Western Cape Has Most Top-Rated Municipalities in SA – Study

A study by the non-profit Good Governance Africa has found that nine out of the 10 top municipalities in South Africa – out of a total of 234 – are in the Western Cape. Nine of the 10 worst are in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

The results of the survey could inform the decision of many voters during the local elections later this year.

According to news reports, the research and advocacy group ranked all of the country’s 234 local and metropolitan municipalities according to 15 different criteria across three spheres of performance: administration, economic development and service delivery.

In the top-ranked municipality – Swellendam, which is a coalition between the Democratic Alliance and ACDP – 98.5 percent of residents have access to piped water, while only 15.1 percent have it in the lowest-ranked – Mbizana, Eastern Cape.

Hessequa and Bergrivier were second and third highest-ranking.

GGA executive director Dr Alain Tschudin was quoted as saying: “DA municipalities generally performed well across all three performance clusters. With regard to service delivery, the DA’s highlights include refuse removal, water, sanitation and provision of electricity. In administration, its highlights are municipal capacity and financial soundness.

“In economic development, the DA did well in terms of the poverty and unemployment indicators,” he reportedly said.

The ANC-led municipalities, the GGA found, performed well in administration but underperformed on service delivery and economic development indicators. The DA had 17 municipalities in the top 40, while the ANC had 23. Of the eight ANC-run municipalities in the top 20, four – Cape Agulhas, Beaufort West, Prince Albert and Matzikama – are in the Western Cape.

All except two of the bottom 40 municipalities are run by the ANC. The other two are Inkatha Freedom Party and National Freedom Party.

For a full listing of the top 40 and bottom 40, see the list here.