--- title: "Metro dynamo – Geordin Hill-Lewis, one of the most hard-working and visible mayors Cape Town has had" description: "In terms of reader votes, Geordin Hill-Lewis won the person of the year by far, which is an indication of how much Cape Town DM168 readers appreciate the early efforts of their young mayor." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "DM PERSON OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP 2022" author: "Marianne Thamm" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/mariannethamm/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-27-geordin-hill-lewis-hard-working-and-visible-cape-town-mayor/" published: "2022-12-27T16:09:21" updated: "2022-12-27T17:30:17" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 570 --- # Metro dynamo – Geordin Hill-Lewis, one of the most hard-working and visible mayors Cape Town has had > In terms of reader votes, Geordin Hill-Lewis won the person of the year by far, which is an indication of how much Cape Town DM168 readers appreciate the early efforts of their young mayor. By Marianne Thamm · Published 27 December 2022, 18:09 SAST · Updated 27 December 2022, 19:30 SAST ## Key points - Geordin Hill-Lewis, the mayor of Cape Town, was chosen as the runner-up for Daily Maverick’s Person of the Year - Hill-Lewis was praised by veteran activist Zackie Achmat for his efforts to work with working class communities - The Western Cape Metro leads the pack on clean audits due to its “firm leadership tone and strong control environment” - Despite being voted No.1 by readers, Hill-Lewis was ultimately not chosen as Person of the Year due to Andrea Johnson's national reach - Katlego Maphai (co-founder and CEO of Yoco Technologies) and Busisiwe Mjwara (police officer who sacrificed her life saving KwaZulu-Natal flood victims) were chosen as Businessperson and Community Champion of the Year respectively ## Content It was a tough call, but Hill-Lewis is a regional politician who clearly enjoys wide support among readers, whereas advocate Andrea Johnson, the head of the Investigating Directorate - who pipped the dynamic mayor in the person of the year category - is a national figure. DM person of the year runner-up Hill-Lewis had barely moved into his new fifth-floor office in the Civic Centre after being inaugurated in November 2021 when a massive blaze incinerated Parliament on 2 January. The mayor and DA Western Cape Premier Alan Winde made the newly renovated City Hall available to serve as Parliament after the fire. Although it is still the early days of wearing the mayoral chain, Hill-Lewis has been one of the most hard-working and visible mayors the city has seen. So much so that veteran activist Zackie Achmat praised Hill-Lewis, saying his style “signalled a change in the approach of his administration to working-class communities”. The City, under Hill-Lewis’s leadership, has focused on sewerage repairs and upgrades, and he has driven a bid that secured $4.5-million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation towards a pilot project. --- **Visit [*Daily Maverick's* home page](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=in_article_link&utm_campaign=homepage) for more news, analysis and investigations** --- Key focus areas have been [homelessness](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-07-10-cape-town-mayor-hill-lewis-wants-to-shift-approach-on-homelessness-from-law-enforcement-to-care-intervention/), finding ways to mitigate rolling blackoutsfor residents and opening paths to renewables. A solar plant has been promised by 2023. In the latest [2020-21 Municipal Finance Management Act report, t](https://mfma-2021.agsareports.co.za/downloads/agsa-mfma-general-report-2021)he Western Cape Metro was commended for the "quality of its financial statements and performance report that were free from material misstatements". However, this financially unqualified opinion was a "regression" from the previous year's clean audit. Cape Town has seen growth and investment, and the province has seen major investments pouring in from Europe in particular. The City has opened up paths to renewables and announced that it will build a solar plant by 2023. Also, it is due to pay independent energy producers to feed power into the grid. **DM168** #### How we chose the People of the Year winners How did the 35-year-old Geordin Hill-Lewis end up as No 2 and not No 1 in the Person of the Year category? The editors explain. In the past, *Daily Maverick* journalists decided who they thought warranted the title of Person of the Year, but recently we [have asked readers to vote for their preferred choice,](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-01-vote-for-daily-mavericks-people-of-the-year-2022/) with the proviso that we still have the final say. Choosing the annual winners is a labour of love because that’s what it takes to get a bunch of *DM* editors to decide whether they agree or disagree with the choices of 13,000 readers. The *DM* team ultimately chose Andrea Johnson, the head of the NPA’s Investigating Directorate, as the South African Person of the Year. The person for whom the readers voted as Person of the Year, Hill-Lewis, definitely made a local impact, but we were looking for a national figure. The *DM* editors also chose Katlego Maphai, co-founder and CEO of Yoco Technologies, as Businessperson of the Year, while readers voted for FlySafair’s Elmar Conradie. We decided on three very deserving candidates for Community Champion of the Year: Dr Tim De Maayer (the readers’ choice), police officer Busisiwe Mjwara, who sacrificed her life saving KwaZulu-Natal flood victims, and Corene Conradie from Gift of the Givers. – *Heather Robertson,*DM168*editor* *This story first appeared in our weekly*Daily Maverick 168*newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.* ![Image](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DM-24122022001.jpg)