First lucrative tender, now City awards DA founder Leon with top Civic Honour

THE City of Cape Town's decision to recognise DA founder Tony Leon with a civic honour has ignited a political storm with opposition parties demanding to know what contribution has he made towards creating and progressing the country’s democracy.

After Freedom of the City, the second-highest honour the City can confer is the Signing of the Civic Honours Book, which Leon received for being a “renowned parliamentarian, diplomat, author, and public intellectual”.

The Civic Honours Book is compiled and maintained by the Office of the Mayor.

Leon was also part of the DA's negotiating team in the formation of the GNU.  In 2018, the City came under fire after Resolve Communications, headed by Leon and Nick Clelland, was given a contract to communicate “drought awareness”. 

The City on Sunday refused to respond to specific questions on what criteria was used to determine Leon as a worthy beneficiary of this honour. Instead, the City referred the Cape Times to a press statement where it noted: "Honours recipients have generally achieved extraordinary acclaim in their chosen field, have won international recognition for their talent or contribution, or distinguished themselves with extraordinary community service, personal sacrifice, and contributions to nation building."

This year’s awarding of honours follows a public nomination process held earlier in 2025, followed by Council approval of nominations, and confirmation of acceptance by nominees.

“Today, we recognise some of these outstanding individuals. To all our civic honours recipients... you make us proud and you give us hope,” said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis in the statement. 

Good Party councillor Suzzette Little said the Da-led City’s decision to honour Leon calls into question the “values guiding this administration”. She said by placing Leon alongside individuals who genuinely advanced justice and equality is “insensitive and out of touch”. 

“It diminishes the ongoing struggles of communities still harmed by the system he helped shape. When communities across the Cape Flats and greater Cape Town suffer indignities and violence that no human should experience, what has Leon done to make democracy work for them? This gesture feels completely disconnected from the daily realities of violence, poverty, and instability. While our democracy is grounded in a constitution that promises social justice and economic transformation, Leon has been a vocal and party political opponent of our country’s transformation policies.

“As someone who opposes the transformative parts of our constitution - the foundation of our democracy - using a civic honour to celebrate a former leader who opposes those parts of our democratic order that mandate redress makes the decision totally inappropriate. Civic honours should make sense to everyone who calls our city home. The recipient should be someone who has risen above party politics. Sadly, Leon in retirement hasn’t demonstrated the leadership qualities of a statesman. He remains an ardent defender of a certain corner of DA politics.”

ANC Western Cape spokesperson, Sifiso Mtsweni described the recognition as the DA’s typical abuse of Municipal statutes for narrow partisan aggrandisement. 

“There is nothing that places Tony Leon in any honours book, beyond his role as a leader of a racist organisation whose sole mission is to serve the white privileged and subjugate poor communities to further poverty and underdevelopment as can be seen in the outskirts of the city in the Cape Flats and the townships. Our people live alongside running sewerage, gangsterism is rife, municipal services such as water and sanitation do not reach our people in the informal settlements, there is collapsed infrastructure everywhere, there is no coherent disaster plan in place hence our people are always found in squalor during heavy rains and fires, this is the legacy of the DA led City of Cape Town, instead of addressing these pressing issues, Gordon Hill Lewis is trying to cement his ambitions in the DA by blessing its Godfather with decorations.”

UWC Politics professor Keith said: "If Tony Leon is being inscribed in the Cape Town Civic Honours Book, I hope that persons from a variety of political parties are also honoured. I know the City has in the past honoured Mandela, Tutu, & Richard van der Ross. That his communications firm was awarded a contract would create an impression of tenders for political friends, which South Africa needs to avoid."

Cape Times