Xolani Ronald Sotashe is a South African politician who is the former Leader of the Opposition in the Cape Town City Council, former Leader 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 ...

in the Cape Town City Council, Chairperson of the African National Congress

Dullah Omar Abdullah Mohamed Omar OLS (26 May 1934 – 13 March 2004), better known as Dullah Omar, was a South African anti-Apartheid activist, lawyer, and a minister in the South African cabinet from 1994 until his death. Early life and education B ...

regional branch, current Member of the Cape Town City Council and the Chairperson of Subcouncil 9. He previously served as Chief Whip of the African National Congress in the Cape Town City Council and Chairperson of Subcouncil 24. He was the African National Congress mayoral candidate in 2016 and 2018, losing to

Patricia de Lille Patricia de Lille (née Lindt; born 17 February 1951) is a South African politician who is the current Minister of Tourism and leader of the political party Good. She served as Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure from 2019 to 2023. S ...

and

Dan Plato Daniel Plato (born 5 October 1960), known as Dan Plato, is a South African politician and a former Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. He served from June 2011 until October 2018 and again from January 2022 until February 2024. H ...

respectively.

Early life and career

Born in Cape Town, Sotashe is one of seven children. His mother is from Mfuleni, a township outside Kuils River. At an early age, Sotashe and his family moved to the

Transkei Transkei ( , meaning ''the area beyond Great Kei River,

he river The He River is a tributary of the Xi River in Guangxi and Guangdong provinces in China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it ...

Kei''), officially the Republic of Transkei (), was an list of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa f ...

, where he completed his primary and secondary education. He served on the student representative council of Ndema Senior Secondary School.Sotashe set on defeating De Lille
Retrieved on 21-10-2018. He later moved back to Cape Town and studied at Boland College and Helderberg College. He did courses at the University of Cape Town through the Development Action Group. Sotashe worked for Agfa Photo Fast. While working there, he developed a passion for photojournalism.

Political career

Sotashe was always involved in regional politics. While working at Agfa Photo Fast, Sotashe became involved in party politics. He was particularly active in the former South East ANC region of Cape Town. The region included areas such as the Strand, Somerset West and

Khayelitsha Khayelitsha () is a township (South Africa), township in Western Cape, South Africa, on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town, City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name is Xhosa language, Xhosa for ''New Home''. It is reputed to ...

. He was a member of the ANC Youth League in

Lwandle Lwandle (from a Zulu word meaning "ocean") is a township in Strand, a town in the eastern part of the Cape Town Metro in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Administratively it is a suburb of the City of Cape Town. Under Apartheid ...

, near Strand. The region later merged with other regions to create the present Dullah Omar region, which represents the entire Cape Town metropolitan area. He later became chairperson of the region and currently still holds the position. In 2000, Sotashe was elected councillor to the newly-created City of Cape Town Municipality. In his early years as councillor, he served as a ward councillor for ward 86, an area that included the township of Nomzamo in Strand. He now serves as a proportional representation councillor. He has served on many portfolio committees. After the 2011 municipal elections, he was appointed Chief Whip of the African National Congress caucus in the council and also Chairperson of the Subcouncil 24. He served in both positions until 2016. In June 2016, the African National Congress selected Sotashe to be the party's Cape Town mayoral candidate. He replaced Tony Ehrenreich who was the party's previous mayoral candidate in 2011. In August 2016, he subsequently lost to incumbent Mayor,

, by a wide margin as the African National Congress's support in the city decreased. He was then appointed Chairperson of Subcouncil 9. In November 2018, Sotashe was the ANC's candidate for the post of

Mayor of Cape Town The mayor of Cape Town is the head of the local government of Cape Town, South Africa; currently that government takes the form of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), Metropolitan Municipality. The mayoral position w ...

after

resigned. He was challenged for the position by

and Grant Haskin. He lost to Plato, receiving 53 votes compared to Plato's 146 votes. His other challenger, Haskin, received only 3 votes. In July 2022, Banele Majingo replaced Sotashe as the leader of the ANC caucus in council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sotashe, Xolani Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Xhosa people African National Congress politicians