Mpho Phalatse

Last updated

Brutus Malada
​
(m. 2022)​
Mpho Phalatse
Mpho Phalatse.jpg
Phalatse in 2021
Mayor of Johannesburg
In office
26 October 2022 –26 January 2023
Children3
Alma mater MEDUNSA (MBChB)
Occupation
  • Medical doctor
  • politician

Mpho Louisa Phalatse [1] (born 7 November 1977) is a South African medical doctor and politician who was the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. A member of the Democratic Alliance, she served in the position from 22 November 2021 until her ousting in a motion of no-confidence on 26 January 2023. She is the first woman to serve as mayor of the metropolitan municipality, which was established in 2000. She is the first black woman to serve as mayor of the city of Johannesburg and only the second female mayor of the city after Jessie McPherson, who served from 1945 to 1946.

Contents

From 2016 to 2019, Phalatse had served as the member of the mayoral committee (MMC) in Johannesburg for Health and Social Development.

Early life and career

Phalatse was born on 7 November 1977 in Hebron, Pretoria. She lived with her grandmother in Hebron for the first few years of her life before she joined her parents in Mabopane. They were both educators. Phalatse matriculated in 1994. The following year, she enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand to study Chemical Engineering. During her second year at Wits University, Phalatse decided that she wanted to become a medical doctor and enrolled at the MEDUNSA (now known as the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University), from which she graduated with an MBChB. She became a doctor in 2005 and interned at Tembisa Hospital. She then did community service in Hammanskraal before she began working at the Jubilee Hospital. [2]

Phalatse began studying project management studies at the Cranefield College during her community service year. She later achieved an advanced diploma and postgraduate diploma in Project Management and Programme Management. In 2011, she enrolled for a Master of Medicine at Wits University. [2]

Phalatse is a Certified Independent Medical Examiner (CIME) with the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners (ABIME). She was a casualty officer at the Alexandra Community Health Centre as well as sexual assault care practitioner at the Far East Rand Hospital, while she was a member of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Health Professions Council of South Africa. [2]

Early political career

Phalatse joined the Democratic Alliance and was elected to the Johannesburg City Council in 2016. Newly elected mayor Herman Mashaba appointed Phalatse as the member of the mayoral committee for Health and Social Development. [3] [4]

On 12 June 2018, Mashaba suspended her after she said that the "city [Johannesburg] and herself were now friends of Israel". [5] She was reinstated on 26 June. [6] Phalatse served in the Mayoral Committee until Mashaba resigned as mayor in November 2019. [6]

Mayor of Johannesburg

On 23 August 2021, DA leader John Steenhuisen announced that Phalatse had been selected as the DA's mayoral candidate for the City of Johannesburg for the local government elections on 1 November 2021. [7] No party won a majority of seats again and the DA's support in the city declined by nearly 12% in the election. [8]

At the first council meeting on 22 November 2021, Phalatse was elected as the Executive Mayor of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. She received 144 out of the 265 votes in the mayoral vote in council, defeating the ANC's candidate, incumbent mayor Mpho Moerane, who received only 121 votes. Phalatse was elected with the help of smaller parties, such as the Economic Freedom Fighters, the Freedom Front Plus and ActionSA. [9] [10] [11] She is the first woman to serve as mayor of the metropolitan municipality (established in 2000), the first black female mayor of Johannesburg and the second woman after Jessie McPherson who served from 1945 to 1946. [12] [13]

On 26 November 2021, Phalatse issued a moratorium on the filling of vacant positions and the extension of employment contracts in the City of Johannesburg. [14] During Phalatse's acceptance speech as mayor on 3 December 2021, ANC councillors disrupted it and demanded that she retract previous comments she made in support of Israel. Phalatse did not give in to their demands. [15]

