Mpumalanga’s Steve Tshwete Local Municipality crowned Green Drop champion
Steve Tshwete Local Municipality has emerged as South Africa’s top performer in wastewater management, claiming the 2025 Green Drop title.
The Steve Tshwete Local Municipality was named the 2025 Green Drop winner in the best performing municipalities category.
The municipality, which falls under the Nkangala District Municipality, secured the first spot with a score of 85.5%. George Local Municipality obtained second with a score of 84.4%, and Mossel Bay Local Municipality took third place with 83.4%.
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The awards ceremony took place at the Sydney Choma Banquet Hall in Middelburg on March 31.
This ceremony followed the release of the Green Drop Report by the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina.
The report shows that province also recorded improvements in wastewater management, with three municipalities winning the Best Progress Award from 2021 to 2024.
These are Chief Albert Luthuli Local Municipality in Gert Sibande District, with an improvement from 11% to 71%, sister municipality, Msukaligwa Local Municipality, improving from 17% to 66.7%, and the Thaba Chweu Local Municipality in the Ehlanzeni District recording an improvement from 10% to 57.6%.
The report, which reflects a full audit of 848 municipal wastewater treatment systems for the 2023/24 financial year, presents a concerning picture of declining wastewater performance across the country.
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The findings confirm a sustained deterioration in the management of municipal wastewater systems. Only 14 systems nationally achieved Green Drop certification in 2025, down from 22 in 2022. These results show that systems previously operating at a poor level have continued to deteriorate into critical failure, placing increasing pressure on water resources, the environment and public health.
Majodina said the report highlights persistent structural weaknesses, including inadequate maintenance of infrastructure, failure to adhere to standard operating procedures, shortages of skilled personnel, weak financial management and governance failures.
She said these challenges are further compounded by vandalism, illegal connections, corruption and broader criminal activity affecting infrastructure.
