Johannesburg says JMPD fuel card problem has been fixed
Mayor Dada Morero says the JMPD's fuel card problems are over, blaming a change of service providers, while a leaked directive pointed to unpaid accounts.
The fuel problems at the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) have been resolved, according to Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero. The Citizen reported that the mayor made the announcement on Friday.
What the leaked directive said
The matter came to light after an internal directive, signed off on Wednesday, was leaked. It ordered JMPD officers to use vehicles only for essential operational purposes.
The directive, dated 21 October, gave a different reason from the one the mayor later offered. It said the refuelling challenges were caused by the non-payment of fuel cards and the ending of lines of credit. It also said the service stations that had been helping with interim refuelling had withdrawn their support after reaching the credit limits extended to the department.
JMPD confirmed that the directive was retracted as of Thursday.
The mayor’s explanation
Morero said the problem came from administrative issues when the city moved from one service provider to a new one. He said this left the department’s petrol cards unable to work and affected officers in carrying out their duties.
“The contract is in place and we are happy to announce that we are moving forward and all our vehicles and all our petrol cards are functioning,” the mayor said.
In a separate statement on Friday, the municipality said that such transitions can involve transferring and verifying account information, aligning contractual obligations, activating new service arrangements, reconciling outstanding transactions and setting up payment processes. It said these steps must be coordinated well where services are operationally critical.
No disruption, says the city
The municipality insisted that JMPD services were not affected. “JMPD services were never interrupted, and no vehicles were grounded at any point,” it said. It added that the department managed the fuel already available on board to keep operations running.
What this means for residents
JMPD is responsible for traffic policing and by-law enforcement in the city, so its vehicles matter to residents who rely on road safety and visible policing. According to the city, patrols and other services carried on as normal and the fuel cards are working again.
The mayor’s account and the leaked directive differ on the cause, one pointing to a contract changeover and the other to unpaid accounts and exhausted credit. The source does not say whether any outstanding amounts were owed to service stations or how they were settled.
This story is based on reporting by The Citizen.
