Johannesburg Mayor Dr Mpho Phalatse said safety concerns have been raised over her life after three ANC Joburg mayors died within one year, of which two died from car accidents. Phalatse said a pattern of what was happening was very concerning.
Speaking at funeral service of Mpho Moerane, the ex-mayor of Johannesburg in Alexandra on Sunday, Democratic Allaiance (DA) mayor Phalatse told mourners that the deaths of mayors Geoff Makhubu and Julidee Motongo, who both died within a three-month gap last year, has raised questions about the mayoral seat.
Dr Phalatse said 18 councillors have died between 2016 and 2021, which now includes her predecessor. “We’ve been through a lot as the city…it’s all too much for us to take in, we have so many questions. I’ve received many words of condolences, prayers but am also detecting a lot of fear, a fear that I would be next.
“And indeed, as tacticians would say, the balance of probabilities is that if one looks the at city mayorship, there is a very concerning pattern. But I want to let everyone know that I will not die prematurely, we trust God to deliver us. I’ve been warned not to entertain that thinking but to rather trust in life, because death and life are words of the tongue,” Phalatse added.
Source: The Citizen, Eyewitness News, The South African, Sowetan Live, Times Live, image from Twitter
