What are the best - and worst - provinces and towns in South Africa for ordinary citizens, based on the basic services delivered by local government? The 2009 Munidex service delivery index shows how local governments rate.

The Empowerdex Service Delivery Index (Munidex) measures the performance of municipalities, district
councils, metropolitan municipalities and provinces on actual delivery (status index) as well as
improvements in delivery over a period of time (the improvement index). The inclusion of an
improvement index allows for the recognition of previously disadvantaged municipalities that have
made improvements over the assessment period.

In a year when South Africa has been dogged by service delivery protests, it has become critical to assess
the current levels of delivery experienced by the population. An understanding of the weaknesses in
local and provincial structures comes with many benefits. It provides insight into whether these protests
reflect genuine community concerns or manipulation of information by community and political
leaders for any particular reason. It highlights actual shortcomings in delivery which can then be
addressed appropriately. It also provides a benchmark from which to assess the future performance of
a new administration that has placed an emphasis on the need to strengthen public institutions and
reinforce a culture of service delivery at all levels.

All 231 local municipalities, 46 district municipalities and six metropolitan municipalities have been
assessed for this report. In reaching the final score, the five basic services; housing, water, electricity,
waste removal and sanitation were included.

Municipalities fall within one of three categories: metropolitan, district and local. Both metropolitan and
district municipalities form the layer of government directly below the provinces.

• Metropolitan municipalities execute all the functions of local government for a city. This is by contrast to areas which are primarily rural, where the local government is divided into district and local municipalities.
• A district municipality executes some the functions of local government for a district. The district municipality will in turn comprise several local municipalities, with which it shares the functions of local government.
• Local municipalities represent a subdivision of the district municipalities, and form the third layer of government. It falls under the jurisdiction of the district municipality.

Provincial overview

Overall, the Western Cape and Gauteng offer the best service delivery. Both provinces scored low on the improvement index because they were measured off a high base.

Limpopo is the province with the worst service delivery, both in terms of the current status index and the weighted score.

When assessing the improvement index, there was no major difference in improvements made to service delivery across the provinces.

The overall final scores alongside are weighted for increase/decrease in households.

Metropolitan areas overview

The City of Cape Town is clearly the best city in the country for service delivery, followed by Johannesburg.

An interesting point is that Nelson Mandela, despite ranking 3rd on the status index and 1st on the improvement index is only ranked 5th on the overall final score. This is due to its increase in households which was significantly lower than the national average.

Tshwane was the lowest scorer in both the status and improvement indices but is ranked 3rd overall due to a 22% increase in households. This is particularly interesting in light of the financial crisis currently being experienced by the city.