In the first speech he gave as Cape Town mayor in November 2021, Geordin Hill-Lewis made a handful of promises. We rate his progress one year on.
Promise date: 18 November 2021
Due date: 2 November 2026
Source: Acceptance speech
Promise outcome: Kept
In his first council address, Hill-Lewis promised the return of a bus service that had been absent for more than two years at the time.
The MyCiTi N2 Express service was suspended at the end of May 2019 when the city and shareholders in the N2 Express company could not reach an agreement. The city said this had a “devastating impact” on people travelling from Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain to the city centre.
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The N2 Express service was finally reinstated almost three years on – between February and March this year – and on Hill-Lewis’s watch.
It was such a great joy to be on the first MyCiti N2 Express trip today to Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain. The service is back up and running. Help us spread the word so more Capetonians know they can now make use of it. pic.twitter.com/d7VrbbWA38
— Geordin Hill-Lewis (@geordinhl) February 19, 2022
According to the city, more than 6 000 people used the N2 Express daily before it was suspended.
We asked the mayor’s spokesperson how many commuters used the service last month, but he failed to give an answer.
Verdict
We rate this promise as kept as the N2 Express route has been restored.
– Track My Mayor
Track My Mayor is a promise tracker aimed at increasing accountability at local government level. It was established with support from Code for Africa’s