Buffalo City has secured a R250 million loan facility from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and a German bank to revamp the city’s infrastructure.

R50m, from the German bank kfW Bankegruppe, is earmarked for social upliftment and crime prevention, according to city financial services department management accountant Alistair Hofert.

The rest is to be invested in capital projects over the next three financial years.

Projects included:
• R5,6m for West Bank restitution community housing;
• R90m to replace the entire BCM fleet and its refuse trucks over a three-year period;
• R7,7m for a new refuse transfer station outside Mdantsane;
• R10m for electricity grid infrastructure to provide electricity for low income houses;
• R11,7 to upgrade the city’s fire rescue capacity; and
• R5m for new incinerators at the Cambridge crematorium.

BCM last obtained a DBSA loan facility in 2002: R150m to deal with flooding. The loans secured indicated the city’s stable finance credit rating, said Hofert.

uplift
Zukisa Manziya, senior accountant in municipal Treasury, said the city's liquidity has improved significantly from the 2000 financial year onwards.

He said the council no longer had overdrafts but boasted a strong financial position.