The man who went from a petrol attendant to running South Africa’s best city
Lungelo Mbandazayo started his career as a petrol attendant and now runs the City of Cape Town as the City Manager.
Although Geordin Hill-Lewis is the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, the city’s actual administrative running is the City Manager’s responsibility.
Mbandazayo’s tenure has seen the city named the best in the world by the Telegraph Travel Awards and Time Out magazine.
Mbandazayo’s origins are humble, growing up during apartheid in the Manqulo Administrative Area, near Butterworth in the Eastern Cape.
His parents were school teachers, and he lived with six siblings. He first wore shoes when his parents sent him to boarding school at the Blytheswood Institution near Butterworth.
Before moving to boarding school, he would walk great distances to primary school. At boarding school, he first developed an interest in politics and social justice.
His family were impacted by an attempted land grab by the government, which was executing its “homeland” policy in the region.
Although the family successfully stopped the state from taking over their home, the surrounding area soon became overgrown as people were forced out, which Mbandazayo described as traumatic.
While the government attempted to quash student dissent, Mbandazayo’s political views continued to be shaped by his brother, Mahlubi, a former official of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).
After graduating, Mbandazayo had no money, and his first job was working as a petrol attendant.
He soon resigned to join a larger company as a labourer, intending to get into office work to improve his education.
Although the company gave him a bursary to study medical technology in Natal, he lost his place at the institution due to his political leanings.
After being promoted to a site manager at the same company, he saved to put himself through university.
He also met retired advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza and future Eastern Cape judge president Themba Sangoni, and became inspired to study law.
He then got accepted at the University of Fort Hare. Although there was another attempt to stop him from registering due to his political views, he graduated with a B Proc.
He would then study an LLB at university in Pietermaritzburg, complete his articles in East London, and was admitted as an attorney.
His legal and political expertise saw him help found the Pan African Students Organisation.
He also provided legal services to PAC members who applied for amnesty at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
His legal career also saw him work as a magistrate in Bloemfontein and run a law firm in the Eastern Cape.
Heading to Cape Town
In 2005, Mbandazayo started working at the City of Cape Town as a Director of Legal Strategy.
One of his first priorities was rationalising the city’s various legal services and bringing them together into a centralised service.
He was then appointed acting director of the consolidated Legal Services in 2006, taking over full-time a year later. He was thus involved in almost every major city decision-making process.
In 2016, he was named Acting Executive Director: Corporate Services, taking over full time a year later. He held the role for a year before becoming City Manager in January 2018.
He took over during a major upheaval at the city, with former Mayor Patricia De Lille resigning amid a conflict with the Democratic Alliance.
Despite the initial conflict of his tenure, Mbandazayo was reappointed as City Manager in 2022.
Hill-Lewis and Mbandazayo have seemingly steadied the ship at Cape Town, with the city constantly outperforming other metros in the country.
The city remains the only South African metro to receive a clean audit from the Auditor General.
The city also received a ratings upgrade from Moody’s earlier this year, which noted that its good governance allows it to fund significant infrastructure investment.
“I’m a public servant, it is a wonderful thing to be able to play a part in improving the lives of the millions of people the City serves in so many ways,” said Mbandazayo.
“It is a tremendous privilege to be in this position, and it is also an enormous responsibility.”
Loading ...