Amos Masondo

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Amos Masondo (2007)

Amos Nkosiyakhe Masondo (born April 21, 1953 in Louwsburg ) is a South African politician. He is a member of the African National Congress (ANC). From 2000 to 2011 he was Mayor of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality . In 2019 he was elected Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces .

Life

Masondo was born in what was then the province of Natal , but grew up in the township of Soweto . In 1972 he became a member of the student movement SASM and from 1974 was involved in underground political activities. Masondo was arrested soon after and on Robben Island from 1975-1982imprisoned. After his release, he joined the Soweto Civic Association (SCA), a local civil rights organization. At the same time he served on the Committee of Ten, a group of activists that took on a leadership role in the aftermath of the 1976 riots. Masondo was also active in the General and Allied Workers Union (GAWU) from 1981 to 1985, and from 1983 onwards in an organizational function. In the same year he co-founded the “ United Democratic Front ” (UDF), which became one of the most important anti-apartheid organizations.

Masondo was again detained from June 1985 to March 1986 and July 1986 to July 1989. In the following period the end of apartheid was initiated, in this transition phase he worked from 1989 to 1993 at the trade union umbrella organization Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). From 1990 onwards, since the legalization of the ANC, Masondo was active in this at the provincial level and took on coordinative tasks in the previous year of the 1994 elections. Subsequently, he was responsible for the government in the Executive Council for the health sector from 1994–1998 in the newly created Gauteng Province . In 1996, Masondo was also treasurer of the ANC in this province and, before he became mayor, from 1999 to 2000 political advisor to Gauteng Prime Minister Mbhazima Shilowa .

In the mayor's election, Masondo was not the first choice, and in press comments he was attested to a lack of charisma. The ANC's victory in the local elections of December 2000 was 59.18% compared to its only serious competitor, the Democratic Alliance (33.78%).

Masondo headed a city with an enormous crime rate and great social tension. During his reign, the number of surveillance cameras in the city center was expanded. This was also related to the challenge of clarifying the security issue as much as possible for the 2010 World Cup . In this context, Masondo had stated that it wanted to provide sufficient infrastructure.

In 2019 Masondo was elected Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces , the first chamber of the South African Parliament.

Familiar

Masondo is married and has three children.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Politics in South Africa: From Mandela to Mbeki by Tom Lodge, p. 102. James Currey Publishers, Oxford 2003
  2. ↑ elections.org.za: election results of the local elections of December 2000 ( Memento of November 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Masondo, Amos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Masondo, Amos Nkosiyakhe (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African politician
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Louwsburg