Dan Plato - a Mayor Under Pressure

August 2020t Dan Plato - a Mayor under pressure

The Mayor of Cape Town occupies a high-profile position. Heading the DA's flagship metro, Dan Plato follows in the sizeable and controversial footsteps of Patricia de Lille and before her, Helen Zille. It is also a role that comes with considerable pressure from the perennial and current surge of protests, as new entrants and backyard dwellers try to find a home in the densely-packed and highly contested Cape Flats. In the months ahead, Plato will need to assist residents with shelter while stemming a wave of violent land invasions seen in recent weeks (www.municipaliq.co.za). Priority #1: Stemming a wave of protests

Daniel "Dan" Plato was born in Cape Town, and according to Wikipedia "was involved in political activities during his high school career ... [as] a community organiser and [he] played a crucial role in mobilising residents against the Apartheid government" (en.wikipedia.org). This latter description could be (and has been) argued to sit uncomfortably with his decision to join the National Party in 1990 (www.iol.co.za) - the very architect of apartheid, which he joined prior even to the dismantling of the apartheid system.

Plato, rooted then in the more conservative branch of the DA, is nonetheless seasoned in the running of Cape Town. His political career began with his election as a ward councillor in 1996 (after serving as Cape Town Chairperson of the South African National Tuberculosis Association), taking on Cape Town’s Economic Development, Tourism and Property Management Portfolio Committee in the early 2000s, and progressing to Housing Portfolio in the Mayoral Committee (2006-09), before being appointed Mayor between 2009-11, whereafter he shifted to the Western Cape Cabinet (as MEC for Community Safety), before reclaiming the Mayoral chains in 2018 (en.wikipedia.org, www.thesouthafrican.com).

The Mayor's latest political test came when an unclothed Khayelitsha resident, Bulelani Qholani, was dragged from his shack - an action which Plato condemned, but also suggested may have been staged (www.reuters.com, briefly.co.za). While many human rights advocates have been critical of Cape Town's seemingly callous lockdown evictions (especially in some of the most unforgiving weather conditions, www.iol.co.za), the rash of recent protests give some credence to the suggestion that there has been an orchestrated exploitation of the moratorium on evictions (www.iol.co.za). In an apparently successful engagement with the National Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu, Plato managed to reach agreement that while illegal invasions were not acceptable, there needs to be a concerted effort to deal with backyard evictions (in the face of falling income), and the chronic demand for affordable housing in Cape Town (www.iol.co.za). In light of the challenges posed by Covid-19, both politicians were sage not to escalate the precarious situation into one of point-scoring or finger-pointing.

Analysis

Plato, for all his knowledge of Cape Town, likely faces a difficult few months ahead as land invasions and protests continue to rage in the City. He will likely face ongoing pressure from human rights organisations and will need to ensure that evictions, while often necessary (on unsuitable land, for instance, or driven by nefarious motives), take place in a humane manner.