West Coast District Municipality Achieves 15 Consecutive Clean Audits in South Africa

• The West Coast District Municipality earned a spot on the Auditor-General's honour roll for maintaining clean audits for 15 years straight
• The achievement came as the AG's 2024/25 report flagged governance failures in 84% of municipalities across South Africa
• Municipal leaders credited long-term political stability and a clear sense of purpose for keeping the council on track

The West Coast District Municipality (WCDM) has done something no other council in South Africa has managed to pull off. For 15 consecutive years, it has received a clean audit from the Auditor-General, making it the standout performer in a sector where governance failures remain widespread.

The latest Auditor-General's 2024/25 Consolidated General Report on Local Government Audit Outcomes placed the WCDM on its honour roll, a list reserved for municipalities that have kept clean audits for five or more years in a row. The municipality is the only one in the country to have held that standard for a full 15 years.

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A clean audit is awarded when a municipality produces credible financial statements and performance reports while remaining compliant with key public finance legislation. It signals strong leadership, sound governance and controls that minimise the risk of financial mismanagement.

A system under strain

According to Business Tech, the broader picture painted by the AG's report is far less encouraging. Material non-compliance findings were recorded against 84% of municipalities nationally, with the report pointing to a continued disregard for legislation and a failure to hold officials accountable. Only 39 municipalities, roughly 15% of the total, received clean audits in 2024/25, and a further 15% of councils regressed compared to their previous outcomes.

The Western Cape was the only province where good-quality financial reporting was consistently the norm and where most municipalities avoided material compliance findings. WCDM municipal manager David Joubert said the AG's findings should serve as a wake-up call rather than a source of resignation. He also pushed back on the idea that compliance requirements are too burdensome, arguing that they exist to protect public funds.

Built on stability, not structure

Municipal spokesperson Heinrich Robertson has previously attributed the WCDM's performance not to any inherent structural advantage but to the political vision and administrative will of the council, backed by long-term stability in leadership. The AG's report supports that view, noting that municipalities with sustained clean audits tend to have consistent figures in key roles such as the municipal manager and chief financial officer.

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3 Other Briefly News stories about municipalities

• The Commission Recommendations Task Team arrested four current and former Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality employees across Johannesburg.
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• eThekwini Municipality fails to meet the deadline for clearing Malawian nationals from the Durban repatriation site.

Source: Briefly News