Govt Employees No Longer Allowed To Take Vehicles Home

Government employees will no longer be allowed to take operational or pool vehicles home after working hours, during weekends and on public holidays.

This was announced by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube on Thursday afternoon when he presented the 2019 National Budget. Although he did not specify when this austerity measure will take effect, Ncube said all Government pool/project vehicles will be parked at the work stations or the nearest police station after designated working hours, during weekends and public holidays. He said this measure is meant to lower payment arrears to service providers related to maintenance and fuel bills. Said Ncube:

Government is improving the management system of the Government fleet as another avenue for improving efficiency and making savings. Mr. Speaker Sir, some Public Officers tend to use Government operational or pool vehicles after working hours, during weekends and on public holidays, which practice contributes to unsustainable build-up of outstanding payment arrears to service providers related to maintenance and fuel bills. Against this background, an austerity measure that leads to all Government pool/project vehicles being parked at the work stations or the nearest police station after designated working hours, during weekends and public holidays becomes inescapable. Similarly, all Government pool vehicles will be transferred and centrally managed through CMED Pvt Ltd. Entities with capacity to maintain their fleet will be excluded from this directive.