The City of Johannesburg has been voted the best Metropolitan Municipality of 2008 at the Vuna Awards, organised by the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG), for the second year in a row.

The runners up were the Nelson Mandela Metro of the Eastern Cape Province in second place, and the Ekurhuleni Metro of the Gauteng Province in third place.

The awards, a collaboration between the DPLG, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and Productivity SA, were held at the Emperor's Palace on 10 December 2008

The purpose of the Vuna Awards is to encourage municipalities to improve their performance, thereby contributing to the objective of creating a better life for all South Africans.

Vuna recognises the hard work of provincial and local municipalities in critical areas such as the provision of water, electricity, and financial management, and consider five main factors including service delivery, local economic development, financial viability, institutional transformation and good governance.

The competition is contested according to different municipal categories and takes place at both the provincial and national levels, with the overall provincial winners proceeding to compete at a national level.

The best District Municipality was awarded to the Nkangala District Municipality of the Mpumalanga Province, with Kwa-Zulu Natal’s uThungulu District Municipality and Gauteng’s West Rand District Municipality coming second and third respectively.

The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry won the award for the National Sector department, for providing exemplary support to Local Government; while the Eastern Cape Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs won the award for best Provincial Government providing exemplary support to Local Government.

Councillor Lassy Chiwayo, Mayor of the Mbombela Municipality of the Mpumalanaga Province, also won a Special Ministerial Award.

For more information about the Vuna Awards or the DPLG visit the website at: www.dplg.gov.za