The Western Cape is being watched closely for upcoming national and provincial elections, and is expected to be one of the most contested provinces.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has ruled the state since the 2009 general election and holds a majority in local government.
Gayton McKenzie and his Patriotic Alliance (PA) have made significant inroads, particularly in the Central Karoo region, and are eyeing the state premiership.
Pennsylvania's largest aid began in Beaufort West and quickly spread, toppling a municipality previously run by the DA. It is one of the poorest towns in the state and faces several problems in service delivery.
SABC reporter Sagri Chetty visited the town to find out what residents have expectations for the next election and what changes they would like to see in the town.
Beaufort West doesn't have much industry, faces service delivery problems, and has widespread unemployment and poverty. When Mackenzie took over as mayor, there were high expectations.
New businesses began to open, jobs were created, bucket toilets were eradicated, and roads and pools were repaired. But residents now complain that the situation is getting worse. Our visit to this town was greeted by a raw sewage spill and piles of garbage right next to the local daycare center.
Residents like Sean Brown say they are powerless to deal with the problems around them.
“No one did anything. Promises and promises and promises. Zero for implementation. Therefore, I give 10 out of 10 for promises and 0 for implementation. They don't care. All they care about is whether they are still in power, who is still in power, and what they can get out of it.”
Jobs are scarce as municipalities are the largest employers. The young people in this town are helpless.
Kayaletu Maekiso is just one of thousands of unemployed people.
“The difficult thing here in SA is unemployment. I mainly talk about my place here in Beaufort West. We have many political parties and we move from one to the next. We have the ANC and we also have the PA. It's being implemented here, but there's no understandable change. This party comes and they promise this, but young people don't have a chance.”
But the City of Beaufort West insists its financial problems are a thing of the past.
And he claims he now has millions of rands to solve the town's problems. Derrick Welgemoed is the city manager.
“When I started, I didn’t have any money. As I speak now, I think I have about R37 million in the bank.
In an 11-month period, we made significant changes in infrastructure fixes. So at this point, we're really making a big difference. We are busy preparing solar power tenders. We will be bidding for a 33 megawatt solar power plant within the next two to three weeks. We are not completely independent, but we hope to leave Eskom and become independent within the next year. ”
There are many issues in this town, but the question remains: Will residents vote? For people like Randy Malloy, who makes minimum wage and supports four children, there's no question about it.
“That's the most important thing, but there are a lot of differences and especially in our town, people are devastated that it hasn't been improved. But I think the best thing to do is to vote, because It's about making a change for your children and for yourself.”
While some townspeople may not be optimistic about the town's future, others are.
They continue to do what they can to live the best life they can and support their families.