Listen here.In this interview with Chris Steyn, Build One South Africa (BOSA) mayoral candidate for the City of Cape Town, Roger Solomons, describes how unaffordable it has become for ordinary citizens to live and do business in the Mother City. “I've crisscrossed the city, not just during this campaign trail, but during my public service, across all of Cape Town, all 118 wards, and the overwhelming majority of Capetonians say that life has become way harder over the last five to ten years… The people who nurse here in the city of Cape Town, police here, teach here, are finding it hard to live here. And that is an injustice…We want to build a New York and a London at the expense of ordinary Capetonians who just can't afford it.. So we have ordinary Capetonians who actually are building this beautiful city of ours; they're physically building, they're on construction sites, but they cannot afford to experience it. And that has got to stop.” Solomons vows to make affordable living and working his priority should he become mayor: “The principle that I would govern and lead the city by is not how much it costs the city, but how much it costs you and I as a resident.” His other priorities are equality in service delivery and more effective crime prevention measures..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..Edited transcript of the interview.Chris Steyn (00:00.866)The Cape Town Mayoral seat is the most sought after in South Africa. Build One South Africa (BOSA) is fielding Roger Solomons. Welcome, Mr Solomons.Roger Solomons (00:12.868)Thank you so much. Thank you for the opportunity.Chris Steyn (00:15.96)For our viewers who do not know you, what is your background?Roger Solomons (00:21.538)Sure, so I'm Roger Solomons. I am forty years old, just turned forty, and officially entered the fourth floor. And you know, I grew up in an environment where service to humanity and service to others was a way of life. Being a preacher's kid, you know, I grew up knowing that leadership is not a title, it's not about the title. It comes with great responsibility. and that your decisions that you make affect people. And bringing change to people. So I'm Roger Solomons. I am husband to one wife, father to one son. But I've spent over a decade in mainstream public service. I've served in all three spheres of government at the pinnacle, right here in the city of Cape Town, in being a lead in the executive mayor's office and city manager. I have served in national office as the chief of staff to a minister. So I've spent about 12 to 15 years as they call it in the engine room where the bolts and the nuts are coming together. And my experience and my strength, I believe, is that having that background and understanding the engine room, the technicalities, and understanding the technocrats now stepping up, you know, to serve Cape Town, in a political oversight role, puts me ahead.Chris Steyn (01:54.369)It's a big step to run for mayor of Cape Town. It's going to be a tough race. Why have you thrown your hat into the ring?Roger Solomons (02:03.226)Well, you know, I'm not stepping up to run for the city of Cape Town to maintain the status quo. I'm stepping up to build the next chapter. And after 20 years of the current chapter governance that we've experienced in Cape Town, the question has changed. It's not so much: is Cape Town working. The question now that's grappling ordinary families across Cape Town is who is Cape Town working for? Is it working for the few or for the majority of Capetonians, hardworking Capetonians and families that are playing by the rules, paying their rates and taxes, trying to raise a family, trying to build a decent life, but yet we feel left behind and squeezed out of the city of Cape Town? That is the answer to the next question. Has your life as a Capetonian become easier or harder in Cape Town over the five years? Has your life become easier to live in Cape Town, to do business in Cape Town, to raise a family.And I've crisscrossed the city, not just during this campaign trail, but during my public service, across all of Cape Town, all 118 wards, and the overwhelming majority of Cape Tonians is that life has become way harder over the last five to ten years in Cape Town.Chris Steyn (03:25.824)Is that why you say Cape Town is unfinished?Roger Solomons (03:30.366)Absolutely. I've always said I'm not stepping up to lead the city of Cape Town because it's broken. I'm stepping up to lead the city because it is unfinished.There's a transition into a new chapter and a different chapter for the city of Cape Town. And that chapter is whether life has become easier or harder for ordinary South Africans.And it's very, very important that we need to fight for those ordinary South Africans. They're playing by the rules. They're trying to build decent families. They are paying their rates and taxes, but yet their life has become harder. And that is the people that I feel that my campaign is fighting and advocating for. Right here in the city of Cape Town, you have a Bishop's Court, but you have a Bishop Lavis in the same municipality, but different, different lived experience, worlds apart when it comes to the quality of life and the daily challenges of their lived realities.Chris Steyn (04:27.854)So how would you go about making your vision for the next chapter of Cape Town a reality? What changes could you bring about?Roger Solomons (04:36.796)The city of Cape Town needs to become more affordable for everyone. The city of Cape Town should not just be a place to come and visit, but it should be a city to build a family, a life, and a business in. The people who nurse here in the city of Cape Town, police here, teach here, are finding it hard to live here. And that is an injustice. So the city of