How much it costs to live in the best-run municipality outside the Western Cape

·28 Jun 2025

Based on average house prices, one would need to earn between R32,000 and R102,000 per month to buy a home in Midvaal—South Africa’s best-run municipality outside of the Western Cape.

Midvaal Municipality is a local municipality within the Sedibeng District Municipality in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Its population is around 111,612.

The municipality’s name references its geographical location between the Johannesburg and East Rand areas and the Vaal and Vereeniging areas.

Midvaal was highlighted as an exception in the Auditor General of South Africa’s (AGSA) annual review of local municipalities, which covered audit results for the 2023/24 financial year.

In Gauteng, the AG Tsakani Maluleke said that her office implored leadership to act urgently to improve audit outcomes, but not enough progress has been made.

“Municipalities and municipal entities continue to experience challenges with financial viability, compliance with legislation, and service delivery,” the report said.

It added that two municipalities and three municipal entities (21% of the auditees) received clean audits in 2023-24, compared to two municipalities and one municipal entity (13%) in 2020-21.

However, six municipalities and 10 municipal entities (67%) received unqualified audit opinions with findings. Midvaal Local Municipality and Johannesburg Market maintained their clean audits from last year.

At the same time, West Rand District Municipality, Ekurhuleni Water Care Company, and Ekurhuleni Housing Company improved to clean audit status in 2023-24.

Midvaal has maintained its clan audit status for 11 consecutive years, making it one of the best-run municipalities outside the Western Cape and in South Africa.

Midvaal’s achievement is particularly noteworthy as only seven municipalities nationwide earned clean audits consecutively for over a decade.

A clean audit requires municipalities to provide financial statements that are free from material misstatements (in other words, a financially unqualified audit opinion), and there are no material findings on reporting on performance objectives or non-compliance with legislation.

According to AGSA, municipalities that consistently achieve clean audits over the years tend to exhibit strong financial and performance management practices.

However, Maluleke cautioned that a clean audit, while critical, does not automatically mean excellent service delivery. “It does not always reflect the lived experience of all communities in a municipal area,” she said.

Despite this, she added that it does create the necessary foundation for effective and transparent governance.

An assessment by Ratings Afrika in 2024 also highlighted Midvaal as one of South Africa’s top-performing municipalities.

They used a scoring system that evaluates six critical factors: operating performance, liquidity management, debt governance, budget positioning, affordability, and infrastructure development.

The municipality scored impressively, achieving 74 out of 100 regarding financial sustainability.

“Midvaal prides itself on a well-governed, effectively managed, financially viable and sustainable local government,” the municipality said.

“We are a municipality committed and dedicated to creating an environment conducive to social and economic development.”

How much you need to earn

According to data from Property24, Midvaal remains considerably more affordable than other well-run municipalities in the country, especially the Western Cape.

So far in 2025, there have been 357 property sales, with an average price of just under R1 million.

Prices in Midvaal range from R900,000 for smaller one-bedroom apartments to about R3 million for more spacious full-title homes with five or more bedrooms.

When evaluating how much one would need to earn to buy property in these areas, financial experts recommend a rule of thumb that mortgage payments should not exceed 30% of the borrower’s gross monthly income.

Richard Gray, CEO of Harcourts South Africa, explains that banks typically prefer lending to buyers within this income threshold, ensuring that home loan payments do not overextend borrowers’ finances.

Many financial institutions uphold this 30% standard, including SA Homeloans, which generally will not approve a loan if repayments exceed this percentage of a borrower’s income.

Gray emphasised the importance of this threshold for maintaining financial balance, allowing homeowners to manage other expenses and build savings while repaying their loans.

Adhering to this guideline allows borrowers to make additional payments on their home loan when possible, significantly reducing the loan’s overall cost and shortening the repayment term.

Using this 30% income threshold, BusinessTech estimated the income needed to afford homes in Midvaal.

For the average home in Midvaal, with a cost of R920,000, an income of approximately R32,000 per month or R384,000 per year would be needed to comfortably manage the monthly bond repayments.

On the top end of around R3 million, one would need to earn roughly R101,500 per month or R1.22 million per year.

According to the Leapfrog Property Group, popular neighborhoods include Meyerton, Eye of Africa, Vaal Marina, Glen Donald, Risiville, and Blue Saddle Ranches.