{"id":90667,"date":"2025-09-29T17:00:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T17:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/from-petrol-attendant-to-leading-south-africas-best-city"},"modified":"2025-09-29T17:27:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T17:27:36","slug":"from-petrol-attendant-to-leading-south-africas-best-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/from-petrol-attendant-to-leading-south-africas-best-city","title":{"rendered":"From Petrol Attendant to Leading South Africa’s Best City"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Lungelo Mbandazayo started his career as a petrol attendant and now runs the City of Cape Town as the City Manager.<\/p>\n

Although Geordin Hill-Lewis is the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, the city\u2019s actual administrative running is the City Manager\u2019s responsibility.<\/p>\n

Mbandazayo\u2019s tenure has seen the city named the best in the world by the Telegraph Travel Awards and Time Out magazine.<\/p>\n

Mbandazayo\u2019s origins are humble, growing up during apartheid in the Manqulo Administrative Area, near Butterworth in the Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

His family were impacted by an attempted land grab by the government, which was executing its \u201chomeland\u201d policy in the region.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

While the government attempted to quash student dissent, Mbandazayo\u2019s political views continued to be shaped by his brother, Mahlubi, a former official of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).<\/p>\n

After graduating, Mbandazayo had no money, and his first job was working as a petrol attendant.<\/p>\n

He soon resigned to join a larger company as a labourer, intending to get into office work to improve his education.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

After being promoted to a site manager at the same company, he saved to put himself through university.<\/p>\n

He also met retired advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza and future Eastern Cape judge president Themba Sangoni, and became inspired to study law.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He would then study an LLB at university in Pietermaritzburg, complete his articles in East London, and was admitted as an attorney.<\/p>\n

His legal and political expertise saw him help found the Pan African Students Organisation.<\/p>\n

He also provided legal services to PAC members who applied for amnesty at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.<\/p>\n

His legal career also saw him work as a magistrate in Bloemfontein and run a law firm in the Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n

Heading to Cape Town <\/b><\/p>\n

City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill Lewis and City Manager Lungelo Mbandazayo<\/p>\n

In 2005, Mbandazayo started working at the City of Cape Town as a Director of Legal Strategy.<\/p>\n

One of his first priorities was rationalising the city\u2019s various legal services and bringing them together into a centralised service.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He took over during a major upheaval at the city, with former Mayor Patricia De Lille resigning amid a conflict with the Democratic Alliance.<\/p>\n

Despite the initial conflict of his tenure, Mbandazayo was reappointed as City Manager in 2022.<\/p>\n

Hill-Lewis and Mbandazayo have seemingly steadied the ship at Cape Town, with the city constantly outperforming other metros in the country.<\/p>\n

The city remains the only South African metro to receive a clean audit from the Auditor General.<\/p>\n

The city also received a ratings upgrade from Moody\u2019s earlier this year, which noted that its good governance allows it to fund significant infrastructure investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 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,\u201d said Mbandazayo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a tremendous privilege to be in this position, and it is also an enormous responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. 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\u2019s actual administrative running is the City Manager\u2019s responsibility. Mbandazayo\u2019s tenure has seen the city named the best in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":90665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,12],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-90667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-policy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Petrol Attendant to Leading South Africa's Best City - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lungelo Mbandazayo started his career as a petrol attendant and now runs the City of Cape Town as the City Manager. 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