By Nangamso Mabindla
3 September 2004

A DELEGATION from Leiden, Buffalo City's twin Dutch city, had nothing but praise for the progress being made by the municipality after a two-week visit.

Speaking at a farewell function at the East London City Hall last night, 2 September, Leiden mayor Henri Leinferink said that despite the many challenges faced by Buffalo City, the municipality's service to its citizens was excellent.

The mayor and his delegation used the two-week visit to cement ties with Buffalo City and investigated municipal policies such as those tackling disaster management, HIV/Aids, water management and policing.

"I'm impressed with the municipality's skills - especially of its staff - when dealing with challenges," Leinferink said. "We didn't find much wrong and we are confident that twinning with a well-run city like Buffalo was not a mistake," he added.

The Leiden mayor commended the partnerships between Buffalo City and its various communities. One such example was of Buffalo City's community policing forum (CPF). "Municipalities are about people," Leinferink said, "and with the success of the CPF, the City has shown its commitment to fight crime in its communities."

Leinferink noted that crime figures in Buffalo City differed greatly from those of his home town. "I noticed the monthly crime figures here are even higher than our annual figures, but I'm confident the City will overcome this."

The provision of housing in some of the City areas was also a challenge for the municipality. But, Leinferink noted, people needed to be patient as the municipality was still trying to address past imbalances.

Leinferink's counterpart, Buffalo City mayor Sindisile Maclean, was confident that "with visits like these we'll be able to strengthen this relationship."

Maclean thanked the Leiden delegation: "It was good that you came here to share ideas with us on key issues like disaster management, HIV and other pressing issues."

The delegation had also seen the City's strengths and weaknesses, in both prosperous and poverty-stricken districts. "You saw the two economies of the city - we're still trying to balance the scales. We need strong partnerships like the one we have to overcome these challenges," Maclean said.

The two municipalities could gain mutual benefit by working together and sharing and learning from their experiences, Maclean added.