Geordin Hill-Lewis has officially been elected as the youngest Cape Town Mayor during the City of Cape Town’s first council meeting on Thursday.
The municipality held its very first council meeting for the newly-elected councillors on Thursday, where proceedings were being steered by City of Cape Town municipal manager Lungelo Mbandazayo.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party has full confidence in Hill-Lewis to lead the City and to continue to implement the DA’s mandate of clean and efficient governance and service delivery.
“Under the leadership of the DA, the City of Cape Town has built a reputation of getting things done and getting the basics right,” said Steenhuisen.
“As Geordin has said many times in his campaign, now is the time to do more, and we have full confidence that he will continue to carry on the incredible work done by former Mayor Dan Plato in building local economic growth, bringing investment to the City and delivering services to all Cape Town communities.”
Hill-Lewis said: “Our residents are people of unlimited talent, and our future is brimming with unmatched potential. I am deeply humbled by the trust that you’ve placed in me to lead our great city into that future. I pledge to work every single day to deepen the trust that you placed in me and the government team that I now lead,” Hill-Lewis said, after taking to the podium as mayor.
“But all that we may achieve will only be possible because we build on the work of those who have gone before. I wish to sincerely honour, from the bottom of my heart, Mayor Dan Plato, who laid the foundation that we will build on over the coming five years.
He added: “I’m so grateful to have my wife Carla and my daughter in the gallery today. On this very first day of a new administration, I want every Capetonian to know what they should expect from us in the years ahead,” he said.
“The government that has been elected by the people of Cape Town, that is gathered here today, we publicly affirm that we will serve the city with a clear higher purpose.
The DA initially unveiled Hill-Lewis as the party’s mayoral candidate for the City of Cape Town back in August, when DA leader John Steenhuisen made the announcement of the party’s candidates contesting in the major cities.
At 34 years old, Hill-Lewis is Cape Town’s youngest mayor since 1994. Up until now, he has been serving as the DA’s finance spokesperson, a post he held since June 2019, after current provincial Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC David Maynier moved to the provincial legislature.
First appointed to the National Assembly in August 2011, Hill-Lewis attended Edgemead High School and holds a BCom and an honours degree in politics, philosophy and economics, from the University of Cape Town.
He obtained a Master’s degree in economic policy at the University of London.
