New Mayor of Cape Town: With soldiers against gangsters

Daniel "Dan" Plato stands on the observation deck of his ministry, behind him you can see the magnificent panorama of Cape Town, skyscrapers, Table Mountain. Soon he will move to a larger office in the town hall and have an even more beautiful view of the imposing rock massif: Plato is the new mayor of his city.

The 57-year-old professional politician, until now secretary of security of the province of Western Cape, is looking forward to the office. But he also knows the enormous challenges that await him: excessive crime, collapse of the public transport system, housing shortage, water crisis.

In the spring of this year Cape Town threatened to go out as the first million metropolis in the world the water. The good image of the city was scratched, unsettled holidaymakers from Europe canceled trips to the Cape.

A danger averted, umpteen problems unresolved

But the D-Day, the day X, where no more drops come out of the taps, could just be averted. "After the good winter rains, the worst is behind us," says Plato. "The drought and the empty dams have all opened our eyes, and we need to learn our lesson in times of climate change." Meanwhile, three seawater desalination plants were put into operation, which are to produce seven million liters of drinking water per day.

The citizens have changed their behavior and would be more economical with the precious resource, praises Plato. He also follows the new rules: "When I shower, I collect the water in a bucket and then use it for the toilet flush."

The water emergency was foreseeable. Cape Town had about two million inhabitants 25 years ago, today it is nearly twice as many. The city administration has ignored the impending supply gap for a long time criminally and acted only at the last second.

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Dan Plato does not want to leave it that way. He was once Mayor, from 2009 to 2011 - and already warned. But his report had been ignored by the relevant authorities and disappeared in any drawer. "Then I was dropped off."

Second chance for Plato

Now, for the second time, he succeeds Patricia de Lille, who was overthrown by the Democratic Alliance (DA) party members; they accused them of mismanagement and involvement in corruption cases, but have not been able to provide valid evidence to date. For months, raged in the city council Diadochenkämpfe, even Plato is said to have contributed to the dismantling of his predecessor.

Barely elected, he takes over De Lille's proven defense strategy: The main blame for all abuses in Cape Town is reflexively slipped to the national government.

The latest example is the collapse of Metrorail public transport, an offshoot of the state railway company. At times only eight out of 33 trains rolled on the central line of Cape Town. Tens of thousands of commuters were stranded every morning on their way to work in the city. "The government is responsible for that, it neglected the railway for years," says Plato.

Even more serious are the failures in the fight against crime. In the latest nationwide crime statistics, the province of Western Cape is at the forefront, with an average of ten people per day murdered and 19 sex crimes per day. Cape Town is the murder capital of South Africa, Nyanga, Mfuleni, Elsie's Rivier and other slums are referred to as "killing fields". In 2016, 93 percent of households were affected by crime in the township of Philippi East.

"The gangsters have taken power"

More than 130 gangs are terrorizing the population in the neglected suburbs of the city. "In some places, gangsters have taken power," admits Plato. Also in it he sees a failure of the central government. "It has withdrawn thousands of police reservists from the affected townships and dissolved a special unit, opening the floodgates of drug and gang crime."

A corrupt national police chief had even maintained ties to the Cape Town underworld and had been bought by serious criminals. "How is it that most of the 40 firearms confiscated each week in Cape Town are from the police?" asks Plato. Two years ago, a former police colonel confessed to having delivered 4200 rifles and pistols to middlemen who resold them to gangsters.

It has a tradition in Cape Town to pass on the buck to the government in Pretoria, the newly elected mayor is no exception. This distracts from its own bungling in many areas, from poverty reduction to health policy to housing.

Behind this "blame game" is the fight for votes: The Liberal Democratic Alliance holds the majority in the Western Cape and in Cape Town. It is largely elected by white South Africans and sells itself as a solid party, allegedly better governing than the corrupt official-dominated African National Congress (ANC) at the national level.

Disputed before taking office

"Under the leadership of Dan Plato nothing will improve," predicts Thandi Makasi, the ANC faction leader in the city parliament. The man is untrustworthy, because he made secret deals with the gangsters and even "swims in the swamp".

Meanwhile, in the neglected suburbs, popular anger is growing among the politicians of all camps. The slum dwellers suffer from poverty, unemployment and crime, and every week schoolchildren are kidnapped, raped or shot dead in gang fights. They can no longer hear it when inactive and incompetent politicians accuse each other.

"We will not put up with the lies of the DA and the ANC, they both failed," said Axolile Notywala. He is the secretary-general of the Social Justice Coalition, a grassroots movement in the townships. In his furious speech, he also named Dan Plato by name.

But now it's time to put on the mayor's golden chain. Then he wants to clean up, and he has a simple strategy against the outbreaks of violence: to upgrade security forces, form special forces, massively strengthen police stations in the crisis districts. "I am also in favor of sending soldiers to the townships." Plato talks as if parts of his city are at war. However, it is questionable whether a deployment of the army is the solution.