13 June 2014
The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the City of Tshwane on Thursday signed a R1.6-billion long-term loan facility to support the city’s capital expenditure programme.
The loan will help the metro municipality – which includes South Africa’s capital city, Pretoria – to tackle backlogs in water, sanitation, roads, electricity and housing-related infrastructure, as well as support its growth and development initiatives.
City of Tshwane manager Jason Ngobeni said the facility would be used to aggressively fast-track the city’s infrastructure capital programme.
“This is the inaugural 20-year loan tenure for the city, which coincides with the celebration of the country’s 20 years of democracy,” Ngobeni said.
“This level of capital investment in the city was, in part, necessitated by the need to improve the enlarged infrastructure of the city, which now includes the erstwhile municipalities of Metsweding, Nokeng Tsa Taemane and Kungwini.
“In this financial year, 37% of the capital programme is funded through long-term borrowing and the rest being from capital grants and internal resources,” Ngobeni said.
DBSA group executive for the South Africa financing division at the DBSA, Tshokolo Nchocho, said the facility formed part of the bank’s ongoing support to municipalities in eradicating infrastructure backlogs.
Nchocho said that, like many other metropolitan municipalities in the country, the city had infrastructure backlogs which “create challenges in facilitating and increasing access of basic services to its constituencies, particularly those in the previously disadvantaged areas.
“We are pleased to be part of this capital expansion programme, which signifies the bank’s commitment to contribute towards the development of social and economic infrastructure in the City of Tshwane, which is much needed to improve the quality of life of its 2.9-million residents,” Nchocho said.
“In ensuring that metropolitan municipalities remain the heartbeat of the country’s economic growth, the DBSA has therefore embarked on a process to package a comprehensive support programme aimed at addressing each metro’s unique requirements, while at the same time ensuring that the bank delivers on its development mandate.”
Source: SAnews.gov
