Former Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse now wants to become the next DA leader

Mpho Phalatse (Photo by Gallo Images/Luba Lesolle)

• Former Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse has entered the race to become the next DA leader.
• Phalatse will go up against current DA leader John Steenhuisen.
• The DA will hold its provincial conference in April over two days at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand.

Axed Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse has officially announced her candidature for the position of party leader and will go up against incumbent John Steenhuisen.

On Monday, Phalatse told supporters at Hector Pieterson Square in Soweto that her decision to run for the party’s top job comes amid the ANC’s mismanagement of the country.

The DA will hold its provincial conference in April over two days at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand.

She said her team chose the Hector Pieterson memorial for the announcement because the DA is a party for all South Africans.

“I do recognise the perception out there that my party, the DA, is indifferent to the plight of black people. Yet, contrary to the narrative, mostly pushed and peddled by our political opponents, we are a party that recognises the injustices of the past and that honours those, like Hector, who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom we celebrate,” she said.

She added:

According to Phalatse, there is very little doubt that South Africa is at a crossroads.

“One path at this crossroads leads to a potential precipice – a total collapse and mayhem. The other leads to reconstruction and repair. We have an obligation to urgently emancipate the people of South Africa from the shackles of despair and political disillusionment, which are a result of almost 30 years of the ANC’s politics of greed and plunder,” she said.

The former Johannesburg mayor said the country needs new leadership that can rekindle the flame of hope.

READ | ‘I’ve been in the trenches… I don’t need to be leader’ – Steenhuisen woos DA for second term

“Our country is on the cusp of change. Millions of South Africans are searching for a credible political alternative. Others, in total despair, choose to stay away and simply not participate in the electoral process. As the second largest political party in the country, the DA is well-positioned to become that alternative for all the people of South Africa, black and white, rich or poor, urban or rural,” she said.

Phalatse said the DA she believes in must genuinely promote meritocracy and not tokenism in its selection processes.

She said: 

So far, it has been only Phalatse that has come out to say she is standing for the position. At the party’s last election congress, in 2020, former DA leader in KwaZulu-Natal, Mbali Ntuli, challenged Steenhuisen for the position but lost out.