1. Dan Plato served from June 2011 until October 2018 and again from January 2022 until February 2024.
41 Facts About Dan Plato
1. 2.
Dan Plato is the former mayor of Cape Town, a position he held for two nonconsecutive terms from May 2009 until June 2011 and again from November 2018 until October 2021.
3.
Dan Plato was a community organiser and played a crucial role in mobilising residents against the Apartheid government.
4.
Dan Plato was elected as a ward councillor in 1996.
5.
Dan Plato was elected Mayor of Cape Town in May 2009, succeeding Helen Zille, who was elected Premier of the Western Cape.
6.
Dan Plato left office on 1 June 2011 and subsequently took office as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament and took up the position of Provincial Minister of Community Safety, succeeding Albert Fritz.
7.
Dan Plato resigned as both Provincial Minister of Community Safety and Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament in late-October 2018.
8.
Dan Plato was sworn in as a councillor on 1 November 2018 and was elected Mayor on 6 November.
9.
In December 2021, the DA announced that Dan Plato would be returning to the Provincial Parliament in early 2022.
10.
Dan Plato was sworn in as an MPP on 18 January 2022.
11.
Dan Plato resigned from the DA and joined Marius Fransman's People's Movement for Change in February 2024.
12.
Dan Plato has been involved in political activities since high school, particularly in Cape Town's northern suburbs.
13.
Dan Plato was a community organiser and played a significant role in rallying people against the apartheid regime.
14.
Dan Plato became a member of the National Party in 1990.
15.
Dan Plato later became the Cape Town Chairperson of the South African National Tuberculosis Association during the mid-1990s.
16.
In 1996, Dan Plato was elected as a Cape Metro councillor for the Belhar, Uitsig and Ravensmead region.
17.
Dan Plato became a member of the council executive the following year.
18.
Dan Plato served two terms as Chairperson of the City of Cape Town's Economic Development, Tourism and Property Management Portfolio Committee.
19.
Dan Plato managed the Housing portfolio in the Mayoral Committee from 2006 to 2009.
20.
Shortly before being elected mayor in May 2009, Dan Plato had taken over as the Mayoral Committee Member responsible for Service Delivery and Economic Development.
21.
Dan Plato had been a member of several community-based trusts.
22.
Dan Plato was previously co-owner of National Pride Holdings Pty.
23.
Dan Plato declared his candidacy for the post and was ultimately selected as the party's preferred candidate.
24.
Dan Plato was elected Mayor of Cape Town on 12 May 2009.
25.
Dan Plato won with 119 votes to the ANC candidate Belinda Landingwe's 69 votes, while six councillors abstained from the vote.
26.
Dan Plato banned the old South African flag from being present at soccer matches at the Cape Town Stadium after he described the flag as being detrimental to the country's image.
27.
In 2010, Dan Plato announced his candidacy for the post of Provincial Leader of the Democratic Alliance.
28.
Dan Plato received 123 votes compared to Botha's 543 and Lennit Max's 317.
29.
In 2011, Dan Plato declared his intention to seek a full term as Mayor of Cape Town ahead of the 2011 municipal elections.
30.
Dan Plato effectively resigned from the provincial government on 31 October 2018 and Winde took office the next day.
31.
On 18 September 2018, the Democratic Alliance announced that Dan Plato would succeed De Lille.
32.
On 1 November 2018, Dan Plato was sworn in as a councillor.
33.
Dan Plato was elected Mayor of Cape Town on 6 November 2018 during a special council sitting.
34.
On 1 August 2020, Dan Plato declared that he was a candidate for regional chairperson of the Democratic Alliance.
35.
Dan Plato was elected at the party's regional conference in October 2020, defeating incumbent Grant Twigg.
36.
Dan Plato was up against the DA's Shadow Minister of Finance in the National Assembly Geordin Hill-Lewis and the DA provincial leader Bonginkosi Madikizela.
37.
Dan Plato was reported to be upset with the party's decision and mulled resigning from politics, though he pledged to support Hill-Lewis's campaign.
38.
Dan Plato delivered his last speech to the Cape Town City Council as Executive Mayor on 29 September 2021 and received a standing ovation.
39.
In December 2021, the DA announced that Dan Plato would be taking up Bonginkosi Madikizela's seat in the Provincial Parliament.
40.
On returning to the Provincial Parliament, Dan Plato said that he was "glad to be back home" and that he has "no regrets" about leaving the City of Cape Town.
41.
In February 2024, Dan Plato resigned from the DA, and announced that he was joining the People's Movement for Change.