Geordin Hill-Lewis has been inaugurated as Cape Town Mayor. At 34-years-old he is also the youngest Mayor ever to be elected to the position.
At the inaugural city council meeting, Hill-Lewis was elected with a majority vote of 141 out of 224 votes.
A seasoned politician, Hill-Lewis joined the Democratic Alliance while he was in Grade 12 at Edgemead High School. He also helped establish the party’s UCT branch of the Democratic Alliance Students Organisation (DASO). The new Cape Town Mayor made tackling poverty one of his key priorities when he delivered his first speech in council chambers.
I am today proud to announce that the first major commitment of this administration is to increase our allocation to free basic services by over R600 million in the next financial year.
This constitutes a 20% increase in our city’s investment in the free basic services that vulnerable residents rely on the most. It will increase the total amount spent by the City every year on free basic services for the poorest residents from R3.1 billion to R3.7 billion.
Hill-Lewis added he wants to hit the ground running: “Tomorrow, on day one, I am going straight to Khayelitsha and Phoenix, where there are serious challenges with sewage infrastructure. We know that sewers will occasionally block and pump stations will sometimes break down. But when these problems are reported, they must be attended to with the same speed and service excellence no matter where you live in Cape Town.”
It is the single greatest honour of my life to be officially elected as the Mayor of the City of Cape Town. Thank you for placing your faith in me, I will make sure this faith has not been misplaced. Now, our work starts to make Cape Town a beacon of hope for SA. #MayorGHL pic.twitter.com/Xvkwh9TTZP
— Geordin Hill-Lewis (@geordinhl) November 18, 2021
Alderman Felicity Purchase was re-elected as the Speaker of Council and former Springbok rugby player turned politician Eddie Andrews was nominated and elected by councillors to the Deputy-Mayor post.
Hill-Lews is yet to announce the councillors he has selected to be a part of his Mayoral Committee.
