Emerging vehicle repair shop owners are pleading with the government not to generalize their industry due to the actions of a few, as thousands of small vehicle repair and bodywork businesses face the potential loss of the lucrative South African Police Service (SAPS) maintenance contract.

Earlier this year, SAPS management issued instructions to exclude small workshops from repairing its fleet vehicles, citing concerns over quality assurance and prolonged delays affecting fleet availability and service delivery.

This decision poses a significant setback for the 9,000 small emerging vehicle repair owners who benefit from the RT46 Contract administered by Wesbank on behalf of the National Treasury. Mandla Khumalo, owner of Amandla CV Joints, receives nearly 80% of his work from SAPS through this contract. Losing the SAPS business could devastate his operation.

Small workshops like Khumalo’s have invested substantially in insurance, qualified technicians, and other overhead to meet the contract requirements. “It will affect us…we’ve already spent a lot,” Khumalo explained, adding that many employees could lose their jobs without the SAPS work.

As the situation unfolds, emerging repair businesses are urging authorities not to punish the entire industry for isolated quality issues, given the economic impact on these small entrepreneurs and their workers.