Cape Town needs to become more affordable in terms of accommodation, housing.In terms of being able to start up a business, removing some of that Red Tape, but more importantly, a city that should become much more safer. Right now, the city of Cape Town, 13 of the 30 most dangerous hotspots in South Africa and in Africa, 13 of that 30 are in Cape Town. That is a fact. It's not an opinion. And that was recently so we need to make sure that this city is much safer. Because if we don't, we don't combat and try to make the city safer, people will not be able to live here or be able to do business here. We can't have parents worry about their children if it's safe for them to walk back home from school. So that is definitely my priority. The principle that I would govern and lead the city by is not how much it costs the city, but how much does it cost you and I as a resident. That is the guiding principle. So yet we know that Cape Town has invested billions of rands in infrastructure. But the sad reality is that we're building a city. We want to build a New York and a London at the expense of ordinary Capetonians who just can't afford. So we have ordinary Capetonians who actually are building this beautiful city of ours. They're physically building, they're on construction sites, but they cannot afford to experience it. And that has got to stop.The next chapter is that the city of Cape Town is to be a place to live in. It must become easier to do business in. And it should not just be a city where one feels to come and visit.Chris Steyn (06:38.7)If one looks at social media, the three biggest complaints from Capetonians are the unaffordability, the disparity between service delivery for the rich and the poor, and the high crime rate. So those are obviously your priorities too.Roger Solomons (06:57.576)Absolutely. And it's not just about service delivery, it's about the parity of service delivery. It's that when I move from Bishop's Court to Bishop Lavis, which is just twenty kilometers apart, the visible difference: that is an injustice because it is the same city, it's the same service providers, it's the same governing chapter that we have right here. And we need to make sure that the parity of service delivery is equal for everyone and not just the few. Yes, I know that communities and residents themselves also have a responsibility and role to play in ensuring that they live in a safer, a cleaner environment. But the city of Cape Town cannot boast to be the best run metro in South Africa if that so-called title is not experienced in your Langa, Delft, Bishop Lavis, across the Cape Flats. It is an injustice. And the current chapter on the current governing and ruling party in the city of Cape Town, yes, they've proven to South Africa that Cape Town can work. And yes, there are some better sound administration financial systems that are in place. And I'm saying we're going to keep what works in the next chapter. But we need to transition to make sure that the lived reality for all of Cape Town, irrespective of where you stay, is one that is dignified, there's equality of services and there's a standard of service that is right through the city of Cape Town and that is important. Right now the city of Cape Town has become unaffordable and very, very hard to live and do business right here in the city of Cape Town.Chris Steyn (08:39.182)With regards to the high crime rate: that dates back to the Apartheid year years, are you in favour of devolution of policing powers to the province?Roger Solomons (08:50.177)I will support, I'll definitely support, not the full devolution but some devolution and powers to be given. And the reason why I'm saying that is because there's no way we're gonna be able to have a police officer on every doorstep in Cape Town. It's impossible. I do believe that we need to increase police visibility, especially in what we call the red or the hot zones. I do feel that the resource allocation should be going to law enforcement where it's needed the most and not in our leafy suburbs only. But more importantly, it's not just about law enforcement and about the police. It is about what preventative measures in the next chapter we will put in place. Because crime ultimately is just a consequence of a root cause and a root problem. And as the executive mayor of the city of Cape Town, I will ensure that more investment is being made into our communities, our preventative systems. We have to invest in our after school programmes, into the amazing work that many of our NGOs are doing, our faith-based organisations, our ECD centers, because ultimately our youth do not end up and just choose gangs. Gangs find them because they are sitting idle on street corners, in parks, nothing to do. So my budget and my commitment to residents of Cape Town is to ensure that we invest and skew the budget into preventative measures, systems of care, and ultimately that will assist with the crime issue that we are faced with. We can spend billions and billions and billions of rands combating crime. It is not going to assist. There needs to be an integrated and holistic approach. And we need to empower our communities. The neighbourhood watches. I've been literally walking the streets with neighborhood watches. Amazing, amazing men and women who are sacrificing their time to walk the streets keep the streets safer, but are receiving very little to zero assistance and resources from the city of Cape Town. That needs to change. We need to give power back to our community to protect their own streets and residents.Chris Steyn (11:00.088)Thank you. That was Roger Solomons BOSA’s Mayoral Candidate for Cape Town, speaking to BizNews, I'm Chris Steyn. Thank you, Mr. Solomons.Roger Solomons (11:10.075)Thank you so much.