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Meet the African Transformation Movement’s first mayor, Danny Thupane

Meet the African Transformation Movement’s first mayor, Danny Thupane
Queenin Masuabi
By Queenin Masuabi
25 Apr 2023
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The Mogale City Council on Tuesday voted in new leadership, which saw the African Transformation Movement’s Danny Thupane receive 43 votes — enough to have him installed as mayor.

An alliance between the ANC and EFF has led to yet another one-seat party, the African Transformation Movement (ATM), being voted in to lead a municipality in Gauteng.  

Councillor Danny Thupane was voted in with 43 votes — 31 from the ANC, 11 from the EFF and one from the ATM — making up just over 50% of the council. The DA’s Tyrone Gray, who was ousted last week, fell short with 34 votes. The ANC’s Lucky Godfrey was elected as the Speaker while the EFF’s Tsholofelo Rammaisa is the new whip. 

Thupane told Daily Maverick he was optimistic about the future of Mogale City. He dismissed claims that he would be a “puppet” of the ANC and EFF.  

Read more in Daily Maverick: Coalition governing: Is there a DA traitor in Mogale City? 

Thupane takes over a municipality that faces many service delivery issues. The most recent Auditor-General report gave the municipality a worse outcome than in previous financial years. 

“People must get rid of the perception that smaller parties do not have the ability to do the work. I am not expecting any challenges, because in my experience there is no Big Brother in politics; logic will always prevail,” Thupane said.  

The ANC-EFF marriage has led to minority parties leading in Ekurhuleni and the City of Joburg. The now former City of Joburg executive mayor Thapelo Amad was heavily criticised during his brief stint as the city’s first citizen.




Thupane made a number of promises after his election. 

“I am certain of the fact that political management will help to steer the municipality towards a higher plan towards inclusive and sustainable service delivery for the remainder of the 2021-26 political term of office. 

“The people of Mogale City deserve nothing less than dedication and a responsive government that is in touch with the wants and needs of the people. Our first order of business is to select a formidable mayoral team that will be able to meet the expectations of the people and will hit the ground running,” Thupane said.  

Thupane, affectionately known by many as “Bra Stix”, is originally from the south of Johannesburg but spent most of his life in Munsieville in Krugersdorp. He began his political career with the ANC in the 1990s and  joined the ATM in 2018.  

“The turbulence in the ANC was not in line with my own values, so I joined ATM,” he said. 

He first became a councillor in 2000 and went on to occupy a number of positions in Mogale City. He also served on the South African Local Government Association and the Independent Development Trust.  

He holds two certificates from the University of Pretoria, for completing the Executive Leadership Municipal Development Programme and the Municipal Management Development Programme.   

Two Mogale City councillors belonging to the ANC, Merriam Mogoje and Mlungisi Ndamase, submitted a motion of no confidence in Gray in February after the latest Auditor-General report.

Read more in Daily Maverick: DA death knell sounds in Mogale City as ANC-EFF partnership juggernaut steams onwards 

The report found that reasonable steps were not taken to prevent irregular expenditure. It also stated that the municipality was unable to avert fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to R28,845,611. 

The DA had been running a minority government in the city since November 2021. DM

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