By Nangamso Mabindla
5 August 2008

IT’S official! Buffalo City will become a metro in 2011, after the decision was taken to award the municipality metro status by the Municipal Demarcation Board.

Speaking in his office on Monday, 4 August, the municipal manager, Gaster Sharpley, said that the City had applied for metro status previously but had not been awarded the title as at the time it did not perform some of the functions needed.

“Now the demarcation board has granted us metro status because we are able to meet the criteria needed to be a Category A municipality,” he said.

Some of these requirements are economic growth, service delivery demands and other factors. The population of an area is also taken into account.

Talking about the benefits of being a metro, Sharpley said that there would be increased equitable share and the city would be in a much better position to attract investors.

“If you look at our building plans, two years ago we approved plans worth R700-million and now our plans have hit the R3-billion mark. That proves that our city is doing very well and is ready for metro status.”

Environmental health care will also become a City function; at present it falls under the district municipality.

“We do have the staff resources and other necessary resources to perform this function. We will also have a metro police and I believe that this will boost security in the city.”

However, Sharpley said that metro status did not mean urbanisation for Buffalo City. “We cannot forget our rural areas; we will also need to concentrate on rural development so that we succeed as a metro.”