Municipalities Invited to Apply for the 2025 Municipal Innovation Recognition Awards (MIRA) - Celebrating Trailblazing Innovation in Local Government

Posted: 13 May 2025

Municipalities across South Africa are invited to submit applications for the 2025 Municipal Innovation Recognition Awards (MIRA), a flagship initiative of the Viability and Validation of Innovations for Service Delivery Programme (VVISDP). The Awards will culminate in a ceremony on 30 June 2025.

The MIRA initiative, led by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) in partnership with SALGA and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), aims to spotlight and celebrate innovative municipal projects that demonstrate creativity, responsiveness, and transformative approaches to service delivery.
This year's call encourages municipalities to submit projects that:

• Offer fresh, unconventional solutions to persistent service delivery challenges.
• Demonstrate scalable models or systems-thinking approaches.
• Promote inclusivity, sustainability, and citizen engagement.

Applications submission closes on 30 May 2025. Click here to view Criteria and Apply.

The 2025 MIRA Awards build on the success of the inaugural 2023 edition, which showcased a range of impactful innovations from municipalities across the country. For inspiration and to explore the calibre of winning entries, you can view the 2023 Awards highlights here.
Municipal Managers, innovation leads, technical directors, and LED officials are especially encouraged to apply and to share this opportunity widely within their institutions and entities.

For Enquiries, please contact:
Ms Sinethemba Zungu – Zungus8@ukzn.ac.za | 031 260 1311
Ms Yanga Mapisa – ymapisa@salga.org.za | 012 369 8000