Media Release: New "Municipal Benchmarking Exercise" to Become Effective Tool | Western Cape Government

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Media Release: New "Municipal Benchmarking Exercise" to Become Effective Tool

13 March 2013

In our on-going efforts to becoming the leading Provincial Government in the world we are pleased to confirm that we were part of a municipal benchmarking exercise commissioned by the Western Cape Provincial Treasury and the Swartland municipality which will enable our municipalities to put strategic plans in place to ensure financial viability and stability over the short-,medium- and long –term.

Municipalities in the Western Cape are currently among the best run in South Africa but we want to ensure that our municipalities are among the best run internationally, hence this exercise.
 
The Western Cape Provincial Treasury, together with Swartland Municipality, realised the importance of benchmarks based on a uniform approach and data and therefore embarked on a process to determine such benchmarks.
 
The primary objective was to develop financial standards for Western Cape municipalities and, with this in mind, the Swartland Municipality applied to Provincial Treasury for assistance and support.
 
The objective was to develop financial standards for municipalities which will enable the municipality, Provincial Treasury (PT) and the Auditor General (AG) to be able to determine the financial sustainability of a municipality. 
 
Today, 13 March 2013, we are pleased to officially launch the Municipal Benchmarking Exercise and trust that it is going to become a very effective tool for our municipalities.
 
The determination of the benchmarks was achieved by combining and averaging the financial results for the 2012 year of the different municipalities in the Western Cape and then comparing that with known best practices, adjusted for public sector activities and material inconsistencies.   
Media Enquiries: 

Peter Pullen 
Cell: 082 574 3773