27 Facts About Mpho Phalatse

Mpho Louisa Phalatse was born on 7 November 1977 and is a South African medical doctor and politician who was the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.

Mpho Phalatse is the first woman to serve as mayor of the metropolitan municipality, which was established in 2000.

Mpho Phalatse 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.

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

Mpho Phalatse was born on 7 November 1977 in Hebron, Pretoria.

Mpho Phalatse lived with her grandmother in Hebron for the first few years of her life before she joined her parents in Mabopane.

Mpho Phalatse became a doctor in 2005 and interned at Tembisa Hospital.

Mpho Phalatse then did community service in Hammanskraal before she began working at the Jubilee Hospital.

Mpho Phalatse began studying project management studies at the Cranefield College during her community service year.

Mpho Phalatse later achieved an advanced diploma and postgraduate diploma in Project Management and Programme Management.

Mpho Phalatse is a Certified Independent Medical Examiner with the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners.

Mpho Phalatse joined the Democratic Alliance and was elected to the Johannesburg City Council in 2016.

Mpho Phalatse served in the Mayoral Committee until Mashaba resigned as mayor in November 2019.

On 23 August 2021, DA leader John Steenhuisen announced that Mpho Phalatse had been selected as the DA's mayoral candidate for the City of Johannesburg for the local government elections on 1 November 2021.

At the first council meeting on 22 November 2021, Mpho Phalatse was elected as the Executive Mayor of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.

Mpho Phalatse was elected with the help of smaller parties, such as the Economic Freedom Fighters, the Freedom Front Plus and ActionSA.

Mpho Phalatse is the first woman to serve as mayor of the metropolitan municipality, the first black female mayor of Johannesburg and the second woman after Jessie McPherson who served from 1945 to 1946.

On 26 November 2021, Mpho Phalatse issued a moratorium on the filling of vacant positions and the extension of employment contracts in the City of Johannesburg.

On 13 December 2021, Mpho Phalatse announced the formation of her ten-member multi-party mayoral committee.

Mpho 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.

Mpho 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.

On 30 September 2022, Mpho Phalatse was voted out as mayor and the High Court struck her case off the roll.

On 26 January 2023, Mpho 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.

Mpho Phalatse launched her campaign on 30 January 2023 at the Hector Peterson Memorial in Soweto.

Mpho Phalatse said that her work as a technocrat and leading the multi-party coalition in Johannesburg had "sufficiently prepared" her for the position.

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

Mpho 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.