Jolidee Matongo (1974 – 18 September 2021) was a South African politician who served as the

mayor of Johannesburg The mayor of Johannesburg is the highest elected position in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Since 2000, they are the chief executive of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality council. On 16 August 2024, the council elected D ...

from 10 August 2021 until his death on 18 September 2021. Prior to his election as mayor, he served as the member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for finance under his predecessor,

Geoff Makhubo Moloantoa Geoffrey Makhubo (8 February 1968 – 9 July 2021) was a South African politician who served as the Mayor of Johannesburg from December 2019 until his death from COVID-19 in July 2021. He was a member of the African National Congress an ...

, who died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

complications. Matongo was a member of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

Personal life

Matongo was born in

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

, south of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, his father was a Zimbabwean migrant. He held a diploma in public management, a B-Tech degree in public management from the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA) is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

, and a post-graduate diploma in management from

Milpark Education Established in 1997, Milpark Education is a South African  private higher educational institution. Milpark is composed of four schools: the Business School, the School of Professional Accounting (incorporating CA Connect), the School of Fi ...

. At the time of his death, he was studying for a master's degree in public management through the

Management College of Southern Africa The Management College of Southern Africa (MANCOSA) is an education institution located in Durban, South Africa. It is a private higher education institution, established in 1995 as a post-apartheid empowerment institution, offering affordabl ...

. Matongo lived with his family in

Lenasia Lenasia, also known as Lenz, is a Suburbs of Johannesburg, suburb south of Soweto in the Gauteng Province, Gauteng province, South Africa, originally created to house Indian South Africans, Indians. It is located in Region G of the City of Joha ...

Political career

Matongo became involved in politics at the age of 13. He was a member of the Soweto Student Congress and the

Congress of South African Students The Congress of South African Students (COSAS) is an anti-apartheid student organisation established in 1979 in the wake of the June 16 Soweto Uprisings in 1976 in South Africa. Background COSAS was formed in June 1979 after the South African Stu ...

(COSAS) before he became the regional head of communications of the

for eight years. Matongo worked for the

City of Johannesburg The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality () is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is divided into several branches and departments in order to expedite se ...

's housing department before he became deputy director of youth development in the municipality. Matongo was also chief of staff for multiple Gauteng Members of the Executive Council. In 2011, he was appointed a strategic support advisor in the office of the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Finance. He was a member of the ANC's regional executive committee (REC) in Johannesburg for 18 years where he served as spokesperson. Matongo was appointed MMC for Finance following

's election as mayor in December 2019, replacing the Democratic Alliance's Funzela Ngobeni, who was defeated by Makhubo in the race for mayor. In July 2020, Matongo denied allegations of political motivation for removing members of the city's organisations. In April 2021, he announced a new debt rehabilitation programme for people affected by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and struggling to pay their mortgages. In May, Matongo promised increased spending on the

townships A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

and informal settlements of Ivory Park,

Kliptown Kliptown is a suburb of the formerly black township of Soweto in Gauteng, South Africa, located about 17 km south-west of Johannesburg. Kliptown is the oldest residential district of Soweto, and was first laid out in 1891 on land which form ...

and

Orange Farm Orange Farm ("Farma") is a township located approximately from Johannesburg in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. It is the southernmost township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Its name, a misnomer given that oranges ...

, and gave 19.9 billion rand to the City Power company for infrastructure improvement.

Mayor of Johannesburg

Geoff Makhubo died from

complications in July 2021. On 3 August 2021, Matongo was one of three candidates whose names were submitted to the ANC provincial executive committee and the ANC national executive committee by the ANC's regional executive committee to replace Makhubo as mayor. He was considered the frontrunner. On 5 August he was formally endorsed by the ANC's national leadership. Matongo was elected mayor unopposed on 10 August 2021 as he was the only candidate nominated for the position.

Death

Matongo was killed in a car accident on 18 September 2021. He had been travelling on the R553 route (also known as ''The Golden Highway''), and two other people were killed in the crash. He had served as mayor for slightly more than a month. Earlier that day, he had campaigned in

with

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...

and Gauteng Premier

David Makhura Manemolla David Makhura (born 22 February 1968) is a South African politician who served as the sixth Premier of Gauteng from May 2014 to October 2022. Since his resignation from that office, he has worked as head of political education for his ...

ahead of the

municipal elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct var ...

scheduled for 1 November 2021. His funeral was held on 21 September.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matongo, Jolidee 1975 births 2021 deaths African National Congress politicians Mayors of Johannesburg Mayors of places in South Africa People from Soweto Politicians from Gauteng Road incident deaths in South Africa South African people of Zimbabwean descent