It’s only a week to go before the people of KwaZulu-Natal know which Mayor or municipality among the province’s 61 are champions of creative and innovative service delivery, as voting and judging in the annual KZN MUNICIPAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS nears conclusion.

The aim of the much sought-after KZN Municipal Excellence Awards is to provide members of the public with an opportunity to give feedback to their local elected representatives through voting for the best municipality or performing mayor thereby give an opportunity to residents to evaluate the performance of their municipality. Said Nomusa Dube-Ncube, MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

“The Annual Municipal Excellence Awards also provide a platform to reward municipalities which are excelling in the delivery of services and also create incentives for municipalities that go beyond the call of duty in their endeavors to deliver social services to our people.  We are encouraged by the overwhelming participation of rate payers in various municipalities who are phoning and sending smses.  This provides useful feedback that each municipality can use to assess its performance.

These prestigious awards are yet another mechanism designed to improve the quality of life for all citizens and to encourage service excellence in municipalities.

“In many instances, we make a mistake of defining municipal performance only through service protests.  While it is true that protests are key indicators of service delivery unhappiness, we must not turn a blind eye on progress and achievements that municipalities are making every day to improve the quality of life of citizens.  The reality is that all of our citizens and industry functions on daily basis because of municipalities.  Challenges still being experienced should not obscure us from this reality.”  Said Dube-Ncube

The KZN Municipal Excellence Awards attract entries from across the 61 municipalities who in addition to the public voting process are judged in terms of five key performance areas namely, service delivery and infrastructure development, local economic development, municipal financial viability, municipal transformation and institution development, and good governance.

To vote members of the public must dial *120*459#

The winners will be announced on Friday  October 10,  at a ceremony to be held at the International Convention Centre.