Western Cape local government MEC Anton Bredell has stepped in to help yet another struggling municipality in the province. Following an investigation by a delegation from his office‚ he announced on Monday that his department will be supporting Beaufort West municipality.Two weeks ago‚ Bredell made public his office’s intervention in Kannaland after it found “numerous irregularities” at the municipality.Beaufort West was previously run by the African National Congress but the party was toppled last month by a coalition of the Democratic Alliance and the Karoo Democratic Force.An investigation found that the municipality had an overdraft of R5.1-million‚ “which is utilised to cover day-to-day expenditure”‚ and that it is owed R78-million by ratepayers.Bredell said: “The financial situation is under huge stress and we will need to turn that around if we want to make inroads in municipal service delivery.”He said his department would offer the municipality support for five years and organise the training of a new leadership.“First of all‚ we need to get the recovery rate better‚ that will be the short term goal‚” he said.In a statement‚ Bredell said the new municipal leadership will also be offered training.He said additional funding was urgently needed for maintenance and upgrading of assets of the municipality.Beaufort West mayor Koos Malooi welcomed the intervention and will meeting Bredell on Tuesday. – TMG Digital/The Times..