GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & City of Cape Town Mayoral Candidate
08 July 2026
Tony Leon’s lobbying of politicians on behalf of private sector clients cannot be termed “State Capture” unless it can be proven that his clients were inordinately successful in winning government tenders or dictating government policy.
Given that he is a former DA leader, and that the DA controls the purse strings in the City of Cape Town and Western Cape Provincial governments, it is here that he is most likely to have been able to maximise his influence.
Since deposed DA leader John Steenhuisen publicly accused Leon and/or his company of using his proximity to DA politicians to arrange meetings with his/their clients, a variety of other information has found its way into the public domain.
The main dirt Steenhuisen raised was that Leon had set up a meeting for Leon Musk’s company, Starlink, with Minister of Communications Solly Malatsi. While representing the Afrophobic and anti-South African Musk raises moral questions, the fact that Starlink hasn’t won a contract doesn’t necessarily point to any impropriety. Time will tell.
Arguably more interesting is the information that has emerged that Leon pitched a R300m contract to the then DA-led City of Johannesburg for a gunshot detection technology client. Johannesburg did not sign the contract, but the City of Cape Town has been using the technology for a number of years.
We also know, from our own time in the City of Cape Town, that Leon lobbied senior politicians, and that his firm was awarded part of a communications contract. No allegations of impropriety were ever raised, but it confirms that Leon was active in the City’s business environment.
Mayor of Cape Town Geordin Hill-Lewis, who recently replaced Steenhuisen as DA leader and then demoted him from his cabinet position, was quick to dismiss Steenhuisen’s allegations against Leon as a “non-issue”. It is noteworthy that the DA Federal Executive has since appeared to contradict Hill-Lewis by confirming an internal investigation.
Hill-Lewis is best placed to clear up the smoke and mirrors. His dismissal of the allegations as a non-issue is not helping Leon, or the country. As Mayor of Cape Town, and leader of the party that is governing the Western Cape, he has the powers to quickly determine the extent of Leon’s lobbying success in the region.
This will reveal whether Leon’s company is an uncommonly common conduit to contracts, which may imply irregularity, or if the allegations raised against him are simply Steenhuisen’s sour grapes.
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