Home | News | GOVT SPLASHES E1.4M ON AMBASSADOR’S MERCEDES

GOVT SPLASHES E1.4M ON AMBASSADOR’S MERCEDES

17/11/2018 08:41:00 BY ZWELAKHE MOAHLOLI

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MBABANE – Is government really broke? This follows reports that government has procured a new vehicle worth approximately E1.4 million for the country’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Dumisile Thandi Sukati, recently.

The new acquisition is a black Mercedes Benz 250d sport utility vehicle (SUV). An SUV is a powerful four-wheel drive that can be driven over rough ground, while also giving you luxury on tarred road.

In fact, it is a replacement of another Mercedes Benz worth about E1 million which Sukati damaged in an accident that occurred in January this year as reported by this publication in September .

According to an accident report sourced from the South African Police Service, Sukati was involved in an accident while driving on N4 Highway direction to Pretoria.

Worth noting is that as an ambassador, she is not authorised to drive herself but has a designated government chauffeur for all trips. The report stated that she was disturbed by another vehicle which drove closer to her and when she tried to give way. the car she was driving then hit a ditch and she lost control of the vehicle.

Damaged

The damaged vehicle was quickly replaced with a silver grey rented Mercedes Benz ML. This was confirmed by an impeccable source. “She used the ML for approximately nine months while government was preparing to purchase the new vehicle,” the source alleged.

The insider also disclosed that when Sukati was in the country during the annual reed dance ceremony, in August, she was driving the rented vehicle.
A car rental based in South Africa said it cost around E30 000 per month to rent a Mercedes Benz ML.

He mentioned that the prices vary because some of their customers were eligible to ‘attractive’ discounts. Mathematically, if government was using this rate, it paid approximately E270 000 for this vehicle.

Worth noting is that Sukati was not the only government employee expected to be given new wheels.
Most recently, government was expected to spend about E2.1 million on the purchase of another luxurious Mercedes Benz vehicle for Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala. The vehicle is the latest S-Class 400d model.

Our sister publication, the Times Sunday reported that it was being bought from Garden City Motors in Mbombela, South Africa. The latest acquisition will bring the number of the CJ’s official vehicles to three; the other two being a BMW 750i and a Mercedes Benz ML model.

luxury

When the Ministry of Public Works and Transport Principal Secretary (PS) Makhosini Mndawe was called for comment about Sukati’s new luxury wheels, he requested that all questions should be posed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Even after it was explained to him that his ministry was responsible for managing the government fleet, Mndawe insisted that Foreign Affairs was the relevant ministry to respond.

Joel Nhleko, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation PS, said he was out of the country when called for comment. Nhleko is expected to return on Monday.
However, in our earlier publication, the PS explained that it was government’s prerogative to procure vehicles for diplomats for official use. He mentioned that a diplomat was bought a car befitting his/her status which showed that they represent government.
On top of that, Nhleko said the vehicle was accompanied by a chauffeur paid for by government.

When informed about the accident which the High Commissioner based in South Africa was involved in, Nhleko referred this reporter to the diplomat.
It was put to him that this publication was asking him on the basis that taxpayers’ money was spent to buy the vehicle and if the accused diplomat would be held accountable for the alleged damage of the car, Nhleko insisted that the diplomat was the right person to respond. “The procedure is that each and every ambassador or high commissioner is bought a vehicle and a chauffeur is hired for him or her,” he reiterated.
Asked if the high commissioner was on an official trip or not when she got involved in the accident and why she was driving herself as per the police report, Nhleko said at that time, he had not received a report. Unfortunately, this publication did not have the opportunity to question him on whether he has now seen the report, seeing that its two months later. This was because he said he would only entertain questions on Monday.
Drivers
Mndawe also shared the same sentiments with Nhleko that a diplomat was not authorised to drive a vehicle procured by government because they were assigned drivers.
When asked what normally happens to an unauthorised driver when involved in an accident, he responded: “Normally, stores regulations should be applied. The normal procedure is that the accident report should be convincing. You should understand the procedure of completion of the accident report.
What happened must be traced thoroughly, step by step. The long and short of it is that by virtue of the vehicle being procured using government funds, it is considered a government vehicle and its use should be official government business .”
“Anyone who is not authorised to drive a government vehicle should be taken into account. Well, I do not know with regard to a diplomat. I have to be advised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.”
Asked if government was expected to replace the damaged vehicle, Mndawe said the best people to advise on that matter were the office of the Auditor General and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Regarding whether they had received any accident report, Mndawe responded to the contrary. The ambassador could not be reached for comment as she was reported to be out of the office by the Administrative Attaché who identified herself as Khumbulile Matsebula.
questionnaire
She requested that a questionnaire be sent to the office, promising to forward it to the high commissioner.
At the time of compiling this report, the high commissioner had not responded. Matsebula also explained that Sukati had not been in the office for almost a week because she was attending to other official businesses in South Africa.
Government spokesperson Percy Simelane could not be reached for comment as his phone was constantly on busy mode. A text message was also sent to him. At the time of compiling this report, he had not responded.
The publication had wanted to establish if it was still sustainable to purchase expensive vehicles for government officials. We also wanted to know if government was considering giving officials the vehicles that were bought for the heads of state during the SADC summit.
The country’s former High Commissioner in Mozambique, Prince Tshekedi, said he was chauffeured in a Land Rover Discovery. He is now the Hhohho regional administrator. Research on which cars ambassadors from other countries such as Botswana , Ethiopia, USA and UK are chauffeured in showed that most use Mercedes Benz sedans ,Volvo and Jeep SUVs that cost between E800 000 to E1 million each.