Bad rating for capital city
Tshwane did not fare so well in an independent survey of all 234 local municipalities in South Africa.
Stephané Bothma
Tshwane metro has come in at a disappointing 65th place in an independent survey of the best-run municipalities of the country.
Of the 234 municipalities, Western Cape accounted for 15 of the top 20 and the worst are in former apartheid homelands.
The survey was done by an independent agency, Good Governance Africa.
It used data from various official sources such as 2011 census, statistics SA, treasury, Gaffney’s local government yearbook (2013-2015), auditor-general reports and the extended public works programme.
Municipalities were scored on 15 different criteria in three performance areas: administration, economic development and service delivery.
According to the survey report, of the 15 Western Cape municipalities in the top 20, four were run by the ANC, eight by the DA and three by coalitions that included the DA.
In Gauteng, Johannesburg topped the rankings at 42, followed by Mogale City at 52 and Tshwane at 65, DA-run Midvaal ranked 67th while Ekurhuleni came in at 97. Results were published in Good Governance Africa journal, Africa in Fact.
Municipalities ranked second to eighth are all DA-led.
Northern Cape has three municipalities in the top 20, Emthanjeni and Richtersveld, both held by the ANC, and Hantam, which is run by a DA-COPE coalition.
The only other province with municipalities in the top 20 is the Free State, represented by Metsimahalo and Dihlabeng, both held by the ANC.
The top three performing municipalities are Swellendam (DA-African Christian Democratic Party coalition), Hessequa (DA) and Bergrivier (DA).
According to the report, the top three municipalities performed particularly well in the economic development indicator – unemployment and poverty – with all making the top 10 in each. They also ranked well in the service delivery indicator – electricity – where all made the top 20.
These municipalities performed well in the two administration indicators – municipal capacity and financial soundness.
But they did poorly in the education indicator with Hessequa ranking 96th, Bergrivier 112th and Swellendam 143rd.
South Africa’s worst performing municipality is Mbizina, followed by Ntabankulu, both in Eastern Cape and then Ntambanana in KwaZulu –Natal.
In fact Eastern Cape accounts for 12 of the 20 worst performing municipalities and KZN six. Greater Tubatse, in Limpopo, and Greater Taung in North West, complete the bottom 20 list. All 20 are led by the ANC.
There was no discernible pattern with regard to the third indicator, reporting compliance, where some of the lowly ranked municipalities—among them Big Five False Bay in KZN and Mbashe in Eastern Cape — scored top ratings yet remaining in the bottom 20 overall.
“Taken as a whole, the ranking communicates the urgency with which resources need to be invested in service delivery in the lower ranked municipalities,” the agency said.
It added that perhaps, equally important would be to ensure social and economic development were fast-tracked, particularly in impoverished and under-developed areas.
“Finally, municipal administrators should be constantly assessed and benchmarked against their peers – an initiative that would promote improved accountability and governance,” it said.
Also read:
Tshwane metro repairs water meter after months, ignores sinkhole
Tshwane EMS in good health, says city
Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
- We have exciting news! We’re offering a free alert to help you always be in the loop. Send an email with the word ‘Subscribe’ to breakingnews@rekord.co.za to receive your free daily breaking news update.
