortage or disruption affecting municipal operations.

He confirmed that the municipality now has a six-month fuel-supply contract, and said a longer-term procurement process was under way and had reached the Bid Specification Committee stage.

“The six months will give enough time for the formal supply chain processes to be concluded,” he said.

Soyaya denied that the expired fuel agreement had affected municipal operations, claiming the city was unaware of any service delays or directorate disruptions caused by a fuel shortage. However, this statement contrasts sharply with conditions on the ground.

Grobbelaar maintained that the disruptions on 5 and 6 August were entirely avoidable, warning that “these incidents directly impact service delivery and the municipality’s ability to respond to both service-delivery needs and emergencies”.

He said he had written to the acting city manager, Lonwabo Ngoqo, demanding answers about why the situation was allowed to happen, what steps would be taken to prevent a recurrence and what contingency plans were in place should the fuel supply fail again.

The questions, said Grobbelaar, were particularly pertinent for Fire and Emergency Services, where delays could have life-and-death consequences.

Buying time

The six-month contract provides only a temporary solution, with the municipality effectively buying itself time to put a permanent arrangement in place after apparently allowing the previous arrangement to lapse.

This is particularly concerning because the municipality has experienced similar fuel problems in recent months.

In May, the city faced a fuel crisis as the South African Weather Service issued warnings of disruptive rain and possible flooding. The disaster response NGO Gift of the Givers bailed the metro out, providing R50,000 for emergency fuel.

A similar one-day outage occurred later that month after an emergency extension on the city's fuel contract lapsed. At the time, Budget and Treasury MMC Khanya Ngqisha stated that officials had been instructed to renew the contract.

However, as Daily Maverick previously reported, the project manager ignored documented warnings on 30 October and 31 December, initiating the renewal process only on 11 March. The application was submitted on 1 April – just 30 days before expiration, making it legally impossible to complete the mandatory 30-day public tender period in time. DM