Plato faces tightrope act – Smith

INCOMING mayor Dan Plato will have to focus on the high water tariffs, rampant crime – specifically gang violence – and uniting the DA Cape Town caucus when he takes office in November. That is the view of party caucus leader JP Smith, who was speaking on the sidelines of the DA’s premier candidate announcement yesterday.

Smith said Plato’s greatest strength was his ability to work with the community.

“Dan has a great way of working with communities and he has worked very well with several difficult situations in the past when he was mayor. I have seen him sitting late at night in meetings with communities, listening to concerns and taking action. It is certainly something he and Helen (Zille) have in common.”

But Smith said there were issues within the City that needed to be dealt with, especially around the water crisis.

“For the first time, we have charged our residents a flat rate and there has been a push-back to this. We have seen that there are several challenges with the new water charges,” Smith said.

Plato said he had no plans to change the mayco.

“If something is working, why change it?. I had telephonic discussions with Patricia de Lille and will discuss the way forward with her over next week.”

ANC City of Cape Town chief whip Thandi Makasi said Plato had been “swimming in the mud” with his clandestine dealings with gangsters on the Cape Flats.

“It is the same Dan Plato who, in July 2013, was reportedly briefing gangsters in an effort to defame ANC ministers,” Makasi said.