Jolidee Matongo : newly elected Mayor of Johannesburg, has died in a car accident which took place on Saturday September 18.
The 46-year-old politician who was elected one month ago, was said to have been returning from campaign he went with South Africa’s president for voter registration in Soweto township ahead of the town’s local elections, when the accident occurred.
Reports from local media explained that Matongo’s vehicle experienced head on collision with a van while trying to bypass a pedestrian who had run on to the road. The pedestrian and the other vehicle’s driver also died, but Mr Matongo’s two bodyguards are being treated in hospital for their injuries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa whilst commenting on his death, said; it is a hard one to comprehend, since the decease had accompanied and interacted with him and other residents during his visit to Soweto. Matongo became a mayor on 10 August following the untimely demise of his predecessor from COVID-19 complications. He is the son of a Zimbabwean migrant and has been a political activist in South Africa since the age of 13, campaigning against apartheid .
He was an astute member of the governing African National Congress (ANC), and was perceived to be at the frontline of the party’s campaign to win South Africa’s commercial capital – Johannesburg – in local government (LG ) elections scheduled on 1 November .
Apartheid : a legalised system of racism that was in place at the time.