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ActionSA MMC Candidate for Public Safety, Cllr Marcel Coutriers, demands full accountability from the Executive after the JMPD fleet was grounded due to the City's failure to pay vehicle leases.

This glaring failure is gravely concerning. With the high crime rate in the City of Johannesburg, residents cannot afford to have even one vehicle grounded.

The outgoing Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Dada Morero, cannot claim to prioritise public safety while vehicles needed to put officers on our streets are taken off the road due to the City's negligence.

This is not an accounting dispute. It is a public safety crisis. When JMPD vehicles are grounded, patrols stop, response times suffer, visibility declines, and criminals perceive less risk of being caught. Residents who already feel unsafe are left wondering if help will arrive.

A city that cannot keep its metro police on the road cannot promise safer streets. What is particularly troubling is that this is not new. In December 2024, ActionSA warned about fleet services being suspended amid a dispute with Afrirent over outstanding payments, but our warnings were ignored.

In June 2026, reporting again linked JMPD vehicles being grounded to a payment dispute. These recurring failures demand answers about the City's financial management and contract administration.

Such negligence and incompetence would not occur under an ActionSA-led administration.

Under an ActionSA-led government, JMPD fleet management would be treated as a core operational priority. We will introduce strict payment controls to ensure verified invoices for essential safety services are paid within agreed terms, and disputed invoices are resolved urgently without crippling frontline policing.

We will require regular reporting on fleet availability and hold officials accountable for failures, while reviewing the current fleet model to ensure value for money and protection against recurring disruptions. Public safety planning must include contingency arrangements.

The JMPD must have the vehicles and resources to do its job. I call on the Executive Mayor, the MMC for Public Safety and the City Manager to urgently account publicly, restore the fleet, and prevent a recurrence.

Issued by ActionSA Joburg MMC candidate for Public Safety Marcel Coutriers