On 13 December 2021, Phalatse announced the formation of her ten-member multi-party mayoral committee. The DA secured only four portfolios on the mayoral committee, while ActionSA secured three portfolios. The African Christian Democratic Party, the Inkatha Freedom Party and the Freedom Front Plus secured one portfolio each. Phalatse said that the DA had managed to form a ten-party majority coalition government with a total of 136 out of the 270 seats in council, an outright majority in council. [16] [17] In early-January 2022, Al Jama-ah withdrew from the coalition agreement due to the DA's support for Israel. This caused the coalition to lose its majority status in council. [18] On 17 January 2022, the Patriotic Alliance caucus leader in the City of Johannesburg, Ashley Sauls, announced that the party had entered into a power-sharing agreement with the DA in the metro. The coalition government now had 140 seats, more than an outright majority of seats in council. [19] In February 2022, Sauls was sworn in as the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Health and Social Development, replacing Franco de Lange of the Freedom Front Plus who had voluntarily resigned to make way for Sauls to join the mayoral committee. [20]

On 17 January 2022, Phalatse and Giuseppe Sala, the Mayor of Milan, were elected as Vice Chairs of the C40 Steering Committee, the governing body providing tactical direction for the network of 97 cities dedicated to solving the global climate crisis. [21]

On 31 August 2022, DA councillor Vasco da Gama was removed as council speaker in a vote of no confidence that went 136–132, despite the coalition holding a majority of seats in council. Rogue councillors from the DA's coalition partners, such as the Inkatha Freedom Party, the African Christian Democratic Party, the Congress of the People and the United Independent Movement, defied their parties' instructions and voted for da Gama's removal. [22] [23] [24] They all subsequently faced repercussions or were expelled. There was division between coalition partners over who would replace da Gama with ActionSA wanting an IFP councillor to replace da Gama. [25]

On 28 September 2022, COPE councillor Colleen Makhubele was elected speaker with the help of the ANC-led bloc over the DA's Alex Christians after the Patriotic Alliance, a member of the DA-led coalition, had voted against Christians. [26] The PA subsequently resigned from the coalition and joined the ANC-led bloc after the DA refused to reconfigure the coalition agreement. Makhubele then called a special council meeting for 30 September for the vote of no confidence which had been tabled against Phalatse by the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania weeks ago over service delivery issues, to be held. [27] Phalatse approached the High Court in Johannesburg in order to prevent the special sitting of council from taking place and for the court to declare programming committee's decision to call a special council meeting unlawful, because the meeting did not quorate hence the decision to convene the special sitting of council was invalid. [28] [29] [30] On 30 September 2022, Phalatse was voted out as mayor and the High Court struck her case off the roll. The ANC's Dada Morero was elected to replace her. [31]

On 25 October 2022, the Johannesburg High Court ruled that both the council speaker's decision to hold a motion of no confidence against Phalatse and the election of Dada Morero were unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid and Phalatse was subsequently reinstated as mayor. [32]

On 26 January 2023, Phalatse was ousted as mayor for a second time during a motion of no confidence with 140 votes supporting the motion to 129 votes against the motion during the Johannesburg City Council Meeting. [33]

Post-mayoral career

After Phalatse was removed as mayor for a second time, it was speculated that she would launch a campaign for federal leader of the DA ahead of the party's federal congress in April 2023. [34] She launched her campaign on 30 January 2023 at the Hector Peterson Memorial in Soweto. Phalatse said that her work as a technocrat and leading the multi-party coalition in Johannesburg had "sufficiently prepared" her for the position. [35] Despite being popular in the DA, party insiders said that she launched her campaign for leader too late and that Steenhuisen has an advantage as a popular party leader who had won significant support for his re-election campaign. [36] She lost to Steenhuisen at party's Federal Congress. [37]

On 5 June 2023, Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku was elected leader of the DA caucus in the city council unopposed after Phalatse withdrew from the race. [38]

Phalatse announced on 28 August 2023 that she would resign as a DA councillor on 30 September 2023 and return to being a medical doctor. [39]

Personal life

Phalatse has three children. [2]

