News24 | EFF’s Mofokeng slams ‘oppressive systems’ as she campaigns to lead Joburg into a new era

Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, who has served as UN Special Rapporteur on Health, is running for Johannesburg mayor under the EFF.

Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius

• Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, who has served as UN Special Rapporteur on Health, is running for Johannesburg mayor under the EFF.
• Mofokeng criticises opponents, claiming some represent oppressive systems and harmful ideologies, urging voters to choose the EFF for transformative leadership.
• She emphasises the 4 November election’s importance, opposing privatisation and right-wing agendas and advocating for Johannesburg residents’ rights and service delivery.
• For more political news visit News24.com.

Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health and physician Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng says that running for mayor of Johannesburg for the EFF, after travelling the world and championing reproductive and sexual health, is not a demotion.

In fact, Mofokeng believes her extensive work in the sector makes her the most suitable candidate to run a city such as Johannesburg.

According to Mofokeng, who was featured on News24’s video podcast, RealPolitiki, her previous work for the UN has prepared her for this very moment.

“I’ve been tasked with investigating and doing official missions on why particular countries’ health systems are not yielding the kind of results [expected],” Mofokeng said.

She said these studies focused on water, sanitation, food, health, education and the environment, and on how these factors intersect and impact the right to health.

Mofokeng said:

I think it’s really a plus that for a city that wants to be a world-class, African city, you get the world-class experience, you get the world-class leadership that understands the geopolitics of where we find ourselves as the world and therefore where Joburg can truly emerge as a world-class city.

As the campaign for the City of Johannesburg heats up, Mofokeng has settled into the role of potential mayor, which she describes as “coming home”.

The EFF is the fourth-largest party in the City of Johannesburg council, with 29 seats, having won 10.63% of the vote in the 2021 local government election.

Mofokeng is vying for the mayoral chain against candidates including the DA’s Helen Zille, ActionSA’s Herman Mashaba, Rise Mzansi’s Lukhona Mnguni and BOSA’s Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster, among others.

READ | HPCSA did not oppose Mofokeng’s ‘unprofessional conduct’ review because she had immunity

She said some of her opponents would concede that Johannesburg deserves and requires a young black woman who is determined and has a track record that speaks for itself in the country, the region and globally.

“It’s exactly what Johannesburg needs at the moment, and it’s fascinating when you look at the values, and often what I term as [being] up against racists, raging Zionists, imperialists on the ballot, and my message is very clear that by choosing the EFF by making sure that we get 50+1, people are choosing themselves,” Mofokeng said.

She said she considered the 4 November election as crucial because “Johannesburg is not up for sale, and it’s not up for experiment”.

“But there are people on the ballot who want to do exactly that: privatise our human rights, sell us and our services to the highest bidder and completely degenerate into a space where I don’t think we are quite fully understanding of how scary it is that there is a right-wing pull and push that is coordinated and well-funded in this country,” Mofokeng said, adding that if these parties take leadership in Johannesburg, their same oppressive systems could be easily replicated elsewhere in the country.

READ | IEC rebuts ANC’s appeal, presents proof and blames party for last-minute submission chaos

According to Mofokeng, that is why “so much money is being pumped into Johannesburg by funders”.

Mofokeng said:

That is why, for example, the DA’s candidate’s whole strategy is based on deceit and lies; moving from Cape Town to Johannesburg just to be the mayor.

“How much greed must you still express for power and control that you couldn’t even succeed in Cape Town, but you want us to accept... and that candidacy has been legitimised, and no one is questioning that underpinning deceit.”

She said people need to understand that at the heart of the race were “harmful systems of oppression, which have a desire to take us back as a nation to a very harmful oppressive system, and they are showing themselves in many ways”.

Mofokeng is expected to address the EFF’s Joburg manifesto launch on Saturday in Doornfontein, where she will outline her vision for the troubled City.