Drakenstein Municipality’s journey from 51st place in 2017 to one of South Africa’s five highest-scoring municipalities in 2025 has earned national recognition from Ratings Afrika, which singled out the Municipality for achieving the most significant improvement on its Municipal Financial Sustainability Index (MFSI) over the past six years.

The MFSI is widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive assessments of municipal financial sustainability in South Africa. The index evaluates municipalities across six key areas: operating performance, liquidity management, debt governance, budget practices, affordability and infrastructure development.

The 2025 MFSI ranks Drakenstein among the country’s five highest-scoring municipalities and recognises its sustained commitment to strengthening governance, financial management and service delivery. Ratings Afrika noted that the Municipality’s remarkable improvement reflects highly on its leadership and management.

“Being recognised among South Africa’s top five municipalities for financial sustainability is a significant achievement for Drakenstein. It reflects years of hard work, responsible financial management and a shared commitment to excellence,” says Councillor Stephen Korabie, Executive Mayor of Drakenstein Municipality.

In 2017, Drakenstein Municipality achieved a score of 45 out of 100 and was ranked 51st. Following the implementation of a financial turnaround plan, the Municipality steadily improved its performance, climbing to 34th position by 2021 and ultimately securing a place among South Africa’s top five municipalities in the latest index.

“Being in the top five has exceeded all expectations after years of hard work. We are reaping the rewards of continued fiscal discipline after successfully implementing a financial turnaround plan, which kicked off in 2019,” says Dr Johan Leibbrandt, City Manager of Drakenstein Municipality.

Dr Leibbrandt emphasised that sound financial management is ultimately a means to improve the lives of residents. “It’s all good and well to have money in the bank, but what is as important, if not more important, is what you do with it. Once you achieve the point of financial sustainability, you must use that money to deliver on your mandate, which is providing basic services to your residents. The rating ultimately means that we are better positioned than ever to continue delivering quality services, investing in infrastructure and creating opportunities for our communities.”

The 2025 MFSI reaffirms Drakenstein Municipality’s position as one of South Africa’s best-governed municipalities. The Municipality is recognised as the Best Municipality in the Western Cape after winning the Gold Award at the 2025 Western Cape Government Service Excellence Awards.

At the end of last year, the Auditor-General of South Africa awarded Drakenstein Municipality its 11th clean audit for the 2024/2025 financial year, underscoring the Municipality’s strong governance and management practices. The Auditor-General’s assessment considers not only financial management, but also operational processes aimed at delivering quality services to residents.

Drakenstein Municipality is also rated the number one secondary city for good governance in South Africa by the research and advocacy non-profit organisation Good Governance Africa in the latest Governance Performance Index (2024).

Dr Leibbrandt attributes the progress in Drakenstein Municipality’s financial sustainability journey to his entire management team and all officials. “While we are enjoying our success, we remain humble and we do not forget where we came from.”