Buffalo City and the Nelson Mandela Metro have been ranked the top municipalities in the province following an analysis by the national department of provincial and local government.

The analysis was part of Project Consolidate, a national initiative to revitalise local government and help increase the speed of service delivery.

A two-year pilot programme, Project Consolidate, was set up to enable the national government to help local governments deal with challenges in a hands-on way.

In the Eastern Cape, Buffalo City was chosen as one of 19 municipalities in the Project Consolidate programme.

Teams of service delivery facilitators were deployed by the department of provincial and local government to work with municipalities to assist with the practical issues of service delivery and local governance, including public participation, indigent policy, and free basic services and billing systems.

An analysis of the municipalities was conducted in order to collect data to help the department of provincial and local government and its partners, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the United Nations Development Programme, draw up appropriate plans.

A questionnaire was handed out to each of the local authorities, who had to respond to a range of issues from general information, human capital, and the work environment to policies, procedures and performance.

According to the report tabled by the department of provincial and local government, both Buffalo City and the Nelson Mandela Metro were in a healthy state, scoring a 69 percent aggregate.

In critical areas like service delivery, housing and finances, the City scored over 60 percent.

However, it was in human capital, and questions around the availability, quality and capacity of staff, that the City rated the highest in the province, with a score of 71 percent, followed by the Amathole District Municipality with 70 percent and the Nelson Mandela Metro with 69 percent.

Source: Buffalo City