A Free State mayor has allegedly racked up 7,000km travelling in one month using a rented car which cost her municipality about R100,000 in a single month.
According to an invoice and fuel card seen by GroundUp, Nketoana municipality mayor, Mamiki Mokoena, travelled 69,292km between May 18 and June 18 this year in a rented Avis Toyota Fortuner. The invoice from Avis suggests she was billed R64,893 for rent on the car for the month, while bank fuel cards show she spent R35,263 on fuel over the period.
This follows two accidents in which cars owned by the municipality were written off.
In August 2021, Mokoena’s BMW 4 series was involved in an accident. The mayor then appears to have rented a car until August 2023, when a new car, a Haval H9, was bought. Over that time, according to a source in the municipality, R850,000 was spent on car hire.
The new car was involved in an accident in November 2023 and since then Mokoena has been renting a car, first a Ford Everest and then a Fortuner.
Fuel transactions on May 20 2024 show that the car was filled with 67.1 litres of diesel. At the time, the odometer reading was 19,800km. A day after, the car was filled again with 53.9 litres of fuel, but the odometer reading was 19,900, suggesting the car had only been driven 100km.
The records also show that on July 21, the odometer reading was 20,804km and 64.45l of fuel was put in the tank in Pretoria at a cost of R1,382,65. The next time fuel was purchased was three days later, on July 24. However on this date, when 76.6l of fuel was bought for R1,665.05 in Heilbron, the odometer reading was 20,764km, which was 40km less than previously.
Additionally, the mayor appears to have spent almost the entire month of July in Gauteng. Between June 30 and August 7, fuel was purchased either in Pretoria or Westdene, with the exception of July 24, when a fuel purchase was made in Heilbron in the Free State, though Heilbron is outside Nketoana local municipality.
Asked to comment, Phillip Nkomo, the mayor’s adviser, said the municipality was working on buying her a new car. “We are going to use the money paid by insurance to buy a new car. We are waiting for the supply chain process and that could take eight weeks,” he said.
Asked to explain the mayor’s expenses, he asked who supplied the information to the media. “I wonder if this is just a personal vendetta to plot against the mayor or to prove how corrupt she is,” said Nkomo.
“It is not good to always write bad things about the mayor. You should remember she is a mother to someone and ruining her reputation affects the kids. I will check with the mayor and come back to you on the issues of the invoice and respond after.” he said.
On August 21, Nkomo called with municipal manager Mokete Nhlapo also on the line. Nhlapo promised to send the information before the end of the day but did not do so. Reporters called both of them the following day but they did not answer their phones. A message was left on Nkomo’s WhatsApp but he ignored it.
DA councillor Diphapang Mofokeng said the party had asked for an accident report and details of the costs of the rented vehicle, but the municipality had failed to produce the information. He said the DA had also wanted confirmation that the car had been used on municipal business. Mofokeng said the logbook had not been properly kept.
The Auditor-General’s report on Nketoana m for the 2022/23 financial year, records the municipality’s stated irregular expenditure was R480m, and had stated R427m in irregular expenditure in the 2021/2022 financial year.
There was R980m in unauthorised expenditure in the 2022/23 financial year, up from R811m in the previous financial year. Again, the report notes there was insufficient audit evidence to confirm the amount stated.
The municipality suffered a net loss of R170m for the period ended on June 30 2023 and its liabilities exceeded its assets by R740m. There was also R47,6m in fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the 2022/23 financial year, which was due to interest and penalties on overdue accounts.
This article has been updated to correct an earlier version which stated that 70 000km were travelled in a month instead of 7000km.
GroundUp
Uproar over mayor's R100k-a-month rides to work
Mokoena's fuel transactions, odometer readings of rented cars inconsistent
Image: SUPPLIED
A Free State mayor has allegedly racked up 7,000km travelling in one month using a rented car which cost her municipality about R100,000 in a single month.
According to an invoice and fuel card seen by GroundUp, Nketoana municipality mayor, Mamiki Mokoena, travelled 69,292km between May 18 and June 18 this year in a rented Avis Toyota Fortuner. The invoice from Avis suggests she was billed R64,893 for rent on the car for the month, while bank fuel cards show she spent R35,263 on fuel over the period.
This follows two accidents in which cars owned by the municipality were written off.
In August 2021, Mokoena’s BMW 4 series was involved in an accident. The mayor then appears to have rented a car until August 2023, when a new car, a Haval H9, was bought. Over that time, according to a source in the municipality, R850,000 was spent on car hire.
The new car was involved in an accident in November 2023 and since then Mokoena has been renting a car, first a Ford Everest and then a Fortuner.
Fuel transactions on May 20 2024 show that the car was filled with 67.1 litres of diesel. At the time, the odometer reading was 19,800km. A day after, the car was filled again with 53.9 litres of fuel, but the odometer reading was 19,900, suggesting the car had only been driven 100km.
The records also show that on July 21, the odometer reading was 20,804km and 64.45l of fuel was put in the tank in Pretoria at a cost of R1,382,65. The next time fuel was purchased was three days later, on July 24. However on this date, when 76.6l of fuel was bought for R1,665.05 in Heilbron, the odometer reading was 20,764km, which was 40km less than previously.
Additionally, the mayor appears to have spent almost the entire month of July in Gauteng. Between June 30 and August 7, fuel was purchased either in Pretoria or Westdene, with the exception of July 24, when a fuel purchase was made in Heilbron in the Free State, though Heilbron is outside Nketoana local municipality.
Asked to comment, Phillip Nkomo, the mayor’s adviser, said the municipality was working on buying her a new car. “We are going to use the money paid by insurance to buy a new car. We are waiting for the supply chain process and that could take eight weeks,” he said.
Asked to explain the mayor’s expenses, he asked who supplied the information to the media. “I wonder if this is just a personal vendetta to plot against the mayor or to prove how corrupt she is,” said Nkomo.
“It is not good to always write bad things about the mayor. You should remember she is a mother to someone and ruining her reputation affects the kids. I will check with the mayor and come back to you on the issues of the invoice and respond after.” he said.
On August 21, Nkomo called with municipal manager Mokete Nhlapo also on the line. Nhlapo promised to send the information before the end of the day but did not do so. Reporters called both of them the following day but they did not answer their phones. A message was left on Nkomo’s WhatsApp but he ignored it.
DA councillor Diphapang Mofokeng said the party had asked for an accident report and details of the costs of the rented vehicle, but the municipality had failed to produce the information. He said the DA had also wanted confirmation that the car had been used on municipal business. Mofokeng said the logbook had not been properly kept.
The Auditor-General’s report on Nketoana m for the 2022/23 financial year, records the municipality’s stated irregular expenditure was R480m, and had stated R427m in irregular expenditure in the 2021/2022 financial year.
There was R980m in unauthorised expenditure in the 2022/23 financial year, up from R811m in the previous financial year. Again, the report notes there was insufficient audit evidence to confirm the amount stated.
The municipality suffered a net loss of R170m for the period ended on June 30 2023 and its liabilities exceeded its assets by R740m. There was also R47,6m in fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the 2022/23 financial year, which was due to interest and penalties on overdue accounts.
This article has been updated to correct an earlier version which stated that 70 000km were travelled in a month instead of 7000km.
GroundUp
ANCYL's Malatji wants Steenhuisen to reverse controversial Cabanac hire
LISTEN | Paul Mashatile says officers must use their guns when criminals open fire
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos