At 30 years old, Mlungisi Mabaso is the City of Johannesburg’s (CoJs) youngest Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC).
Mabaso is originally from a small village in KwaZulu-Natal, but moved to Johannesburg in 2006, where he stayed with his mother in the Dube Hostel for nine years.
He currently lives in the Soweto area, but still regularly visits his mother and heeds her advice. “My mother is one of the strongest women I know. She provided for the family as a single mother and worked extremely hard. I look up to her more than anyone,” said Mabaso.
While he never initially planned to enter politics, Mabaso’s experience living in the hostel bloomed into a passion for helping less fortunate community members, and after being a community activist, he knew becoming politician would help his cause.
As the MMC for Housing, Mabaso is resolute that he’ll improve the living conditions for the City’s poorer residents, whom he refers to as ‘the forgotten’. His personal experiences and the lessons he has learned from his various role models inspire him to help people wherever he can. Throughout the lockdown period, Mabaso visited several government-owned facilities and old age homes, including the Donovan MacDonald Retirement Village, to personally hand over care packages.
The MMC has been extremely active in the various CoJ communities since he was awarded his position under Mayor Geoff Makhubo in December 2019. He said he believes that the current housing backlog is one of the City’s biggest problems and that people have been waiting far too long for their RDP housing. Mabaso explained that one of his priorities is working to house more people who have been on the allocation list since as far back as 1996. He said that he is fighting for more resources to be allocated to the various housing initiative, which include RDP Housing Mega Projects, building student accommodation and social housing in the inner cities, and upgrading informal settlements.
Mabaso said the housing department has several plans for Region C, some of which are already in motion, but he is appealing to desperate RDP applicants to be patient while waiting for their homes. “I am aware that you have been waiting for too long, but the department cannot tolerate illegal occupants. The government will help, but processes need to be followed, so I am appealing to everyone to be patient.”
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City of Johannesburg — At 30 years old, Mlungisi Mabaso, is the City of Johannesburg’s (CoJs) youngest Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC).
Originally from a small village in KwaZulu-Natal, Mabaso moved to Johannesburg in 2006, where he lived in the Dube Hostel with his mother for nine years. He currently lives in the Soweto area, but still regularly visits his mother and heeds her advice. “My mother is one of the strongest women I know. She provided for the family as a single mother and worked extremely hard. I look up to her more than anyone,” said Mabaso.
While he never initially planned to enter politics, Mabaso’s experience living in the hostel bloomed into a passion for helping less fortunate community members, and after being a community activist, he knew becoming politician would help his cause.
As the MMC for Housing, Mabaso is resolute that he’ll improve the living conditions for the City’s poorer residents, whom he refers to as ‘the forgotten’. His personal experiences and the lessons he has learned from his various role models inspire him to help people wherever he can. Throughout the lockdown period, Mabaso visited several government-owned facilities and old age homes, including the Donovan MacDonald Retirement Village, to personally hand over care packages.
In August, Mabaso handed over keys to the first 40 beneficiaries of RDP houses in Fleurhof and has been gradually filling the flats over the past few months, saying that they needed to be allocated in phases due to social distancing regulations. He said that the housing backlog is one of the City’s biggest problems and that people have been waiting far too long.
Mabaso further explained that one of his priorities is working to house more people who have been on the allocation list since as far back as 1996. He said that he is fighting for more resources to be allocated to the various housing initiative, which include RDP Housing Mega Projects, building student accommodation and social housing in the inner cities, and upgrading informal settlements.
“I am aware that you have been waiting for too long, but the department cannot tolerate illegal occupants. The government will help, but processes need to be followed, so I am appealing to everyone to be patient.”
