Property

The best place to live in South Africa

Daily Investor • 7 August 2026

The Swartland Local Municipality, with Malmesbury as its administrative centre, is the best-run municipality in South Africa.

This was revealed in the FW de Klerk Foundation’s Local Government Report Card 2026, which was released this week.

This report card is an independent, non-partisan assessment of municipal performance and constitutional accountability across South Africa.

It applies 100 published tests across five weighted pillars, including services and infrastructure, financial management, and governance.

It also considers leadership and administrative coherence, integrity, accountability and transparency, and constitutional advancement and inclusion.

Each municipality receives a score out of 100, an automatic grade, and a separate trajectory finding indicating whether it is improving, stable, or deteriorating.

Swartland Local Municipality ranked first with 90.0, followed by the George Local Municipality with 87.5 and the Stellenbosch Local Municipality with 86.0.

“A thirteenth clean audit, exceptional liquidity and stable administration place Swartland firmly in the A band,” the report said.

It added that Swartland is an excellent, improving municipality which stands out for its permanent management, reliable reporting and functioning oversight.

It performed well financially, with a clean audit, a current ratio of 6.83, 11 months’ cost coverage, and a collection rate of 96.71%.

Swartland demonstrated strong operational capacity by repairing 2,135 potholes, achieving a 94% Blue Drop assessment, and reducing electricity losses to a low 3.20%.

It achieved 21 of 21 strategic goals as recorded by the Provincial Treasury and provided a funded indigent package reaching 8,613 households.

The Swartland Local Municipality was only one of three municipalities, along with George and Stellenbosch, which received an A rating.

The report highlighted that it was moving toward an A+ if it could resolve infrastructure and inclusion challenges.

The Swartland Local Municipality

The Swartland Municipality is located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, with Malmesbury as its administrative centre.

It has 148,000 residents and serves Moorreesburg, Abbotsdale, Riebeek West, Riebeek Kasteel, Darling, Yzerfontein, Koringberg, Chatsworth, Kalbaskraal, and Riverlands.

Many of these towns are popular holiday and tourist destinations and have become popular with people who leave Gauteng for a calmer, safer life.

Yzerfontein, a coastal town on the West Coast, is a good example. Its economy has grown significantly due to holiday tourism and residential property.

It is famous for hosting Sixteen Mile Beach, considered the longest uninterrupted sandy beach on the South African coastline.

Darling, situated about 15 kilometres inland from Yzerfontein, is a farming and tourist town on the West Coast.

The town is widely known as the home of South African satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys and his famous alter ego, Evita Bezuidenhout.

Darling has hosted major outdoor cultural gatherings, notably the annual Rocking the Daisies music and lifestyle festival at Cloof Wine Estate.

The municipality said it is focused on economic and social growth, prioritising community safety and economic transformation.

“Whether you’re here to invest, settle, or explore, the Swartland offers a blend of opportunity, innovation, and community spirit,” it said.

The municipality’s closeness to Cape Town and accessibility along the N7 road and rail corridor mean it has high development potential.

It also has a diversified economic base, which includes agriculture and well-developed industrial and commercial sectors, with a supportive infrastructure.

Malmesbury is home to many large companies and regional offices of provincial and national government departments.

The main contributors to the regional economy are manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, catering and accommodation, agriculture, forestry and fishing.