Peter Teixeira, the mayor of the top performing local municipality, Midvaal.
Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
The Midvaal Local Municipality has won big at the SA Local Government Association (Salga) annual municipal audit awards for the Gauteng province.
During the ceremony held over the weekend at the Premier Hotel near the OR Tambo International Airport, the association acknowledged municipalities demonstrating excellence in financial management.
The municipality again emerged as a top performer and scooped five prestigious awards recognising its exemplary performance.
According to Midvaal spokesperson Idah Satikhe, the event is held annually to recognise and celebrate municipalities for their exemplary financial management and adherence to the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).
The municipality was honoured for ensuring that accountability, as well as swift consequences for transgressions and poor performance, were ensured for the 2023/24 financial year.
Its second award was for submitting quality annual financial statements and annual performance report, with no corrections made during the audit in 2023/24.
In addition, the municipality paid service providers within 30 days for the 2023/24 financial year, and in its municipal capital grants service delivery for local municipalities, it achieved a 99.2% spending rate.
Midvaal also obtained a clean audit, which highlighted areas for improvement in 2023/24.
“These awards are a testament to Midvaal’s commitment to good governance, transparency, accountability, and long-term financial sustainability,” Satikhe said.
She added that the municipality will continue to shine as a beacon of hope, demonstrating that good governance is possible and exemplifying what a caring, compassionate and agile institution looks like.
At the 2022/23 Salga municipal awards, Midvaal also won the best overall municipality in Gauteng for its performance.
Midvaal also had zero debt for Eskom and Rand Water, which also awarded it the Blue Drop Award for 2024.
The National Department of Water and Sanitation also honoured Midvaal with a Green Drop for Sanitation Wastewater Treatment, while the Chartered Institute of Government Finance Audit, and Risk Officers gave the municipality its Clean Administration Award for 2024.
In July last year, Midvaal received the Best Overall Municipality award based on its incredible performance, which is based on its extensive key performance indicator assessment, which is audited quarterly.
Midvaal has also achieved 12 consecutive clean audits from Auditor-General South Africa between the 2013 and 2024 financial years.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za