GRDM secures massive loan for new regional landfill

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) signed a critical loan agreement with Standard Bank for an amount of R278 249 907 on Monday 3 July at its council chambers in George.

The loan will be utilised for the construction of the GRDM Regional Waste Management Facility at Mossel Bay, which will initially serve the municipalities of Bitou, Knysna, George and Mossel Bay.

In a statement issued by the municipality, Monde Stratu, GRDM Municipal Manager, said the facility will provide an essential waste management solution for the four municipalities.

"A site handover meeting was held with the Tefla Group on 13 June, which means the project is on track as planned," Stratu said. "Today is quite an exciting moment for us and I never thought it would happen in my tenure. It was not an easy process."

According to the statement, Junaid Sonday, Standard Bank provincial head: public sector, said the bank has an excellent track record in partnering with local government in the Garden Route.

He said the Standard Bank team was very impressed with the previous acting chief financial officer, Thembani Loliwe, during an engagement about credit risks. "Thembani [now GRDM Strategic Manager] was instrumental in adding value to credit risk committee discussions, swiftly identifying and addressing risk factors within the first few minutes after deliberations started."

The publication of the public participation input about the loan agreement was approved and concluded in December 2022.

During the negotiations, Standard Bank requested that participating municipalities provide council resolutions confirming their support and participation.

These resolutions were obtained, and the district municipality also entered into section 33 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) agreements with them.

The GRDM thanked all stakeholders involved.

GRDM Strategic Manager Thembani Loliwe, the Acting CFO during the time of the contract being set up, signing as a witness. Looking on is Gerrit du Toit, Standard Bank.

Project timeline

Contractor on site: June 2023
Completion of phase 1: Feb 2024
Estimated completion of project: March 2025

From left: Rian Boshoff (GRDM), Thembani Loliwe (GRDM), Charl Martin (GRDM), Junaid Sonday (Standard Bank), Adv Nadiema Davids (GRDM), Monde Stratu (GRDM), Gerrit du Toit (Standard Bank), Clive Africa (GRDM), Adv Sinekaya Maqekeni (GRDM), John Godfrey Daniels (GRDM), Ayakha Magxotwa (GRDM) and Lusanda Menze (GRDM).