Independent report highlights best-run municipalities in South Africa | Western Cape Government

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Independent report highlights best-run municipalities in South Africa

22 April 2021

A new independent report released by Ratings Afrika has found the best performing municipalities in South Africa are in the Western Cape.

According to the latest Municipal Financial Stability Index report, the top five municipalities in the Western Cape are Mossel Bay, Saldanha Bay, City of Cape Town, Swartland and Overstrand Municipalities.

Anton Bredell, the minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning in the Western Cape, says the Western Cape scored an average rating of 53 out of 100 across its thirty municipalities. This is the highest in the country.

“The second highest scoring province was KwaZulu-Natal with 39 and in third place was the Northern Cape with 33. The report looks at how municipalities manage their money, and how this impacts service delivery in their areas.”

Bredell says most municipalities in the province fared well and scored above 50 with a few exceptions only.

“The worst performing municipality in the Western Cape according to this report is Beaufort West which scored 18 out of 100. My department continues to work hard with all the municipalities that are not faring as well as we’d like, and we aim to continue to improve the situation in those areas. For now, we want to celebrate the results and congratulate all our councils which have fared well.”

Bredell says independent reports are critical weathervanes indicating the ability of a municipality to provide services and a better life to the people in its communities.

“It doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges in those municipalities and these must be acknowledged. There are many challenges and the triple impact of poverty, unemployment and inequality remains a massive issue. In the Western Cape we continue to see massive population growth, driven in a large part by ongoing inward migration into the province. We also see continued urbanisation that is placing strain on larger councils. However, reports like these show councils continue to perform despite the challenges. It also shows the public that their money is being well managed and not stolen or wasted.”

 

Media Enquiries: 

James-Brent Styan

Spokesperson for the Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell

Mobile:                   084 583 1670

Telephone:            021 483 2820

E-mail:                    James-Brent.Styan@westerncape.gov.za