Three of SA’s eight biggest municipalities (Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay and Johannesburg) elected women mayors three weeks ago. This moment was huge for me as a young black woman and exciting in that one can start imagining what these cities will prioritise now that women are at the helm.

As an urban planner, I for one wish at the top of the agenda is urban safety. I’ve been working in the built environment for 14 years and I’ve been at the SA Cities Network for the past one-and-a-half years. What I’ve noticed is that we talk about urban safety a lot and what always comes across is that perhaps the issue is that we don’t have enough women with a seat at the table to make decisions on making cities safer...