In December 2022, Phalatse married ActionSA member Brutus Malada. [40]

Related Research Articles

The Mayor of Johannesburg is the highest elected position in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Since 2000, they are the chief executive of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality council. The position remained vacant from 24 April 2023, when Thapelo Amad announced his resignation after less than three months in office. On May 5, 2023, the council elected Al Jama-ah's Kabelo Gwamanda to the position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Steenhuisen</span> Leader of the Opposition in South Africa since 2019

John Henry Steenhuisen is a South African politician who has served as the twentieth leader of the Opposition since October 2019 and has been the leader of the Democratic Alliance since November 2020, having served as the interim leader for one year from November 2019. He was chief whip of the official opposition from May 2014 until October 2019. Ideologically, Steenhuisen has been described as a classical liberal, a supporter of non-racialism and a firm believer in racial equality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parks Tau</span> South African politician

Mpho Franklyn Parks Tau is a South African politician who has been a Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs since March 2023 and a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since February 2023, representing the African National Congress. Before becoming a member of Parliament, Tau had been a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature where he served in the Gauteng Executive Council as MEC for Economic Development from December 2020 to October 2022. Prior to that, he was Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs between May 2019 and December 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mmusi Maimane</span> South African politician

Mmusi Aloysias Maimane is a South African politician, businessman, and leader of Build One South Africa, a political party. Maimane is also the former Leader of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) political party from 10 May 2015 to 23 October 2019, and the former Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of South Africa from 29 May 2014 to 24 October 2019. He is the former leader of the DA in the Johannesburg City Council and the DA National Spokesperson. In 2011, he was elected to be the DA's Johannesburg mayoral candidate in the 2011 municipal elections. In that election, Maimane helped to grow the party's voter base, but was not elected mayor. Thereafter he served as Leader of the Official Opposition on the Johannesburg City Council until May 2014. In addition to his political career, he is also a pastor and elder at Liberty Church. He formed the One South Africa Movement in 2020. Mmusi Maimane launched this new political party on 24 September 2022

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herman Mashaba</span> South African politician

Herman Samtseu Philip Mashaba is a South African politician, entrepreneur and the current president of ActionSA, a party he launched on 29 August 2020. He served as the Mayor of Johannesburg from 2016 to 2019. He is the founder of the hair product company Black Like Me. He is famous in South Africa for his background: he grew up struggling against poverty, and claims to have struggled against the apartheid government, to open his own hair business, which became the biggest hair brand in South Africa, making him a millionaire. He publicly backed Mmusi Maimane in the Democratic Alliance leadership race. He wrote the autobiography Black Like You and his campaign manager, Michael Beaumont, recently published a biography called "The Accidental Mayor". Mashaba refers to himself as a libertarian and "capitalist crusader" whose highest value is "individual freedom."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vasco da Gama (council speaker)</span> South African politician

Vasco Manoel da Gama is a South African politician with the Democratic Alliance and a member of the Johannesburg City Council. He most recently served as the Johannesburg council speaker until 31 August 2022 when a motion of no confidence was settled with 136 votes for the motion and 132 against it, resulting in Da Gama’s ouster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 South African municipal elections</span> South African municipal elections which were held on 1 November 2021

The 2021 South African municipal elections were held on 1 November 2021, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces. It is the sixth municipal election held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, held every five years. The previous municipal elections were held in 2016. On 21 April 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the elections will be held on Wednesday, 27 October 2021. It had been recommend by Dikgang Moseneke to delay the municipal elections until 2022. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) requested the Constitutional Court to support the date postponement. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) supported the date postponement while the Democratic Alliance (DA) was against the postponement of the date. The Constitutional Court dismissed the application to postpone the date until 2022, ruling that they had to take place between 27 October and 1 November. On 9 September 2021, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced that the elections would be held on 1 November.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoff Makhubo</span> South African politician (1968–2021)

Moloantoa Geoffrey Makhubo was a South African politician who served as the Mayor of Johannesburg from December 2019 until his death from COVID-19 in July 2021. He was a member of the African National Congress and the party's regional chair. During the administration of Parks Tau, he served as the MMC for Finance.

