The Western Cape will be closely watched during the upcoming national and provincial elections with the province expected to be one of the most hotly contested.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has governed the province since the 2009 general election, holding dominance in a majority of municipalities.
Gayton Mackenzie’s and his Patriotic Alliance (PA), having made major inroads, especially the Central Karoo region, has his eyes on the position of Premier of the province.
The PA’s biggest support started in Beaufort West and has quickly spread, toppling former DA run municipalities. Being one of the poorest towns in the province with several service delivery issues.
SABC reporter, Sagree Chetty, visited the town to find out what residents expectations are for the upcoming election, and what changes they wish to see in their town.
There’s not much industry in Beaufort West, a town faced with service delivery issues, unemployment and poverty are rife. There were high hopes when Mackenzie took over as Mayor.
New businesses started opening, jobs were created, bucket toilets were eradicated and roads and swimming pools were fixed. But residents are now crying foul, saying things are now even worse. Our visit to the township was greeted with a raw sewage spill right next to a local creche and heaps of trash.
Residents like Shawn Brown, say they are helpless to the problems around them.
“Nobody executed nothing. Promises upon promises upon promises. When it comes to execution, zero. So, I give then 10 out of 10 for promises, zero for execution. They don’t have concern for the youth. All they concerned about is whether they still in power or have somebody still in power and what they can benefit from.”
With the municipality being the biggest employer, jobs are scarce. The youth in this town are helpless.
Khayalethu Mayekiso is just one of thousands, who are unemployed.
“The thing that is challenging here in SA is the unemployment. I will talk mainly about my place here in Beaufort West. We have many political parties and it moves from one to another. We have ANC, PA is also running here but there hasn’t been any change you understand. This party comes and they promise this but there’s no opportunities for the youth.”
However, the Beaufort West Municipality says their financial problems are a thing of the past.
And, claims to now have millions of rand to fix problems in the town. Derrick Welgemoed is the Municipal Manager.
“When I started there was no money. As we speak now, I think the bank balance is about R37 million and so in
11 months’ time we have made a huge difference in fixing infrastructure. So, at the moment we really making a huge difference. We busy preparing a tender for solar. We are going out on tender in the next 2 to 3 weeks for a 33-megawatt solar plant. We hope to be independent, not fully independent but away from Eskom within the next year.”
With all the problems in this town, the question remains, will residents be voting. For people like Landie Maloy, who makes minimum wage and supports four children, there’s no question about it.
“It’s the most important thing yet theres alot of differences and people are devastated about things they didn’t improve on especially in our town. But I think voting it’s gonna be there best thing because it’s about changes you gonna make for your children and for you as well.”
Some of the town’s people may not be optimistic about the town’s future but others are.
They continue to do what they can to live life as best they can and support their families.
