MEC orders probe into ‘dire situation’ at Beaufort West municipality

Western Cape local government MEC Anton Bredell has launched an investigation into the Beaufort West municipality after complaints about governance and service delivery failure.

On Friday Bredell said he had received “numerous complaints” since the local government elections led to a coalition between the Patriotic Alliance (PA), Karoo Democratic Force (KDF) and ANC.

The PA, which scored 21.79% of the vote, has provided the mayor, the deputy mayor is from the ANC (28.18%) and the speaker is from the KDF (5.48%).

Bredell, whose DA collected 27.25% of the votes, said complaints about a “dire situation” in the municipality had come from a wide range of stakeholders, including residents, municipal workers, non-government organisations, trade unions, civil society groups, businesses and farmers.

“The call from the complainants, in unison, is clear: They are asking the Western Cape government to intervene in the Beaufort West municipality as a matter of urgency,” he said.

Bredell has asked senior officials to investigate “to determine the extent and veracity of the service delivery, governance, administrative and financial crises in the municipality”.

He said: “Notwithstanding this assessment, I am aware of the serious financial problems experienced by the municipality and the profoundly negative impact this is having on service delivery.

“I note with great concern the inability of the municipality to pay its service providers and the instability within the administration.

“I must, however, point out that the province’s ability to intervene in any municipality is governed by strict constitutional and legislative prescripts.

“Accordingly, any decision by the provincial government to intervene in a municipality must be taken lawfully and must be appropriate under the circumstances.”

Bredell appealed to the municipality’s leaders to refocus their energy on stable governance.

“The sole focus of both the political and administrative leadership should be to arrest the serious crises, begin a path to recovery and achieve sustainable growth and service delivery for residents and businesses in the municipality.”

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