Anton Bredell, Western Cape MEC of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning today said: “Over the course of the last 3 months, I have received numerous complaints from a wide range of stakeholders in the Beaufort West Municipality about the dire situation in the Municipality. I have heard these residents, municipal employees, non-governmental organisations, trade unions, civil society groups, the business sector, and farmers.
The call from these complainants, in unison, is clear: they are asking the Western Cape Provincial Government to intervene in the Beaufort West Municipality as a matter of urgency to address the service delivery -, governance -, administrative challenges and financial crises that the Municipality presently faces and is unable to effectively resolve.
In my capacity as the MEC for Local Government I have therefor tasked senior officials in my Department to assess and investigate these complaints in order to determine the extent and veracity of the various service delivery, governance, administrative and financial crises in the Municipality. 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. I wish, however, to assure the residents of Beaufort West Municipality that their complaints and concerns are being heard and are being earnestly considered and engaged with by the Province.
In the interim, while the Provincial Government remains committed to providing support to the Municipality through a range of existing mechanisms and while we are assessing and monitoring developments in the Municipality, I urge the incumbent political and administrative leadership in the Municipality to re-focus its energy on providing stable governance. The sole focus of both the political and administrative leadership should be to arrest the host of 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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