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After five years of consecutive clean audits, Midvaal Local Municipality is ready and willing to share its secrets to success. But none of the Gauteng municipalities or others in the country have approached them for advice.
Bongani Baloyi, the mayor of Midvaal, told City Press on Thursday that not a single municipality – even in government forums – had asked for help to improve their audit outcomes.
Since taking over in 2013, Baloyi’s DA-run municipality, with a population of about 100 000, has became an example of good governance in Gauteng, and was this week praised by Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu for the good work.
Despite this success, Baloyi said celebrating clean audit outcomes was not enough as the burden of keeping clean audits could result in them being reluctant to try other things such as addressing unemployment.
He said getting clean audits would not be sustainable if they did not include unemployed young people in the value chain. Unemployment among youngsters in Midvaal was a concern as the economy is stagnant and companies continue to shed jobs.
Ethical leadership, political will and discipline were two of the factors that sustained the municipality. He advised others that “acting against comrades” was part of leadership. Politicians should provide strategic direction and hold themselves and others accountable. “We understand that this is something we live and die by,” Baloyi said.
Makwetu said stable leadership and good governance were strong foundations in the best-performing municipalities.
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