Midvaal’s mayor, Peter Texeira. Picture: Midvaal Municipality
Peter Teixeira is our kind of guy.
As the mayor of Midvaal – declared the best-run town in South Africa by Ratings Afrika – the DA politician has things to say which are obvious if good governance is your goal – things which are conspicuous by their absence in most of our towns and municipalities.
In a direct counter to the ANC’s policy of cadre deployment which has wrecked countless municipalities, state-owned enterprises and government departments, Teixeira says simply: “There is no system of patronage here at Midvaal. Merit is the only way to get ahead.”
The down side of that, it turns out, is that people who have worked in his municipality often get poached by other cities, because they are known to be good at what they do.
What has been done in Midvaal should be a blueprint for the rest of local government.
About 90% of the debts owed to the municipality each month are collected – one of the highest rates in the country.
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Residents who get a free allocation of 6 000 litres of water monthly are actively reporting leaks and conserving water because they know they will be charged for consumption in excess of that figure.
Midvaal’s streets are clean and repaired when needed and it doesn’t owe Eskom any money.
It’s the only town in Gauteng which was given a full clean bill of health recently by the auditor-general.
Not far away, though, is Emfuleni, an ANC-run basket case of a town, which owes Eskom R6 billion, is filthy and litter-swamped and where residents regularly protest lack of service delivery.
One could rightly praise the DA for Midvaal’s success but clean governance and efficiency should never be the preserve of one party.
Running a city or town properly is not rocket science – it just requires honesty and energy.
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