The Buffalo City Metro has managed to save part of its fleet of vehicles from going under the hammer just a week before they were set to be auctioned.
On Thursday, the East London High Court stymied moves by boxing promoter and former ANCYL hotshot Ayanda Matiti to auction off more than 20 BCM vehicles to recoup R2.2m owed to him by the city.
The auction would have seen the sale of 22 vehicles — including traffic and law enforcement sedans, trucks and bakkies — which had been removed from various municipal premises on January 15 and 16.
This was 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.
Since their attachment, the vehicles have been stored at a sheriff’s warehouse in East London and were scheduled to be auctioned in Quigney on February 12.
Judge Igna Stretch granted an interim interdict that the operation and execution of the order of November 11 2025 be suspended pending the finalisation of the metro’s application for rescission of the order; and that all vehicles be returned to the metro until the rescission application is finalised.
A rescission application is brought to have an original ruling declared invalid.
Matiti obtained a court order in November for settlement of the R2.2m and in January, frustrated by the city’s failure to comply with the order, instructed the sheriff of the court to attach municipal assets.
The Daily Dispatch previously reported that, 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 stated that on August 22 2023, the parties concluded an oral agreement under which BCM undertook to sponsor a boxing event hosted by a subsidiary of Matiti’s company Xaba Holdings.
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.
Thursday’s interim order is the latest in the months-long legal battle between the two parties.
The interim order was granted without Matiti’s counsel being in court. It was the first case on the roll to be called.
While the matter was proceeding, Matiti’s attorney, Akhona Mafani, entered the courtroom and informed the metro’s counsel that his client’s counsel was on the way.
After Thursday’s court decision, Mafani said they were now considering their options.
It is understood that before the sheriff can release the fleet, a release letter must be provided.
Matiti is also expected to pay for the vehicles to be released from the storage.
Mafani said: “My client is taking recourse regarding what happened in court today [Thursday], and until the issues around what happened are fully ventilated by the relevant officials who ought to look into this issue, my client is not in a position to attend to any fees by the sheriff.”
The attempted auction of municipal vehicles following the sheriff’s attachment did not advance justice, and it certainly did not advance service delivery
— Bongani Fuzile, BCM spokesperson
BCM spokesperson Bongani Fuzile said the metro remained “committed to protecting public resources and ensuring that service delivery to residents is not disrupted by actions that undermine the municipality’s constitutional mandate to serve”.
“BCM exists to serve its people, the residents who depend on municipal vehicles every day for water repairs, electricity restoration, refuse removal, road maintenance, fire and emergency response.
“These are not luxuries — they are lifelines.
“The attempted auction of municipal vehicles following the sheriff’s attachment did not advance justice, and it certainly did not advance service delivery.
“Instead, it threatened to paralyse the very operations that keep communities functioning.”
Fuzile said when municipal vehicles were attached, services were affected.
“The real cost is borne by ordinary residents.
“BCM welcomes the interim court order granted in its favour … which suspends the execution of the order of November 11 2025 pending the finalisation of the municipality’s application for rescission.
“The order further directs that all movable property removed from the municipality, specifically the vehicles, must be returned to BCM,” Fuzile said.
Fuzile pointed out the costs of the vehicles’ storage were for Matiti’s account.
“This ruling affirms a simple but critical principle, municipal assets exist for public service, not for auction floors.
“The municipality is encouraged that sanity is beginning to prevail.
“These vehicles were never just ‘assets’ — they are tools of service, and every hour they were out of circulation meant residents went without the help they urgently needed.”
Fuzile said the metro would proceed with its rescission application on the basis that the court erred in granting the attachment and removal of municipal assets while the municipality was in the process of filing its papers in response to Xaba Holdings’ main application, which alleges the municipality owes it money.
“Legal disputes must be resolved in court but they must never be resolved at the expense of communities.”
Daily Dispatch
