The National Good Governance Awards, an initiative hosted by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), is held annually to recognise excellence in local government.

Highlighting the achievers in the country is important to acknowledge that local municipalities can be run well and can live up to their duty to make service delivery a reality while being able to spend budgets responsibly.

The annual awards ceremony took place at Gallagher Estate, Gauteng in October. The Western Cape dominated again at this year’s municipal performance awards.

The West Coast Districts of Saldanha Bay and Swartland were ranked in joint first place, with Swellendam and Hessequa also ranking highly.

The two municipalities were lauded for 14 consecutive clean audits and management of capital projects that showed good financial discipline and sound decision making.

Good governance at local government is evaluated on criteria that includes operational performance, liquidity and debt management, budgeting practices, affordability, and infrastructure development. 

Other municipalities that were recognised on the night include the Breede Valley local municipality that has had 10 consecutive clean audits, this municipality falls under the Cape Winelands District.

Another top winner on the night was the Midvaal local municipality in  Gauteng that scooped three awards, this included recognition for achieving 10 consecutive years of clean audits.