The Auditor-General of South Africa has awarded Drakenstein Municipality its 11th clean audit for the 2024/2025 financial year. This is the Municipality’s seventh back-to-back clean audit and 18th unqualified audit opinion since 2011.

The Municipality’s 11th clean audit underscores its excellent management and governance, as the Auditor-General not only considers financial management but also investigates operational processes aimed at delivering outstanding services to residents.

This is a remarkable achievement given the trend of failing municipalities in South Africa. The Western Cape is the exception, and Drakenstein Municipality was confirmed as the best of the best when it earned the top honour at the 2025 Western Cape Government’s Service Excellence Awards, held on 12 September 2025, by winning the Best Municipality Award (Gold). Swartland Municipality followed in second place (Silver), with Mossel Bay Municipality in third (Bronze).

“Achieving our 11th clean audit is a powerful statement about Drakenstein Municipality’s unwavering commitment to integrity, accountability and excellence,” says Councillor Stephen Korabie, Executive Mayor of the Municipality.

“This milestone is not just a number. It reflects the hard work, resilience, and dedication of an exceptional team that kept its focus in the face of many challenges. I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished together.”

Drakenstein Municipality’s Internal Audit Division is instrumental in its success by ensuring that every recommendation from the Auditor-General is translated into actionable improvements. Drakenstein is also the first municipality in South Africa to transform its Municipal Audit Action Plan (MAAP) into detailed Departmental Audit Action Plans (DAAPs).

“These DAAPs provide clear, department-specific directives, creating a structured roadmap for continuous improvement and accountability across the Municipality,” says Dr Johan Leibbrandt, City Manager of Drakenstein Municipality, emphasising that this synchronisation is key in achieving clean audits.

“Our internal auditors, under the leadership of our Chief Audit Executive, Rozan Jaftha, are our first line of defence. We have a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluating and improving our business processes,” says Dr Leibbrandt.

He congratulated the Chief Financial Officer, Bradley Brown, and his Financial Services team, as well as the Executive Directors and their management teams, for their crucial role in achieving the Municipality’s 11th clean audit.

Drakenstein Municipality is currently experiencing robust growth and development while carefully preserving its rural character and country charm through a combination of strategic spatial planning and sustainable practices.

The news of this clean audit concludes a year regarded as the best in the Municipality’s history to date:

June 2025

Drakenstein Municipality is awarded the Schneider Electric Sustainability Impact Award for the Anglophone Africa region for its outstanding efforts in turning sustainability ambition into action and achieving its decarbonisation goals in 2024.

August 2025

Drakenstein Municipality is awarded the Municipal Innovation Recognition Award (MIRA) at the Municipal Innovation Recognition Awards in recognition of its Indigent Management System, a tech-driven, compassionate approach to managing indigent consumer support. The Municipality also received a MIMI Recognition Award for digital transformation readiness.

September 2025

Drakenstein Municipality is the named the Best Municipality at the Western Cape Government’s Service Excellence Awards, with Swartland Municipality in second place and Mossel Bay in third. The Gold Award confirms Drakenstein Municipality’s position as the Best Municipality for outstanding governance, innovation and service delivery.

Drakenstein Municipality is a city that thrives:

• Drakenstein Municipality is officially ranked as South Africa’s best secondary city for good governance according to the Governance Performance Index (GPI) 2024 by Good Governance Africa
• Capital expenditure: 2024 = 98.5%
• Low salary expenditure: 27.1% of the operational budget (national norm: 40%)
• Implementing property rates relief measures by capping property tax increases at 12.5% after Drakenstein’s property values increased by an average of 50% to 60% over the past five years
• Support for indigent households: R1 750/month per household (national average: R850)
• Unemployment rate: 17.4% (compared to the national average of 33.2%); and
• The Municipality has installed Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) systems at all traffic lights in the municipal area, which includes Paarl, Wellington, Mbekweni, Gouda, Saron, Hermon and Simondium.