Dan Plato | |
|---|---|
 Plato in 2019 | |
| Mayor of Cape Town | |
| In office 6 November 2018 – 31 October 2021 | |
| Deputy | Ian Neilson |
| Preceded by | Ian Neilson (acting) Patricia De Lille |
| Succeeded by | Geordin Hill-Lewis |
| In office 12 May 2009 – 1 June 2011 | |
| Deputy | Grant Haskin Ian Neilson |
| Preceded by | Grant Haskin (acting) Helen Zille |
| Succeeded by | Patricia de Lille |
| Western Cape Provincial Minister of Community Safety | |
| In office 1 June 2011 – 31 October 2018 | |
| Premier | Helen Zille |
| Preceded by | Albert Fritz |
| Succeeded by | Alan Winde |
| Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament | |
| In office 18 January 2022 – 13 February 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Bonginkosi Madikizela |
| In office 1 June 2011 – 31 October 2018 | |
| Constituency | City of Cape Town |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Daniel Plato 5 October 1960 Cape Town, South Africa |
| Political party | People's Movement for Change (2024–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Democratic Alliance (2002–2024) National Party (1990–1997) New National Party (1998–2002) |
| Occupation | Politician |
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. He is the former mayor of Cape Town, a position he held for two nonconsecutive terms from May 2009 until June 2011 and again from November 2018 until October 2021. From June 2011 to October 2018, he was the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Community Safety.
Born in Cape Town, Plato was involved in political activities during his high school career. He was a community organiser and played a crucial role in mobilising residents against the Apartheid government. He was elected as a ward councillor in 1996. Plato was elected Mayor of Cape Town in May 2009, succeeding Helen Zille, who was elected Premier of the Western Cape.
In 2011, the Democratic Alliance nominated Patricia de Lille as the party's Cape Town mayoral candidate for the 2011 local government elections. Plato left office on 1 June 2011 and subsequently took office as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament and took up the position of Provincial Minister of Community Safety, succeeding Albert Fritz.
In August 2018, he declared his candidacy to succeed De Lille as Mayor of Cape Town. The Democratic Alliance named him as the party's preferred candidate in September 2018. Plato resigned as both Provincial Minister of Community Safety and Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament in late-October 2018. He was sworn in as a councillor on 1 November 2018 and was elected Mayor on 6 November. In August 2021, the DA nominated party spokesperson on finance and Member of Parliament, Geordin Hill-Lewis, as their mayoral candidate for the City of Cape Town for the municipal elections on 1 November 2021. The DA retained their majority on the Cape Town city council. In December 2021, the DA announced that Plato would be returning to the Provincial Parliament in early 2022. He was sworn in as an MPP on 18 January 2022. He resigned from the DA and joined Marius Fransman's People's Movement for Change in February 2024.[1]
- ^ Ludidi, Velani (13 February 2024). "Dan Plato ditches DA over policies and Palestine, joins Marius Fransman's People's Movement for Change". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 15 February 2024.