Checked 16 October 2026
Where the facts about the City of Cape Town come from
Every fact on the City of Cape Town page, with the sources we used. We save a copy of each source on the day we read it.
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Who is the mayor, and which parties run the council?
Geordin Hill-Lewis (DA)
Mayor from 18 Nov 2021 to now. Parties running the council: DA.
SABC News. Published 18 November 2021.
Where to look: Paragraph 1 (the City elected Hill-Lewis as mayor); paragraph 4 (141 votes out of 224 councillors present in the 231-seat council); paragraph 5 (embedded City post: 'today, 18 November 2021, during a full Inaugural Meeting of the Council')
Daily Maverick. Published 19 November 2021.
Where to look: Paragraph 1: Hill-Lewis 'was on Thursday elected Cape Town's executive mayor by 141 votes out of 224 ballots returned'
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 23 May 2022.
Where to look: Page 4 of 6, 'Total Party Seats' table: DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE 135 (83 ward, 52 PR); page 6 of 6: total 231 seats (no printed date; date is the PDF creation date, 23 May 2022)
Auditor-General of South Africa. Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: PDF page 182 (printed page 178), table 'Instability in key leadership positions': City of Cape Town, mayor incumbents over the past four years: 1
EWN. Published 20 August 2026.
Where to look: Headline ('... in final council address') and paragraph 3 ('In his final address to council for the term on Thursday, Hill-Lewis ...')
Dated reports
As of 19 Sep 2026: The DA has controlled the Cape Town metro for twenty years. Geordin Hill-Lewis is the incumbent mayor. The ANC's Ndithini Tyhido is the opposition leader in council.
EWN. Published 19 September 2026.
Where to look: paragraphs 1-3 ('Twenty years since taking control of the Cape Town metro...'; 'incumbent mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis'; 'the current opposition leader in council, Ndithini Tyhido')
As of 30 Jun 2026: The DA controls the Cape Town council. Geordin Hill-Lewis is mayor and leader of the DA.
EWN. Published 30 June 2026.
Where to look: standfirst ('Mayor and Democratic Alliance leader Geordin Hill-Lewis') and paragraph 1 ('the Democratic Alliance (DA)-controlled council')
As of 21 Apr 2026: Current mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis is expected to run for re-election.
Cape Argus. Published 21 April 2026.
Where to look: paragraph 20
As of 5 Feb 2026: Geordin Hill-Lewis is the current mayor of Cape Town and said he would stand for a second term. He called the city 'the DA's biggest government'.
IOL. Published 5 February 2026.
Where to look: paragraphs 4-5
How were the seats split?
The 2021 result
Who won the 231 seats in 2021.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Page is undated.
Where to look: pp. 4-6 of 6, seat table, Total Party Seats column
Every party
The seats now, by party (ward seats and party seats). Democratic Alliance: 134 (82 ward, 52 party). African National Congress: 43 (33 ward, 10 party). Economic Freedom Fighters: 10 (0 ward, 10 party). GOOD: 9 (0 ward, 9 party). National Coloured Congress: 7 (0 ward, 7 party). African Christian Democratic Party: 6 (0 ward, 6 party). Patriotic Alliance: 5 (1 ward, 4 party). Freedom Front Plus: 4 (0 ward, 4 party). Al Jama-ah: 3 (0 ward, 3 party). Africa Restoration Alliance: 2 (0 ward, 2 party). Cape Independence Party / Kaapse Onafhanklikheids Party: 2 (0 ward, 2 party). African Independent Congress: 1 (0 ward, 1 party). Cape Muslim Congress: 1 (0 ward, 1 party). Democratic Independent Party: 1 (0 ward, 1 party). Pan Africanist Congress of Azania: 1 (0 ward, 1 party). United Democratic Movement: 1 (0 ward, 1 party). United Independent Movement: 1 (0 ward, 1 party).
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: winning party per ward for every by-election since 2021 (dashboard data files: MapsJason/2021/ByElections.js and LoadCouncillorsService); read 2026-10-18
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 9 November 2021.
Where to look: ward councillor rows for this council (party per ward elected in 2021)
The seats now
Who holds the 231 seats now, counted up to 24 Jun 2026. How we count: This is our own count, not an official IEC table. We start with the 2021 party seats from the IEC. Then we add the party that last won each ward, in 2021 or in a by-election. Party seats stay with their party, and councillors can't switch parties. So only ward by-elections change these totals. An empty seat is counted with the party that last held it. The IEC lists by-elections on 5 Oct 2022, but it does not show who won them. So any ward that changed hands that day is not counted.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: winning party per ward for every by-election since 2021 (dashboard data files: MapsJason/2021/ByElections.js and LoadCouncillorsService); read 2026-10-18
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 9 November 2021.
Where to look: ward councillor rows for this council (party per ward elected in 2021)
What the official records say
Audit result
The Auditor-General gave the City of Cape Town an unqualified audit opinion with findings for 2024-25. That is worse than in 2023-24, when it got a clean audit.
Auditor-General of South Africa. Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: 'Audit outcome for 2024-25' box and the change from 2023-24 under it (audit of separate financial statements, finalised by 30 April 2026)
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