Dan Plato, who is the current MEC for Community Safety in the Western Cape, will take over from Patricia De Lille as she vacates her office as Executive Mayor on October 31.
Plato is familiar with bearing the weight of the mayoral chains, as he was De Lille’s predecessor between 2009 and 2011.
Speaking to IOL, Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson, Solly Malatsi, said the pool of candidates for the position made it difficult to choose from. “FedEx considered the results of the selection panel for the mayor of the City of Cape Town. A number of truly excellent candidates applied, including Sharna Fernandez, Ian Neilson, Heinrich Volmink, Brett Herron, and Dan Plato. All the candidates were highly competent and capable. It is a testament to the DA’s work in Cape Town over the past decade that a pool of such notable talent has developed over time.”
Janine Myburgh, President of the Cape Chamber of Commerce, said the City can now look forward to calmer and more productive management under Plato. “He is well respected and he has more than 20 years of experience in local government both as an official and as a leader,” Myburgh said.
She added that Plato had done the job before and his experience in many areas of the City’s administration made him “the most knowledgeable new mayor for many years”. In addition, his service in the provincial cabinet has prepared him well to deal with the new challenges the City is facing. “We need some major repair work to our image after the recent drought. We need to rebuild the film industry and get tourism back onto a growth path.”
Myburgh said the City and the Province had worked together well to grow the local economy and said he was ideally placed to continue this work. “The Chamber congratulates him and I would like to assure him that he has the full support of the Chamber and business for this important work.”
Malatsi also added that DA party leader, Mmusi Maimane, declined the offer to stand as the Western Cape Premier. “The DA’s national electoral objectives stand as Mr Maimane’s number one priority, and the Party stands behind his commitment to build a better South Africa and stronger DA. It is essential that we grow our support across the country in order to bring change that builds One South Africa for All. Change founded on a commitment to fight corruption, create access to real, long-term jobs, overhaul the South African Police Service to make it honest and professional, secure our borders and speed up the delivery to basic services.”
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