Biography of Executive Mayor Dan Plato
Dan Plato is a South African politician and current Mayor of Cape Town since 6 November
He previously held the position from May 2009 until June 2011. He served as a Member
of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament and the Western Cape Provincial Minister of
Community Safety from 2011 to 2018.
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 a ward councillor in 1996. He was elected Mayor of
Cape Town in May 2009. He succeeded Helen Zille, who was elected Premier of the Western
Cape.
In 2011, the Democratic Alliance nominated Patricia de Lille to be the party’s Cape Town
mayoral candidate ahead of the 2011 local government elections. Plato left office on 1 June
He subsequently took office as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.
Premier Helen Zille reshuffled her Provincial Cabinet and appointed Plato to the position of
Provincial Minister of Community Safety, succeeding Albert Fritz.
In August 2018, he declared his candidacy to succeed Patricia de Lille as Mayor of Cape
Town. The Democratic Alliance named him the party’s preferred candidate in September
Plato resigned both as 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. He was elected Mayor on 6 November 2018.