The Newly – Elected Mayor Of Johannesburg Dies In A Car Accident

Ebenezer Moore
By Ebenezer Moore
2 Min Read

Jolidee Matongo became the city’s executive mayor in an unopposed race on August 10. He took over from the late former mayor Geoff Makhubo, who passed away from Covid complications in early July.17 Aug 2021.

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Jolidee Matongo, the newly elected Mayor of Johannesburg, died in a car accident on September 18th, a month after being elected following the death of his predecessor due to COVID-19 problems.

olidee-Matongo-accident-scene.jpeg
Jolidee-Matongo-accident-scene.jpeg

According to reports, the tragedy occurred while the 46-year-old politician was returning from a voter registration campaign in Soweto township ahead of municipal elections with South Africa’s president.

He was a member of the governing African National Congress (ANC), and was expected to be at the forefront of the party’s campaign to win Johannesburg – South Africa’s commercial capital – in local government elections due on 1 November.

Matongo’s car collided with a van while attempting to avoid a pedestrian who had ran onto the road, according to sources. Mr Matongo’s two bodyguards are being treated in hospital for their injuries, as are the pedestrian and the second vehicle’s driver.

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“It is difficult to grasp this tragedy, given the vigor and passion with which Mayor Matongo talked with me and residents of Soweto so just before his death,” President Cyril Ramaphosa stated.

“Nothing could have prepared any of us for this unexpected loss, which has left our nation’s economic heartland without an Executive Mayor for the second time in two months.”

Matongo is the son of a Zimbabwean migrant and has been a political activist in South Africa since the age of 13, advocating against apartheid, the country’s legalized system of racism at the time.

He was a member of the governing African National Congress (ANC), and was expected to be at the forefront of the party’s campaign to win Johannesburg – South Africa’s commercial capital – in local government elections due on 1 November.

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