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PS PULLS PLUG ON PRIVATE GARAGES FIXING GOVT CARS

By Musa Simelane | 2025-04-06

In a move signalling the revival of the Central Transport Administration (CTA), government has ordered the immediate recall of all state vehicles currently housed in private garages.

The directive, which took effect this week, marks a sweeping shift from the previous arrangement where government vehicles were serviced by privately owned garages.

This major shake-up was confirmed by Principal Secretary Thulani Mkhaliphi from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, who explained that the era of outsourcing vehicle maintenance was officially over — except for cases where garages had already begun work on the vehicles.

"For years, it has been public knowledge that the CTA struggled to keep up with the demands of servicing government fleet. As a result, many ministries resorted to outsourcing repairs to private garages," Mkhaliphi revealed.

"But now, we are turning the page. CTA is being brought back to life — stronger and more efficient," he said.

The decision was communicated during a meeting of principal secretaries on April 3, where ministries were instructed to halt the release of government vehicles to private garages.

Each ministry already has a dedicated CTA budget for vehicle maintenance and according to Mkhaliphi, the resources are now being realigned to support the reenergised CTA.

“We are correcting the order of things,” he said. “Letters have been sent to relevant officials. However, exceptions will be made, but only under strict conditions.

“If the CTA lacks the expertise or specific tools to fix a particular vehicle, then it may be serviced externally, but only with the express approval of the CTA general transport manager (GTM),” Mkhaliphi clarified.

To support this overhaul, all four regional CTA garages will be upgraded and equipped with skilled personnel and essential equipment.

But there is a twist: not every garage will house the full range of machinery. Instead, each facility will specialise in particular services, while still offering basic vehicle maintenance.

“Modern vehicles are complex and expensive to service. We are not buying every machine for every garage. Instead, we will install high-end equipment in one or two key CTA sites,” Mkhaliphi explained.

On the sourcing of parts, the ministry plans to strike strong partnerships with local car dealerships and garages. Since each ministry retains its maintenance budget, CTA services will be billed accordingly. That money, in turn, will go towards purchasing parts and further boosting the efficiency of the CTA facilities.

Addressing past issues that dogged the CTA chief among them, theft of spare parts, Mkhaliphi promised that a sophisticated warehouse management system was on the way. “Everything will be tracked: movement of parts, usage of vehicles — even driver behaviour.

We will be able to detect reckless driving or misuse,” he said. He added that the CTA was well-staffed and ready to handle the fleet servicing needs of all ministries. With this shake-up, government is determined to reassert control over its vehicle fleet, eliminate inefficiencies.

The CTA by nature is a department within the ministry of public works and transport mandated to provide all government ministries with transport, mechanical services and fuel. This includes procurement of vehicles, plant and equipment; it also provides service, maintenance and fuel.
The servicing and maintenance of vehicles is done through transfer of funds, through journal vouchers to CTA to facilitate the processes.

Fuel budget for all government vehicles has been allocated to CTA for the procurement of fuel. The CTA workshops in the five depots have a staff complement of 65 technicians with various technical skills.

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