Speech by the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Alderman
Patricia de Lille on the occasion of the signing of the
credit facility agreement between the City and the
Agence Francaise Developpment (AFD)
The Ambassador Designate of France in South Africa, Her Excellency Ms
Elisabeth Barbier
The Consul of France, Mr Antoine Michon
The Executive Deputy Mayor of Cape Town, Alderman Ian Neilson
Deputy Director Of the regional AFD office, Mr Damien Navizet
The City Manager, Achmat Ebrahim
The Investment Officer of AFD, Lydie Menouer
City Officials
Good morning, goeie môre, molweni
It is an honour to welcome the representatives of the Agence Francaise
Developpment (AFD) to our city.
The City of Cape Town is constantly building partnerships with other
cities, international organisations and financial institutions to help us
achieve our goal of building an Opportunity City, an Inclusive City, a Wellrun City, a Safe City, and a Caring City.
Cape Town is grappling with limited resources to meet the demands as a
modern, global city.
And like many other cities all over the world, the City faces high levels of
urbanisation coupled with the longstanding legacy of apartheid spatial
planning.
This is evidenced in the latest census results which show that Cape Town
experienced the second highest rate of population growth in the country,
at close to 30 percent, over the last decade.
Many of those who choose Cape Town as their home do so in search of
better opportunities for a prosperous future.
In recognition of this, we invest a large portion of our capital budget on
building new infrastructure where it is needed most because we are
conscious that a well-maintained infrastructure is essential to delivering
basic services.
We also make a considerable effort to ensure that existing municipal
infrastructure is maintained so that we can continue to deliver the highest
level of basic services without avoidable interruption.
While we do our best to manage our finances as prudently as possible,
the reality is that our own sources of revenue are not enough to meet the
service delivery expectations of all residents.
This is why we seek additional funding from external sources that share
our vision to be the leader in municipal service provision in the country.
Today, is an important day for both the City and the AFD.
It is the culmination of two years of intense negotiations between both
sets of officials to ensure that the terms of the credit facility agreement
are fair to both parties.
The signing of this credit facility agreement will see the City gain R2.4
billion towards financing infrastructural projects identified in the City’s
Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for the next five years.
These include building of community facilities such as clinics, parks, and
libraries in communities that previously did not have them to redress the
imbalances of the past.
The funds will also help us expedite the completion of on-going major
infrastructural projects like the expansion of the MyCiTi bus services to
Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha as part of our plans to build a world-class
integrated public transport system.
You can be rest assured that your money will be put to good use. It will
go towards improving the quality of lives of the people of Cape Town and
making this great city even greater.
I am grateful that both teams of negotiators reached an agreement on a
reasonable interest rate for the repayment of the credit facility.
I would like to thank the City’s finance team in securing this loan.
I am equally indebted to the AFD team for believing in the City’s future by
granting us this loan.
Thank you. Baie dankie. Enkosi ka khulu.