The Auditor-General of South Africa has awarded Drakenstein Municipality (DM) its 11th clean audit for the 2024-’25 financial year.
This is the municipality’s seventh back-to-back clean audit and 18th unqualified audit opinion since 2011, it said in a statement.
It views its 11th clean audit as a testament to “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.”
The municipality further stated this was “a remarkable achievement given the trend of failing municipalities in South Africa,” adding that the Western Cape “is the exception.”
Drakenstein Municipality earned top honour earlier this year at the 2025 Western Cape Government’s Service Excellence Awards, held on 12 September, 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,” said Stephen Korabie, Executive Mayor. “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.”
DM said its 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 said to be 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,” Dr Johan Leibbrandt, City Manager of Drakenstein, said, emphasising such 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.”
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 concluded 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 Best Municipality at the Western Cape Government’s Service Excellence Awards, with Swartland Municipality in second place and Mossel Bay third. The Gold Award confirms Drakenstein Municipality’s position as Best Municipality, for outstanding governance, innovation and service delivery.
Other highlights the municipality pointed out in the statement reaffirming its stance as “a city that thrives” include:
• 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.
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