Michael Sean Moriarty is a South African politician. He served as the chief whip of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. He was elected to the legislature in 2009 and resigned from it in 2021. He was also the provincial chairperson of the DA in Gauteng. Moriarty was previously a City of Johannesburg municipal councillor.

Retief Odendaal is a South African politician who served as the Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay from 21 September 2022 until his removal in a motion of no confidence on 26 May 2023. Before serving as mayor, he was a Member of the Provincial Legislature in the Eastern Cape for the Democratic Alliance and was the Shadow Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Finance, Rural Development and Agrarian Reform from May 2019 until August 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cilliers Brink</span> South African politician

Cilliers Brink is a South African politician who is the Mayor of Tshwane, in office since 28 March 2023. A member of the Democratic Alliance, he was the party's Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2020 until 2023 and a Member of Parliament (MP) from 2019 to 2023. He was the party's Shadow Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs between 2019 and 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ActionSA</span> South African political party

ActionSA is a South African political party established by former mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, soon after he left the Democratic Alliance.

Mpho Moerane was a South African electrician, businessman and politician who was the mayor of Johannesburg between October and November 2021. A member of the African National Congress, he previously served as the member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for environment and infrastructure services from December 2019 to September 2021. Moerane was the regional treasurer of the ANC in Johannesburg.

A The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality council consists of 270 City Councillors elected by mixed-member proportional representation. The councillors are divided into two kinds: (a) 135 Ward councillors who have been elected by first-past-the-post voting in 135 wards; and (b) 135 councillors elected from party lists.

Ntombi Valencia Khumalo is a South African politician and a member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 2021. She is a member of the Democratic Alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tania Campbell</span> South African politician (born 1967)

Tania Lynette Campbell is a South African Democratic Alliance politician who served as the Mayor of Ekurhuleni twice, from November 2021 until her removal in a motion of no confidence in October 2022 and again from November 2022 until her removal in a second motion of no confidence in March 2023.

Sello Enoch Dada Morero is a South African politician who served as the Mayor of Johannesburg for 25 days, from 30 September 2022 until 25 October 2022. Morero is the regional chairperson of the African National Congress in Johannesburg.

Matshidiso Morwa Annastinah Mfikoe is a South African politician who has served as a member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature since February 2023. A member of the African National Congress, she previously served as a member of the National Assembly from October 2022 to January 2023 and before that, as a councillor in the City of Johannesburg from 2000 to 2022 and as a member of the mayoral committee from 2006 to 2016 and again in 2021.

Wendy Robyn Alexander is a South African politician who has been a Democratic Alliance Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since November 2022.

Thapelo Amad is a South African politician and imam, and a former mayor of Johannesburg. A member of the Johannesburg City Council, Amad is affiliated with the Islamist Al Jama-ah party. On 27 January 2023, he was elected interim mayor of Johannesburg with the support of the African National Congress (ANC). His election made him the first Muslim to serve as mayor of Johannesburg. He resigned as mayor on 24 April 2023 to avoid a motion of no confidence.

