By Hajira Khota                                                                                                                                                           25.11.2021

During a special Council meeting on November 22, DA Councillor Phalatse Mpho was elected the City of Johannesburg’s first female mayor.

Mpho Moerane of the ANC received 121 votes, while Phalatse received 144 votes.

Phalatse, believes it is past time for all people of the city, regardless of political affiliation, to have access to essential services.

The Democratic Alliance members in the council applauded Phalatse when the news was made by Vasco Da Gama, the newly elected Speaker who is also a DA member.

When asked about the city’s proposal to take over energy service in Soweto, Orange Farm, Ivory Park, and Diepsloot, Phalatse indicated the procedure was in the works.

Phalatse spoke to Radio Islam International; she says that they want the city to be free of Eskom since the power supplier has failed to deliver electricity to residents on a constant basis.

“The best way to do so is to grow capacity, strengthen and modernise our infrastructure, and expand the market to include more role players and independent power producers.”

Phalatse spent at least six years of her career dealing with service delivery models in a variety of settings, including mining homes and providing disability consultancy to the SA Social Security Agency in Gauteng and the North West.

When it came to getting the city back on track, Phalatse appealed for support from all players to clean up the CBD and get it running again.

In 2017, an examination of the city’s 500 problematic buildings revealed that 134 had been taken over, with 24 of them belonging to the city. She urged council members to keep all lines of communication open for the next five years, regardless of which political party is in power.

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