CTA FIRE: TOP-OF-THE-RANGE, NEW CARS BURNT

MBABANE – Top-of-the-range vehicles were torched at the Central Transport Administration (CTA) Mbabane premises yesterday.

At around 2.30am, a fire was started by unknown arsonists in one of the workshops which had sheltered some of the new vehicles. The vehicles had not yet been allocated to specific ministries or government departments. The burnt vehicles include a single cab Isuzu bakkie, a Mercedes Benz ML SUV, a Toyota Prado SUV, a Mercedes Benz E-Class sedan, a Toyota Quantum kombi and a Toyota double cab, which was partially damaged by the fire. Two other Toyota Prados were spared even though they were also parked at the far end of the workshop.

During a visit to the CTA premises yesterday morning, this reporter also noticed two vintage vehicles, which were parked beside the Toyota Prados that were not damaged by the fire. The fire also destroyed about 10 previously used motorcycles, which were also parked in the workshop.  It could not be ascertained if the motorbikes were in a running condition or not.

Speculation

There was a bit of speculation that the fire may have been sparked by an electric fault but this was dismissed on the basis that the Toyota Quantum, which was also burnt, was parked outside the workshop.  There were also signs of an oily burnt substance on one Isuzu bakkie, which was parked outside the workshop.
It is believed this oily substance may have been used as an accelerant to start the fire. “This shows that they attempted to burn this vehicle but their attempt failed,” said one of the staff members. Several record-keeping documents were also burnt to ashes at the workshop. During a tour to assess the damage at the premises by the Prime Minister, Cleopas Dlamini, yesterday, who was accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister, Themba Masuku and the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe, the PM first applauded personnel from the National Fire and Emergency Services for reacting on time and ensuring that the flames were extinguished before the situation worsened.

Culprits

“There could be several causes of this and I cannot generalise but what I can say is that the police are working tirelessly to catch the culprits and they shall be found,” said Dlamini. He said with regard to some of the cars that were parked at the CTA premises, it was imperative that these were auctioned early before they completely lost their value. “The vehicles need to be sold before they become scraps. If, for instance, there are some parts of the vehicles that are taking too long to arrive for it to be fixed, then it is better for it to be auctioned to ensure that government at least makes something from it to purchase another vehicle,” said the PM.

He said they already had discussions with the minister of Public Works and Transport as well as the Principal Secretary, Thulani Mkhaliphi, that they needed to identify all the vehicles that could no longer be repaired. He said he was yet to receive an estimate of the damages caused by the fire. According to the PM, the responsible ministry would evaluate the vehicles as well as the building, though stating that it was yet to be established if the building would be refurbished.  “It is fortunate that the roof is very high and we think that the tiles may have been stained but I do not think that they were burnt,” he added.  Minister Ndwandwe also mentioned that an estimate of the damage caused was yet to be forwarded to the PM first before it could be shared with the media.  “I would like to ask the media to be patient with us until the information gets to the PM’s Office first before we can share it,” said Mkhaliphi. 

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