City bids farewell to Mayor Jolidee Matongo
The City of Johannesburg has been rocked by the death of its Executive Mayor, Jolidee Matongo, who died tragically in a motor vehicle accident on the evening of September 18.
The City of Johannesburg has been rocked by the death of its Executive Mayor, Jolidee Matongo, who died tragically in a motor vehicle accident on the evening of September 18.
Matongo, who was 46 years old at the time of his death, has been hailed by his peers as ‘a committed and selfless activist who dedicated his time to serving the people’.
Matongo had been executive mayor of the City of Johannesburg for little over a month, having been elected unopposed as mayor on August 10, following the death of previous executive mayor Geoff Makhubo in July this year.
On the day of his death, Matongo had been campaigning alongside President Cyril Ramaphosa in Soweto. Ramaphosa has said the time spent with him that day has been rendered a ‘priceless treasure’.
In an emotion-filled statement, the president said, “It is hard to comprehend this tragedy, given the vitality and passion with which Mayor Matongo interacted with me and residents of Soweto so shortly before his death. Nothing could prepare any of us for this sudden loss, which has deprived our nation’s economic centre of its second executive mayor in two months.
“Mayor Matongo has been taken from us at a time when he was totally immersed in improving conditions and creating opportunities for all the people of Johannesburg and stakeholders in the metropolitan economy.
“Like all of us, he was looking forward to the forthcoming election, and we saw in person today [September 18] that he had put his heart and soul into mobilising the people of the city to make their voices heard on November 1. The time we spent together has been rendered a priceless treasure given his untimely and traumatic passing. May his soul rest in peace.”
Prior to his tenure as executive mayor, Matongo had served as MMC for Finance, under Makhubo. He was a seasoned politician, who held various qualifications and, at the time of his election, was pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Administration. He lived with his wife and family in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg.
