Cape Town Mayor Hill-Lewis Lays Out Plans to Grow City’s Economy, Says Ending Loadshedding Is Main Priority

• The Mayor of Cape Town Geordin Hill-Lewis laid out his plan to grow the city's economy faster in the coming year
• Hill-Lewis said one of the main plans is to eradicate poverty and ensure that majority of residents are working and also eradicate crime
• He also added that his government would ensure that ending loadshedding will be the biggest stimulus for the local economy

CAPE TOWN - The Mayor of Cape Town has stated that he aims to eradicate poverty and create employment for residents. Geordin Hill-Lewis made these sentiments during the annual “mayoral minute”.

The “mayoral minute” was a part of the Cape Town Mayors tradition for over a century but the tradition had been eradicated in the 1970s. Hill-Lewis said he was reviving the tradition.

According to TimesLIVE, the Mayor of Cape Town said he aims to create more employment in the coming year, despite the city's low unemployment rate. He noted that the city was being characterised by poverty and it was affecting everyone and is the main contributing factor to social ills such as family breakdowns, narcotics abuse and homelessness. He said:

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"The social, economic, and political context in which the city government operates is characterised by high levels of poverty, unemployment, economic sluggishness, the enduring legacy of apartheid social planning, and extensive national political uncertainty. I believe that if we want to build a better future for ourselves and our children, we have to address the high levels of poverty in our society."

Hill-Lewis also noted that the Cape Town municipality is also taking stringent measures to tackle crime and it was looking promising. The crime rates in some of the city's hotspots including Delft and Gugulethu have been decreasing.

"In collaboration with the Western Cape government, LEAP has seen law enforcement personnel deployed to the most crime-affected areas of the city, including Delft, Nyanga, Gugulethu, Philippi, and Hanover Park. Quarterly crime statistics released in November showed encouraging signs that LEAP is working. For example, Philippi East has fallen off the list of the top 30 crime zones in the country."

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The Mayor also said the Cape Town government is working towards eradicating loadshedding as it is costing the city billions of Rands. He added:

"Ending load-shedding will be the biggest stimulus for the local economy, and this has been a central feature of our governance programme this year."

Police kill four ‘Most Wanted’ criminals in Durban, SA applauds the officers: “Well done SAPS”

In more news, Briefly News previously reported that, on Thursday, four wanted men were killed in a police shootout at Mariannhill in Durban CBD.

The men were allegedly members of a gang and wanted for committing several murders in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).

A special task team unit in the police force tracked them down based on the information they gathered on the suspects, reported TimesLIVE.

Source: Briefly News