More than 20 Buffalo City Metro vehicles attached by the sheriff of the court earlier in January over a disputed boxing sponsorship deal are to be auctioned if the municipality fails to settle a R2.2m debt by February 12.
The 22 vehicles — including traffic and law enforcement sedans, trucks and bakkies — were removed from various municipal premises on January 15 and 16 after BCM allegedly failed to honour a sponsorship agreement concluded in 2023 with Bunirox (Pty) Ltd, trading as Xaba Holdings.
The vehicles include seven Nissan NP300 Hardbody bakkies, four NP200s, five Polo Vivos, two Isuzu single and double cabs, a Toyota Quantum and three Isuzu trucks.
Xaba Boxing Promotions, owned by businessman and former ANC Youth League Eastern Cape chair Ayanda Matiti, is a subsidiary of Xaba Holdings.
Since their attachment, the vehicles have been stored at a sheriff’s warehouse in East London and are scheduled to be auctioned in Quigney on February 12 unless the city resolves the matter.
A notice of sale in execution was served on BCM on Tuesday, authorising the auction.
Matiti’s attorney, Akhona Mafani, said preparations were under way.
“We are in full swing. There is no court order that says we should not go ahead and auction.
“Our client is well within his rights to proceed,” Mafani said.
The latest order follows earlier court rulings in November and on January 14 instructing BCM to pay the R2.2m as well as permitting the attachment of municipal assets.
BCM’s urgent attempt on January 15 to interdict the sheriff was unsuccessful after the East London High Court declined to hear the matter on an urgent basis, ruling there was nothing urgent about the municipality’s rescission application — essentially an application to have the original ruling declared invalid.
At the time, BCM spokesperson Bongani Fuzile said the metro had also applied for a stay of execution while preparing a rescission bid, citing “serious flaws in how the default judgment was obtained”.
After securing the latest court order on Monday and serving it on BCM the next day, Matiti’s legal team placed an advertisement in the Dispatch on Wednesday announcing the planned auction.
On Wednesday, Fuzile said BCM had filed an application for rescission of the judgment that led to the attachment and removal of the vehicles.
“In light of this development, the matter is now sub judice. BCM is therefore not in a position to respond to specific questions relating to the case at this stage, as the issues are before the courts.
“The municipality will issue a comprehensive statement once the court processes have been finalised.”
But Mafani said unless BCM succeeded in court or paid the full amount — including sheriff’s costs — the auction would proceed.
“They not only need to go to court, but to succeed in court,” he said.
“As things stand, if BCM coughs up and pays the R2.2m, including the costs of the sheriff, we would release the cars and not proceed with auction.”
He confirmed there had been engagements between the parties after the attachments but declined to comment further, saying they were “off the record”.
No court date has been set yet for the rescission application.
The attachments have sparked political fallout within the metro.
DA councillor Anathi Majeke submitted a motion to city manager Mxolisi Yawa and council speaker Humphrey Maxegwana calling for accountability and for the matter to be debated in council.
Maxegwana responded that the issue was before the courts and therefore sub judice.
“In the circumstances, the council cannot, by law, create a parallel process of discussing and resolving on a matter that is sub judice.”
Majeke rejected that response, saying internal disciplinary processes could proceed independently of the court case.
“The court matter relates to the legal judgment, but the internal investigation must uncover how the prescripts of the Municipal Finance Management Act and supply chain management policy were bypassed by ‘oral agreements’.
“We cannot wait for a court ruling to investigate administrative misconduct that has already paralysed service delivery.”
She said BCM had been aware of the default judgment proceedings and had failed to respond to summonses and letters of demand.
“Furthermore, it is irrational that the metro did not simultaneously file an application to stay execution of the order pending the outcome of the rescission.
“This failure directly resulted in the public embarrassment of having 22 operational vehicles removed and the city incurring significant daily storage fees.”
EFF councillor Mziyanda Hlekiso said consequence management was necessary.
“It would be a very bad and sad day to see such critical municipal vehicles being auctioned.
“BCM already has a shortage of vehicles. Losing 22 more will have a detrimental effect on service delivery.”
According to Matiti’s court papers, BCM mayor Princess Faku initiated sponsorship talks on July 18 2023 during a WhatsApp call involving senior municipal officials.
The papers state that on August 22 2023, the parties concluded an oral agreement under which BCM undertook to sponsor a boxing event hosted by Matiti’s company.
One of the key terms required Matiti to relocate a planned Heritage Month tournament from Mpumalanga to East London in exchange for television broadcast coverage and “prime branding visibility and marketing” for the metro.
BCM was to make payment no later than two weeks before the event.
Court papers show an invoice for R1.7m was submitted on September 21 2023 but was not paid.
In its rescission application, Yawa argues the oral agreement was invalid because procurement processes were not followed and the officials involved lacked authority.
He said the agreement was concluded “behind closed doors” and that politicians should not have been involved in such sponsorship arrangements.
Yawa also cited the absence of a written contract as grounds for the agreement to be declared invalid.
Daily Dispatch
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