{"id":854430,"date":"2026-03-29T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=854430"},"modified":"2026-03-27T15:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T13:38:10","slug":"the-best-run-municipality-in-south-africa-where-the-average-resident-makes-r345000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/854430\/the-best-run-municipality-in-south-africa-where-the-average-resident-makes-r345000\/","title":{"rendered":"The best-run municipality in South Africa where the average resident makes R345,000"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The average taxpayer in the best municipality in the Western Cape, Drakenstein Local Municipality, earns roughly R345,000 a year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is according to the latest tax statistics released by the South African Revenue Service (SARS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report showed that residents of the Drakenstein Local Municipality have one of the highest average taxable incomes in the Western Cape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located an hour from Cape Town, Drakenstein is the largest economy in the Cape Winelands and home to more than 311,000 residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its jurisdiction includes the historic towns of Paarl and Wellington, making it a key regional hub and an important contributor to the Western Cape\u2019s overall economic performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SARS data shows that the municipality has 55,618 registered taxpayers with an average taxable income of R345,282 a year, working out to roughly R28,774 per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The figures were published as part of SARS\u2019 2025 Tax Statistics, which are compiled using data from taxpayer registers and submitted tax returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statistics are designed to provide deeper insight into South Africa\u2019s tax base, the sources of government revenue, and broader economic trends across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SARS also uses this data to inform policymakers, including the National Treasury, when making decisions related to taxation and economic policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tax authority\u2019s latest figures once again highlight how concentrated South Africa\u2019s tax base is, with a relatively small group of taxpayers contributing a significant share of the country\u2019s personal and corporate income tax revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tax stats also provided a breakdown of average taxable income by province and municipality, giving a clearer picture of which areas have the highest-earning taxpayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provincially, Gauteng remained the wealthiest in terms of average taxable income, with taxpayers earning an average of about R414,000 a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is followed by the Western Cape, where the average taxable income is approximately R348,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 clean audits and counting <\/h2>\n\n\n
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Drakenstein Municipality<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Drakenstein Municipality has been recognised as the best municipality in the Western Cape after securing its 11th clean audit for the 2024\/2025 financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Auditor-General of South Africa once again affirmed that the municipality\u2019s financial management, governance, and service delivery processes are operating at the highest standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This latest audit marked Drakenstein\u2019s seventh consecutive clean audit and its 18th unqualified audit opinion since 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Western Cape province has remained the outlier in a country where municipal failure has become the norm, and Drakenstein has emerged as the standout performer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its latest clean audit contributed to the municipality being named the best in the province at the 2025 Western Cape Government\u2019s Service Excellence Awards, where it received the Gold Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swartland took Silver, and Mossel Bay received Bronze. Drakenstein was recognised as a leader in governance, innovation, and service delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drakenstein\u2019s Executive Mayor, Councillor Stephen Korabie, said the clean audit represents far more than compliance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAchieving our 11th clean audit is a powerful statement about Drakenstein Municipality\u2019s unwavering commitment to integrity, accountability and excellence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis milestone is not just a number. It reflects the hard work, resilience, and dedication of an exceptional team that kept its focus in the face of many challenges. I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The municipality noted that a major part of its success lies in its Internal Audit Division, which ensures that feedback from the Auditor-General is turned into tangible improvements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drakenstein is also the first municipality in South Africa to convert its Municipal Audit Action Plan into Departmental Audit Action Plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City Manager Dr Johan Leibbrandt said this has been crucial in driving accountability across the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese DAAPs provide clear, department-specific directives, creating a structured roadmap for continuous improvement and accountability across the Municipality,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leibbrandt stressed that the internal audit team also plays an essential role in maintaining high standards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur internal auditors, under the leadership of our Chief Audit Executive, Rozan Jaftha, are our first line of defence. We have a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluating and improving our business processes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is how much money taxpayers living in the best-run municipality in South Africa make. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":854431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[20963,24323,19922,25053],"class_list":["post-854430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-auditor-general-ag","tag-drakenstein-local-municipality","tag-south-african-revenue-service-sars","tag-the-2025-western-cape-governments-service-excellence-awards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854430"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":854453,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854430\/revisions\/854453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}