Cape Town - Drakenstein municipality has won this year’s competition for the greenest local municipality in the province for “consistently trailblazing smart sustainable practices”.
The winners of the 2019 competition were announced at an awards ceremony hosted by the Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell on Tuesday evening.
Swartland municipality came in as the runner up with Mossel Bay third in the annual competition.
Drakenstein municipality won R260000, Swartland won R140000 and Mossel Bay R100000.
Mayor of Drakenstein municipality Conrad Poole said: “We are overjoyed and incredibly honoured to receive the award. This highlights our quest to grow Drakenstein’s economy in a sustainable manner - through innovation - and to ensure that our social practices remain environmentally sound.”
“Because Drakenstein is so pristine and naturally beautiful, it is regarded the goose that lays the golden eggs, and should therefore be protected. This requires a fine balancing act between the drive to develop on the one hand, and the need to maintain and protect our natural heritage on the other,” he continues.
“What this means for the community of Drakenstein, is that they can have confidence that – through an independent evaluation and auditing process – their Municipality’s environmental practices have been scrutinised and have been found to be the best in the Western Cape,” Poole said.
Bredell said the competition was aimed at motivating and inspiring municipalities to address environmental issues. “Municipalities play a critical role in our country’s collective response to the challenges posed by climate change.
“If our towns aren’t more efficient and aren’t better prepared for the challenges, then the economic growth we need will just not be possible,” said Bredell.
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