FLEET OF 42 BMW MOTORBIKES ARRIVE

NGWENYA – A fleet of 42 BMW motorcycles was delivered to the country yesterday. According to information sourced from the BMW South Africa website, each motorcycle retails at about E199 999. This then translates to E8 399 958 for the whole batch.

The motorcycles are reportedly a fraction of the 126 fleet bought from BMW Plant Rosslyn, Pretoria. The whole fleet was procured at an estimated cost of E90 million.

Yesterday, reporters from this publication visited the Ngwenya Border Gate at around 4pm and found a white horse and trailer truck from Senate Logistics, which was ferrying the motorcycles.

Unlike the trailers of the abnormal load trucks that trended on social networking sites, the trailer of this truck was covered with a blue sail. This made it impossible for people to see what was being ferried.

Escort

The truck ferrying the motorcycles suspected to be the escort motorbikes was occupied by two Caucasians, one being a passenger while the other was the driver.

An officer found at the border acknowledged that there was a truck with motorcycles that was waiting to gain entry into the country. Following that, the official pointed this reporter to the truck where the pair was found relaxing, with one on his mobile phone.

It was also gathered that officials from the Central Transport Administration (CTA) had already visited the border gate to have a look at the consignment.
It was also established that there was a challenge with customs as some of the documents had wrong chassis numbers for some of the motorcycles.
However, officials from CTA had promised that they would return later with proper documents.

The Minister of Public Works and Transport, Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe, confirmed that the motorbikes were brought into the country yesterday.
He said the fleet consisted of cars and motorbikes. Ndwandwe said the cars arrived last week while the motorbikes were transported into the country yesterday. The chief of Bulandzeni, in the Hhohho Region, further said there were 42 motorcycles in total.

On Monday, this publication reported that there were 126 units bought by government from a BMW plant in South Africa. The purchase of the fleet came against the backdrop of an ailing economy, where the country is struggling to meet its obligations.

Currently, businesses are closing as government has failed to service its debt to entrepreneurs with the current public debt at E18.6 billion. Also, civil servants have been filling the streets, engaging in industrial actions seeking a cost-of-living adjustment (CoLA).

Furthermore, hospitals have been without medication for some time now while university students have been engaging in protests over their allowances.
According to impeccable sources, from the 126 units, 42 are BMW K1600 GT motorcycles while the remaining 84 units are made up of BMW X3 xDrive 30d and BMW 540i models.

On the other hand, a BMW X3 xDrive 30d is said to retail at about E868 300 and for 42 units, government is expected to have spent about E36 468 600.

Bought

Also, among the batch bought by government were BMW 540i sedans, which according to pictures captured by the Sowetan – a South African daily publication – the sedans were painted navy blue.

The publication reported that some were fitted with blue lights which are symbolic with law enforcement vehicles. The market value for the sedans is said to be E1 077 266 which in turn computes to E45 245 172 for the 42 vehicles.

When adding the aforementioned figures for the purchase, it adds up to E90 113 730. However, worth noting is that government could have received a discount for the bulk purchase.

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