GEORGE NEWS - George Municipality is ranked third on the list of the most financially sound cities in South Africa and ranks second in the Western Cape.
South Africa's 27 municipalities with the largest budgets include the country's eight metros and 19 secondary cities.
Drakenstein Municipality is the most financially sound, with Steve Tshwete Municipality (Mpumalanga) in second place, and George Municipality (Western Cape) and Emalahleni Municipality (Mpumalanga) in joint third place.
In the Western Cape, the top-performing province, Drakenstein Municipality achieved first place while George Municipality claimed second place, with the City of Cape Town and Stellenbosch Municipality sharing third place.
This is according to the report, 'The State of Local Government Finances and Financial Management', released by Treasury on 30 June.
This report evaluates the state of municipal finances in South Africa,
using eight key measures: Cash as a percentage of operating expenditure; persistence of negative cash balances; overspending of original operating budgets; under-spending of original capital budgets; debtors as a percentage of own revenue; year-on-year growth
in debtors; creditors as a percentage of cash and investments; and reliance on national and provincial government transfers.
Treasury has rated all South Africa's metros and secondary cities, as well as 186 local municipalities and 44 district municipalities - in total 257 municipalities - using these eight indicators.
'Hard work, dedication'
In response to the ranking Mayor Melvin Naik said: "This is a huge accolade for us as municipality that has been heavily criticised over the past 12 months in the media for various reasons.
"As mayor I can say that we attribute
this accolade to constant hard work, following due process with regard
to procurement and adhering to governance principles to ensure the delivery of quality basic services.
"It really is a combination of hard work and dedication."
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