IT might be rated among the poorest but the Fetakgomo municipality in Limpopo has surpassed expectations by getting a clean audit report from the auditor-general.

The rural municipality was among the seven municipalities countrywide that Auditor-General Terence Nombembe declared "clean" for running their finances in the proper way.

It was a rare achievement for a municipality of its stature, considering that Fetakgomo operates on a limited budget of R70million.

The municipality is situated in the rural village of Apel and has a population of about 122000. During the previous two financial years the municipality also received unqualified audit opinions from the auditor-general. But this was the first time it got a clean audit.

Mayor Kukie Sefala has attributed this achievement to a healthy relationship between the municipality's administration and politicians.

She said the municipality also had a team of a committed staff that was always willing to go the extra mile in executing their duties.

"We made sure we employed an internal auditor who would advise us from time to time on how to improve on our performance," Sefala said during an interview.

She said as political head she also sat in on meetings of the audit committee to ensure that things ran smoothly.

"We also have committees such as the executive committee and portfolio committee, IDP steering committee and an audit committee, which ensures that the municipality performs better than other municipalities," she boasted.

Sefala, 38, said she wished the municipality could get an increased budget to meet its service delivery obligations. She was appointed mayor in September last year, taking over from Coleman Marota, who was asked to resign by the ANC.

Sefala said she hoped that with the support given to her by her colleagues, they would be able to keep the momentum of obtaining clean audit reports for as long as she was in charge.