IN THE next 10 days the Tshwane municipality will move into a new building to make way for construction of its “landmark city headquarters, wholly funded by the private sector”, Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa said yesterday.

Mr Ramokgopa said at a media briefing that the “world-class” headquarters would create space to accommodate all municipal departments under one building, in order to reduce costs and provide for efficient decision-making.

The R5bn overhaul of the Munitoria Building in Pretoria’s inner city will be undertaken by Tsela Tshweu consortium, consisting of Group Five, Standard Bank, Nedbank and other smaller companies.

Mr Ramokgopa said the project would be the first partnership of its kind in SA between a municipality and the private sector. Opposition parties, however, voiced concern that they were still in the dark about the actual cost to the municipality of leasing the new building.

Questions will also be raised about the cost of renting an alternative building, Isivuno House, on the northwestern side of Munitoria during construction of the new headquarters. City manager Jason Ngobeni could only say the city would pay a market-related fee.

“Isivuno is almost ready for us to move in and we will be renting it temporarily,” Mr Ngobeni said.

The delayed construction of the first phase had been expected to be completed in early 2010, and the official relocation by last year.

Democratic Alliance (DA) Tshwane caucus leader Brandon Topham said the dismantling of Munitoria was long overdue as the working environment in the building was unacceptable.

Mr Topham said while there was earlier talk that the municipality would sign a long-term lease of 27 years with Tsela Tshweu before taking over the building when the contract expires, the final decision on the cost of the lease was yet to be tabled before council.

“We don’t believe that a final decision has been taken yet because it still has to come back to council for consideration,” he said.

Mr Ramokgopa said infrastructure development would be a key priority for the City of Tshwane in the remaining four years of his term.

“We plan to raise R10bn in the bond market over the next four years for various infrastructure development projects,” he said. The target for the next financial year was between R1,5bn and R3bn.

He said the funds would relieve the burden on the fiscus and would mainly contribute towards the planned installation of “prepaid electricity meters, water meters and solar geysers in every household throughout Tshwane”.

Moody’s rating agency in 2009 announced a negative outlook for the City of Tshwane but the rating improved to stable in 2010. This was put down to improved liquidity and cash flow after the fiscal challenges of 2008-09.

Capital investment in Tshwane in the 2010-11 financial year amounted to R362m, of which the largest single amount by far was R297m injected by City Lodge.

The project is the first partnership of its kind in SA between a municipality and the private sector

Source: Business Day