The announcement was made by the National Department of Environmental Affairs during the Fifth Greenest Municipality Competition, held at the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality in Mpumalanga recently.
The City of Ekurhuleni took second position, walking away with R3-million and a certificate of recognition.
The prize money will be used to promote environmental projects and green economy initiatives.
The metro is known to be among the leaders advocating for clean and green programmes, such as the Mayoral Clean City programme and the night shift Central Business District (CBD) cleaning programmes.
“Taking position two in the competition simply means we have set the tone during the first round and many have learnt from us,” said Ekurhuleni’s Member of the Mayoral committee (MMC) for Environmental Development, Clr Ndosi Shongwe.
“We will accelerate our efforts to claim our number one spot in the competition.”
Ndosi attributed the accolade to the dedicated efforts of various departments including Waste Management Services, Health and Social Services, Environmental Resource Management and the Water and Energy departments.
The Environmental Affairs criteria for assessment included the following:
• Good waste management, energy efficiency and conservation.
• Water management, landscaping, tree planting and beautification, public participation, community empowerment and schools.
• Leadership and institutional arrangements and presentation.
Over 100 metropolitan and local municipalities competed and first place was awarded to the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality (Durban).
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