The eThekwini Municipality has denied spending R20 million on five cars allegedly equipped to protect senior management.

In a letter to Scrolla.Africa, the municipality said instead that the amount of R20 million was spent on 23 cars, a purchase that was approved by the council.

Scrolla.Africa recently reported that the metro spent their budget for protection vehicles on five cars, based on information provided by anonymous sources within the municipality.

However, the eThekwini Communications Unit has strongly denied this.

"Twenty-three vehicles were procured and delivered based on the approval and budget availability of R20 million," said eThekwini municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana.

"The allegations that the City spent R20 million to procure only four Toyota Hiluxes is a gross misrepresentation of facts and a malicious inflation of the actual costs."

Sisilana explained that the purchase was approved during a council meeting.

"In fact, eThekwini Municipal Council at its meeting held on 30 March approved the procurement of vehicles for the purposes of effective provision of the Security and Protection Services.

"This was for both the replacements and additional vehicle requirements, at an estimated value of R20,000,000, including VAT, during the 2022/23 financial year. This was for the procurement of 23 vehicles as stated above," said Sisilana.

"The current fleet has exceeded its life span and is due for replacement. Also, new vehicles are required based on the operational demands of the Security and Protection Services."

The latest Hilux models range from R356,000 to R526,000 on the Toyota website.