News24.com | City of Joburg has a 48-hour reprieve to negotiate extension for its vehicle fleet

Johannesburg is working to keep rental companies from grounding its fleet. Most affected are Public Safety vehicles and Water Department vehicles.

• The City of Johannesburg will respond to a list of issues from rental companies in a bid to keep its fleet.
• Afrirent and Avis will not withdraw its vehicles for 48 hours while it negotiates with the City.
• The City is looking to extend the lease for a few months as it sorts out the contracts.

To keep its fleet from being grounded, the City of Johannesburg will respond to a list of issues from Afrirent and Avis on Friday afternoon.

On Wednesday evening, Afrirent sent a letter to the City, advising that it was grounding its entire fleet from midnight that night, on the advice of its legal team.

On 16 November, Avis collected some of its vehicles due to the expiry of the maintenance lease agreement with the City on 31 October.

The MMC for Group Corporate and Shared Services, Leah Knott, said on Thursday the City had negotiated for an extra 24 hours, and was meeting with the companies later that day.

On Friday, Knott said the acting City manager, Bryne Maduka, had met with the companies - and they had agreed to an extra 48 hours, so they could send a list of issues and concerns.

Knott said the City was looking to extend the lease for a few months, while it sorts out the contracts.

READ | Afrirent parks midnight grounding of City of Joburg vehicle fleet after 11th-hour meeting

Meanwhile, on Friday, the City unveiled 41 new Pikitup tipper trucks, which it said would be used to combat illegal dumping and, at times, supplement refuse collection operations.

The mayor, Mpho Phalatse, said the tippers cost R60 million.

"To highlight the importance of this fleet and the work it is employed and deployed to do, there are, at any given time, approximately 3 000 illegal dump sites in Joburg, costing the City R80 million per annum to clear, with littering costing the City R74 million annually. 

The City has 2 169 Afrirent vehicles.

Afrirent is leasing 1 176 vehicles to the public safety division and 373 to Joburg Water. The remaining vehicles are used by other departments.

Avis had leased 560 vehicles to the City, but took back 19 of its 124 vehicles from the public safety division, and 175 of its 306 vehicles from Joburg Water.