The Cape of Good Governance: that’s what the Western Cape is‚ according to the Auditor-General‚ and Democratic Alliance politicians were crowing about it on Thursday.

Kimi Makwetu announced on Wednesday that 80% of municipalities in the province had clean audits‚ with KwaZulu-Natal next best at 18%.

Said Premier Helen Zille: “Since 2009 we have been building the capable state‚ and since 2006 in the City of Cape Town. Our thanks go to mayors‚ councillors and officials for their hard work.”

Local Government MEC Anton Bredell said the inherited legacy in many municipalities had presented challenges. “We’ve worked tirelessly to instil a zero-tolerance approach toward those who transgress the financial laws governing this province. We’ve also invested in training initiatives to upskill municipal staff‚” he said.

14 municipalities lose clean audit status

“There are always areas where improvements are needed‚ but we believe our municipalities provide their communities with the best services possible within the budgets they receive.”

The City of Cape Town received its 13th consecutive unqualified audit opinion and its fourth consecutive clean audit opinion from Makwetu‚ and the mayoral committee member for finance‚ Johan van der Merwe‚ said it was down to the culture of the city council.

“At all levels of our organisation‚ we have tried to instil a culture of sound financial management‚ prudent financial choices‚ efficiency‚ accountability and respect for our ratepayers and residents by ensuring that we spend public money to the best of our ability‚” he said.

“A well-administered‚ financially stable city provides the perfect environment for investment‚ which brings with it business‚ money and jobs. It is also needed to maintain social stability and to deliver on the service delivery contract that we have with our residents and ratepayers.”