Geordin Hill-Lewis roads

City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill Lewis inspecting a road in the metro. Photo: Twitter / @GeordinHillLewis

Hill-Lewis vows to fix ‘almost unusable’ roads in Cape Town townships

City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has made some BIG admissions about the state of roads in CPT townships.

Geordin Hill-Lewis roads

City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill Lewis inspecting a road in the metro. Photo: Twitter / @GeordinHillLewis

The DA and its governments in the Western Cape have long been criticised for “not doing enough” to ensure basic services are delivered to residents in townships. While the party and even the City of Cape Town have been criticised for not focussing their efforts in the right place, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has come in for some big praise this week. From a budget adjustment, to now making some frank admissions, Hill-Lewis is pushing hard to change those criticisms.

Geordin Hill-Lewis makes big promises over the horrible state of roads

Hill-Lewis only took hold of the mayoral chain in Cape Town shortly after last year’s November local government elections. He started off by closing roads in and around the CBD to help local businesses deliver safe outdoor dining. Now, he’s turned his attention to building roads back up for people who need it most.

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On Friday, Hill-Lewis visited Gugulethu, Mfuleni and Eerste River in Cape Town, to assess the state of roads in the areas. Residents in those areas have complained for years about their roadways, while big bicycle lanes are built and freshly tarred closer towards the CBD.

During that visit to those three areas, Hill-Lewis openly admitted that many of the roads are “completely unusable”

“We want nice road conditions across the city that people can be proud of. In Mfuleni, we saw how water and blocked sewers are affecting the road conditions. In Gugs, we saw how a contract that has gone bad has left the roads almost unusable.”

City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis

Will the roads be fixed?

Hill-Lewis says he has asked for “clear timeframes” from his team on when the issues will be affected. In fact, he’s promised to come back to the areas in a few months time “as often as it takes” to see the roads in a much better state.

The mayor is promising to get the roads fixed. But time will tell if Hill-Lewis can walk the walk too.

In the meantime, however, Geordin Hill-Lewis is even receiving some praise from ANC national ministers. Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula took to Twitter to praise (we think) the mayor for being so full of energy.