MPE'S POLOKWANE DOES IT AGAIN: CLEAN BOOKS, 80% ROADS DONE, TOP 3 IN SA - THIS IS WHAT DELIVERY LOOKS LIKE
By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief
The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.
AZANIAFROCOMEDIA – The Catalyst of Impact
POLOKWANE — While other metros are failing audits, returning grants and patching potholes with press statements, Polokwane is delivering. On the ground. In the books. On the national rankings.
Executive Mayor Cllr Makoro John Mpe has once again proven why The Azanian calls him the Commander in Chief of the masses — a leader who leads by example without trepidation.
This week, the City confirmed another major governance win: the timely submission of its Annual Financial Statements together with its entity, the Polokwane Housing Association. In South Africa today, submitting clean financials on time is not routine. It is excellence.
Mpe commended management for the milestone, saying it reflects discipline, compliance and a deep commitment to good governance. “Polokwane Municipality is strengthening its capacity to deliver by putting performance, professionalism and accountability at the centre of its work,” Mpe said.
He said the municipality and the Polokwane Housing Association are embracing the hard work of building a culture of work and performance, where professionals remain focused on the job at hand and performance is ultimately measured by results.
That culture is now visible everywhere in the city.
On 25 August 2026, the City announced that its massive Roads Rehabilitation Programme has reached 80% overall completion. Seventeen major streets are substantially complete — Dorp, Burger, Oost, Compensatie, Voortrekker, Jorissen, Mika, Pietersburg, Railway, Fosfaat, Emerald, Jasmyn Avenue, Knox, Wilge, McDonalds Avenue, Euphorbia Avenue and Katjepiering Lane. Motorists in the CBD are already driving on tar, not promises.
Two weeks before that, The Azanian revealed that Polokwane is now ranked Number 3 out of all major metros in South Africa in the independent South African Magazine 2024-2026 Metropolitan Performance Rankings, with a score of 8.3 out of 10. The city sits behind only Cape Town (9.6) and Tshwane (8.7), and ahead of eThekwini (7.9) and Johannesburg (7.2).
The ranking was not opinion — it was based on audited facts from the Auditor-General, National Treasury, IDPs and annual reports, across Financial Management, Infrastructure Delivery, Service Delivery, Economic Development and Governance.
Why is Polokwane in the Top 3? Because the foundation is clean.
Under Mpe’s administration, the City has achieved four consecutive unqualified audit opinions — a rare feat of stability in local government. It has collected five SALGA governance accolades. At the Polokwane Housing Association, the entity that builds homes for the people, the audit moved from Qualified to Unqualified. In municipal language, that is a turnaround that demands iron discipline and oversight.
And the money? It is spent where it matters. Polokwane recorded 100% spending of the Water Services Infrastructure Grant and 100% spending of the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant. Every rand for water and bulk infrastructure went to delivery, not back to Treasury like in failing municipalities.
This is not office leadership. It is ground leadership. Residents have seen Mpe inspecting roads in Ga-Setati Ward 15, handing over a new 22-wheeler, tractors and bakkies to power the Reaga Polokwane programme to restore and rebuild the city, shutting down bogus colleges in the CBD with Deputy Minister Mimmy Gondwe, SAPS and Home Affairs, and going to Seshego himself to brief communities during water contamination fears.
That is why Polokwane moved from Municipal Grade 5 to Grade 6, why the State of the City Address at Jack Botes Hall on 8 May read like a receipt of delivery, and why today’s AFS submission is not an isolated event — it is part of a pattern.
Clean audits. Fixed entities. Full grant spending. 80% roads done. Top 3 in South Africa.
As Mayor Mpe says: this is what a Naturally Progressive city looks like — and the work continues.
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