MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay welcomed the mayor of Cape Town and federal leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), Geordin Hill-Lewis (39), as the keynote speaker at a mayoral breakfast this morning, 10 September.
Several local business owners and other notable figures attended the fundraising event at the Diaz Hotel, including members of the Mossel Bay Municipality and Mossel Bay’s own mayor, Dirk Kotzé.
Guests heard how Hill-Lewis began his political career while a student at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
He was elected to Parliament at just 24 years old, making him the youngest MP elected at the time, before eventually becoming Cape Town’s mayor in 2021 and federal leader of the DA in April this year.
As this morning’s keynote speaker, Hill-Lewis shared his party’s vision for the Western Cape and South Africa as a whole, most notably with what he calls ‘Cities and Towns For Hope’.
The concept is to improve communities in towns and cities in South Africa and create sustainable and functioning municipalities by collaborating with willing community members and groups to bring about transformation that will eventually improve the country as a whole.
“It is to show South Africans that our country can be successful and that the dream we have for South Africa is not far out of reach,” says Hill-Lewis. “There’s a long road ahead, but it’s not impossible.”
He emphasised that partnerships between communities and municipalities are vital to maintaining the transformed towns and cities for the future.
Inspiring ideas
He commended the Mossel Bay Municipality for creating what he called a thriving municipality, crediting a past visit to Mossel Bay for the idea behind waste management and illegal dumping pilot projects in informal settlements such as Dunoon in Cape Town.
Hill-Lewis said that while on holiday in Mossel Bay with his family some time ago, he visited KwaNonqaba and was “blown away by how neat, tidy and well-managed this informal settlement was”.
The Cape Town Municipality’s idea to improve waste management solutions in partnership with informal settlement residents to reduce illegal dumping and achieve cleaner, healthier communities won $1m from the Bloomberg Mayor’s Challenge in February to fund and launch its projects.
Questions and answers
A question-and-answer session between Hill-Lewis and some of the guests revealed his plans for a hypothetical future as South Africa’s next president. One guest asked what Hill-Lewis would focus on during the first 100 days in office, if he were to fill that position in the future.
He responded that his approach would “hit hard and very quickly” to tackle two important issues, namely crime and the economy.
He told guests he would restructure policing and revive some of South Africa’s state-owned entities, such as the South African Post Office, Transnet and railways, out of failing conditions by allowing private businesses to take ownership.
Mayoral Fund
The mayoral breakfasts are held as fundraisers for the Mayoral Fund, a charity of the Mossel Bay Municipality aimed at supporting various causes in Mossel Bay. Some of these include providing emergency funds, financially assisting vulnerable members of the community, or supporting NGOs.
The next fundraiser is a Mayoral Golf Day tomorrow, 11 September, while the next mayoral breakfast is scheduled for October.
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