Picture: The DA leader, Geordin Hill-Lewis
By STAFF REPORTER
14 June 2026 – The Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, Geordin Hill-Lewis, who is also Cape Town mayoral candidate thanked the people of Cape Town for placing their trust in him and in the DA. Hill-Lewis thanked every resident who has worked with them, challenged them, held them accountable, reported faults, joined neighbourhood watches, picked up litter, started businesses, volunteered in communities and kept believing that Cape Town can become even better.
He further said a city is not built by concrete and steel, but by its people. Hill-Lewis added that Cape Town is a city full of wonderful people.
“The best part of my day is meeting and chatting with the residents of this city. As soon as I get out of my office and into the streets, I feel the warm hearts of Capetonians. I love listening to their stories, sharing a meal together, hearing what is working and what isn’t working, and laughing together.
“I am standing here today with deep humility and a full heart. Four and a half years ago, we set out with a simple mission. To be the City of Hope for all. To show every person that they do not have to give up on the dream that South Africa can work,” he said.
Hill-Lewis said to demonstrate that no one needs to accept that the only direction their country can go, is backwards. He said they can go forwards.
“No matter how tough our problems are, we can solve them, step by step in the right direction. Our love for Cape Town and her people, our love for this country, made us determined to prove that we could be hopeful again.
“Nearly five years later, we can feel a deep sense of pride in the city we are building. Cape Town is by no means perfect and there is still so much to do. But we are showing the whole country what a working city looks like – for everyone. The candle of hope we have lit in Cape Town has become a torch lighting the way across South Africa – from Joburg to Emfuleni, to Ekurhuleni, to Tshwane, Umngeni and every corner of our country,” said Hill-Lewis.
He said everywhere people are saying, if that can happen in Cape Town, it can happen here too. Hill-Lewis said when he sees thousands of children playing happily in all the swimming pools, they have fixed in places like Mitchells Plain, or Langa, or Gugs, or Bellville. My heart is full of joy.
“When I see teenagers in Manenberg and Mandela Park and Atlantis and Bishop Lavis playing on newly rebuilt sports fields of the highest and best quality, I know we have taken Cape Town forward for all. When a young lady named Deidre called in on the radio with emotion in her voice to say she had just got her first job, I know that we are bringing hope to people who had once lost faith in the system.
“When I meet an Auntie right here in Hanover Park and she tells me that whenever something happens, it is always Cape Town Law Enforcement officers that arrive first – always professional and always helpful – then I know we are helping make Cape Town safer,” he said.
The Guardian 