R500 000 spent to buy trees

The KwaDukuza municipality spent almost R500 000 buying palm trees for its community halls and government housing projects. However, many of the trees have died because they are not indigenous and were planted in areas with no access to water. The opposition DA in the council said the trees were also planted too close together. The 250 trees were bought in March for R158 780, with a further R308 085 spent on transporting them from a nursery in Mtubatuba – about 250km away from KwaDukuza. The company which transported the trees provided the municipality with two tractor backhoes and three crane trucks, each with its own driver, crane operator and five staff to dig, load and offload the palms.

The municipality was charged R7 200 a load of trees and R350 an hour for the backhoes. An additional R24 000 was budgeted for a tanker to water the trees, because the areas where they were planted had no water. The trees, of 13 different species, were bought from Mtubatuba’s Live Long Nursery and Training Centre. However, only three were indigenous to KwaDukuza. Municipal spokesman Sifiso Zulu said the nursery’s owner had acquired a plot with a number of palm trees and shrubs. The owner offered the palms to the municipality at R980 each, in addition to any other plant material and seeds required from the site. The owner also offered to donate “very large” palm trees to the municipality.

“A site visit was done and the palm trees and other plant material were assessed for suitability. Quotations for palm trees were obtained from two other suppliers in KwaDukuza. When priced commercially, these palms varied from R1 800 to R12 000. Also, when the pricing was done, it was noted that the nurseries only quoted the price of the palms and did not include the cost of the transport or labour. Seeing it from this perspective, including the fact that we acquired 354 plants, including those offered free of charge, the procurement route taken was prudent,” said Zulu. He said the purchase had not gone to tender because the trees cost less than R200 000. Zulu said water provision was not the function of the KwaDukuza municipality.

“We have a water tanker that cannot cover all the sites in one day. This means that other sites will be covered by procurement of an outside service provider,” he said. The Dolphin Coast Conservancy and DA lashed out at the decision to buy the trees. While DA councillor Colin Marsh said at least 50 percent of the trees had died, the municipality said 20 had perished. Zulu said a taxi-related strike at the time of the purchase and subsequent strike by municipal employees had disturbed the planting process. Marsh said the “mess” was compounded by the trees being planted close together. “There are at least 10 established nurseries in KwaDukuza that export palms to Dubai and know all about the trees,” he said.

Dolphin Coast Conservancy chairwoman Di Jones said most of the trees had died. She said the municipality should lead by example by planting indigenous trees. “Whether they were planted correctly is another question. It’s sad that the municipality bought palm trees from outside the area instead of planting indigenous trees. Indigenous trees require less water than exotic varieties.”