References

  1. ↑ "Mpho Louisa Phalatse". People's Assembly. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Get to know Mpho Phalatse". Democratic Alliance. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  3. ↑ "Meet Mayor Mashaba's A-team". Citypress. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  4. ↑ "'Diverse' mayoral committee surprised with appointment". Randburg Sun. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  5. ↑ "City of Joburg MMC Mpho Phalatse suspended amid condemnation for her stance on Israel". Randburg Sun. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Joburg health MMC Mpho Phalatse reinstated after furore over comments on Israel". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  7. ↑ Letshwiti-Jones, Pule. "LIST | DA announces its mayoral candidates to contest municipalities". News24. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  8. ↑ Khumalo, Juniour. "Final Results | ANC the biggest loser as 5 out of 8 metros are hung". News24. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  9. ↑ Sefularo, Masechaba. "It's a win for the DA as Mpho Phalatse is elected Joburg mayor". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  10. ↑ Amashabalala. "DA's Mpho Phalatse is Joburg mayor — 'Tshwane next,' says Herman Mashaba". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  11. ↑ "DA's Mpho Phalatse elected new executive mayor of Johannesburg". The Citizen. 22 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  12. ↑ Motha, Sibahle (23 November 2021). "ANC loses Johannesburg mayor race". JacarandaFM. Retrieved 30 December 2021. The city council chose Mpho Phalatse from the Democratic Alliance (DA) to lead the city, the first black woman to do so, and the first woman since 1946.
  13. ↑ "General information Joburg Mayors". City of Johannesburg . Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  14. ↑ Mahlati, Zintle. "Joburg mayor puts a freeze on appointments in City of Joburg". News24. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  15. ↑ Nonkululeko, Njilo. "ANC disrupts Joburg council meeting over mayor's 'pro-Israel comments'". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  16. ↑ Makoti, Noni (13 December 2021). "Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse announces multi-party mayoral committee". Independent Online. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  17. ↑ Mahlati, Zintle (13 December 2021). "Joburg Mayor Phalatse appoints multi-party coalition executive". News24. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  18. ↑ "Al Jama-ah ditches DA in Joburg over Israel stance". The Citizen. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  19. ↑ Nomazima, Nkosi. "PA inks power-sharing deal with DA". SowetanLIVE. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  20. ↑ "PA's Ashley Sauls sworn in as new head of health in City of Joburg". SowetanLIVE. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  21. ↑ "Mayors of Milan and Johannesburg elected to C40 Cities Steering Committee". C40 Cities. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  22. ↑ "Johannesburg speaker Vasco da Gama voted out". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  23. ↑ Mahlati, Zintle. "DA vows to 'restore order' after coalition partners help remove Vasco da Gama as Joburg speaker". News24. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  24. ↑ Modise, Kgomotso. "No-confidence vote sees Vasco da Gama ousted as Joburg Council Speaker". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  25. ↑ "ActionSA wants new Joburg speaker to come from IFP, not DA". Jacaranda FM. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  26. ↑ Mafisa, Itumeleng. "Patriotic Alliance threatens to quit DA coalition in Joburg". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  27. ↑ "ANC supports motion of no confidence against Phalatse". SABC News. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  28. ↑ Masuabi, Queenin (29 September 2022). "JOBURG COUNCIL CRISIS: Mayor Mpho Phalatse heads to court to halt motion of no confidence against her". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  29. ↑ "No-confidence motion against Joburg mayor going ahead despite court action". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  30. ↑ "Joburg mayor Phalatse files urgent interdict to stop motion of no confidence". SowetanLIVE. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  31. ↑ "ANC's Dada Morero elected Joburg's new mayor". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  32. ↑ "Court declares removal of Phalatse as Joburg mayor unlawful". EWN. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  33. ↑ Ramushwana, Alpha. "Mpho Phalatse ousted as Joburg mayor again". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  34. ↑ Boonzaaier, Dawie. "DA leadership: Phalatse joins the race" . City Press. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  35. ↑ "Mpho Phalatse launches bid to become next DA leader". Jacaranda FM. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  36. ↑ Haffajee, Ferial (30 January 2023). "LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE: Mpho Phalatse's campaign to head DA launched too late to succeed, say insiders". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  37. ↑ "Steenhuisen to lead DA in 'crucial' 2024 elections - LNN". Midrand Reporter. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  38. ↑ Mahlati, Zintle. "DA Joburg caucus gets new leader as party gears-up for a regional leadership battle". News24. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  39. ↑ "Former Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse resigns as councillor, will return to medical career". News24. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  40. ↑ "Joburg mayor off the market as Phalatse ties the knot". SowetanLIVE. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.