The DA’s mayoral candidate for Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis, 34, from Edgemead, has vowed to get more done, especially for residents living in poor areas.
After serving in Parliament as a voice for the DA on financial matters, Mr Hill-Lewis will replace mayor Dan Plato, if the party wins in the local government elections in coming weeks.
Mr Hill-Lewis said he welcomed the Constitutional Court’s decision that the elections would go ahead – any day from Wednesday October 27 to Monday November 1 – as he was ready.
In a statement, on Friday September 2, he announced the first of seven pledges, with the first being “to make Cape Town the easiest place to do business in South Africa”.
He said he would announce one pledge every week over the next seven weeks.
In an interview with Tabletalk, he said the first pledge was about creating jobs and lifting people out of poverty.
“If we can get the pledges right, we can protect families and our city from the consequences of the failing state at a national level, whether it be load shedding, public transport, and crime,” he said.
He hopes to put an end to load shedding so that every business has a reliable supply of electricity.
If he were elected mayor, he would be “unbelievably humbled” and would live up to the expectation of those who had placed their trust in him, he said. “I vow to work extremely hard, day and night, to create a better city for all.”
While Cape Town had been better run than other cities, some changes needed to be made, and the city needed fresh ideas with service delivery being top of his list, Mr Hill-Lewis said.
“Every Capetonian must see their potholes fixed, their refuse collected and street lights repaired.”
Mr Hill-Lewis has lived in Edgemead since he was 4. He attended Edgemead Primary School, and, at Edgemead High School, he got involved in political debates.That was how he knew he wanted to become a politician, he said.
He holds a BCom and a Honours degree in politics, philosophy and economics from UCT, and he has a Master’s degree in economic policy from a London university.
He joined the National Assembly in August 2011, where he articulated the DA’s position on public service from 2011 to 2012, and trade and industry from 2012 to 2017 before becoming its spokesman on finance.
Mr Hill-Lewis said he had a few doubts about “being a mayor,” as he was not always the very confident person he appeared to be, but he had no doubt that he could make positive changes in the city, and he wanted to involved the public in doing so.
When Tabletalk spoke with Mr Hill-Lewis, on Saturday September 4, he said it had been a “hectic and busy” week, after launching his first mayoral campaign on Sunday August 29, and he was looking forward to getting home to his wife, Carla, and 5-year-old daughter Ava.
Asked if he would be kicking off his shoes and relaxing, he said Ava would probably want to play with dolls before he could get some downtime to unwind.
