By Nangamso Mabindla

Buffalo City Municipality won R750 000 in prize money when it was named the best municipality in the province at the inaugural Vuna Municipal Awards held in East London last night.

Buffalo City beat runners-up Inkwanca Municipality (Molteno and Sterkstroom), which took the R500 000 prize, and Amatole District Municipality, which walked away with R250 000.

The Vuna Awards are an initiative of the Department of Local Government in partnership with the National Productivity Institute, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and SA Local Government Association. They aim to identify the best performing municipalities to encourage excellent service delivery. The awards also aim to assist underperforming municipalities and empower them to be better municipalities in the future.

An elated Buffalo City Executive Mayor, Sindisile Maclean, said he was surprised Buffalo City had won the Vuna award in the light of the "stiff competition from the likes of the Nelson Mandela Metro and the Amatole District Municipality, which were always going to give us a run for our money".

Councilor Maclean said he would like to thank his people for the commitment they had shown in the past year to achieve this feat.

"It's never easy when people work hard initially, but when we reap rewards and recognition like these it shows our efforts were not in vain."

The evening was not only about seeking to identify the best municipality in the province but also to educate people about the new Performance Management and Development System (PMDS).

Gauteng MEC for Local Government, Trevor Fowler, who was the key note speaker at the awards, said PMDS will be introduced to encourage efficiency in the working place.

"Municipalities are representing the public so it is imperative that we serve our people to the best of our abilities. PMDS is going to assist employees to deliver in their respective jobs."

PMDS will also empower people who are struggling to fulfill their responsibilities. This will be driven by a performance evaluation basis.

"This will not be done to retrench people, but to review the performance of the staff, ensuring excellence in delivery," Fowler said.

Councilor Maclean said winning in the Eastern Cape was just the beginning. The ultimate prize would be to win the National Awards, to be held in Johannesburg in December.