Solly Msimanga Biography
Solly Msimanga is a South African politician who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. He was born on 16th July 1980 in Pretoria, South Africa with a middle name Tshepiso.
Solly Msimanga worked with Project Literacy and was enlisted at the Liberian embassy at one stage. Later on, he was employed by the United States embassy. He has been a national director for Legal Education And Development and has held multiple senior management positions in the private sector.
Solly first joined the DA in 2006. After having attended a DA event, he wrote to the party criticizing its campaign approach and was soon offered a staff position by the party’s CEO Ryan Coetzee. He eventually began rising through the ranks of the party.
In May 2011, he was elected to the Tshwane City Council, and in the same year, he became the leader of the DA’s Gauteng North region.
In May 2014, the politician was elected as a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. He was appointed the party’s provincial spokesperson for sports and served on the Education and Economic Development Portfolio Committees in the legislature. He then proceeded to succeed Mike Moriarty as DA Provincial Chairperson in November 2014.
As a Mayor
In September 2015, Solly Msimanga was announced as the DA’s mayoral candidate for the City of Tshwane in the 2016 municipal elections. He defeated Brandon Topham and Bronwyn Engelbrecht for the nomination. The DA emerged as the largest party after the election, but without a majority.
By forming a coalition with several smaller parties, and with the support of the Economic Freedom Fighters, Solly was elected unopposed as the Executive Mayor of Tshwane.
He was the first DA member to hold the post. When he was elected Mayor, he stated his intention to outlaw blue-lights brigades in the City — for everyone except the President. “The only VIPs in the City will be the residents of the City,” he said.
In November 2017, Mike Moriarty succeeded the South African politician as DA Provincial Chairperson at the party’s Provincial Congress. Solly Msimanga initially succeeded Moriarty in 2014 but chose to stand down in this election.
In March 2018, Solly declared himself a candidate for the position of Federal Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance ahead of the party’s Federal Congress. On 8 April 2018, he lost to incumbent Athol Trollip.
It was revealed that Solly’s chief of staff Marietha Aucamp had been dishonest about her qualifications back in May 2018. She was placed on special leave on 16 May 2018. Subsequently, Marietha resigned on 17 May 2018. In June 2018, an enquiry found that she had misrepresented her qualifications. It also found that her appointment was unlawful.
In August 2018, the Economic Freedom Fighters and opposition African National Congress had both tabled motions of no confidence to remove Solly Msimanga as Mayor.
The African National Congress Tshwane Regional Chairperson Kgosi Maepa had said in an interview that his party’s caucus would support the Economic Freedom Fighters’s motion if needed. He also said that the party had lobbied other political parties to support their motion.
On 30 August 2018, Tshwane Council Speaker Katlego Matheba declined to proceed with the Economic Freedom Fighters’s motion of no confidence because it did not comply with the council’s rules.
Who Is Solly Msimanga
The Economic Freedom Fighters subsequently marched out of the council chamber. The party’s caucus leader said that the party would not support the African National Congress’s motion and that it would challenge the Speaker’s decision in court.
Due to the lack of support, the African National Congress withdrew its motion. Besides, in August 2018, Solly Msimanga was announced as the party’s Gauteng Premier candidate for the 2019 general elections.
On 27 September 2018, he survived another motion of no confidence tabled by the African National Congress. The Economic Freedom Fighters abstained from voting. Ninety-five councillors voted against the motion, while seventy-seven voted for it. Twenty-one councillors abstained.
Solly Msimanga’s last months as Mayor were overshadowed by the irregular awarding of a multi-billion-rand tender contract to GladAfrica by embattled City Manager Moeketsi Mosola. Solly tried to suspend Mosola, and the DA caucus of the Tshwane City Council attempted multiple times to remove Mosola from the position. Mosola announced in July 2019 that he would step down as City Manager of Tshwane.
On 18 January 2019, the politician, Solly, announced that he was stepping down as Mayor of Tshwane to focus on his Gauteng premiership campaign. He also said that his resignation would be finalised in the first two weeks of February.
He later announced on 31 January 2019 that he would effectively resign on 11 February 2019. Thereafter, Solly Msimanga was succeeded by Stevens Mokgalapa. Solly was subsequently sworn in as a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.
Solly Msimanga Age
Msimanga was born on 16 July 1980. He is now 39 years old.
Solly Msimanga Education
He attended Mwore Primary School, Patogeng Higher Primary and Saulridge High School. Msimanga has a national diploma in marketing management and a BCompt from the University of Pretoria.
Solly Msimanga Wife
His wife is Monde Msimanga and they have two children Amogelong Msimanga and Aobokwe Msimanga. Solly and his wife work together on the charity organisation named “Make Somebody’s Christmas a Merry One”. The project donates groceries to disadvantaged families.
Solly Msimanga Contact Details
Postal Address: PO Box 440, PRETORIA, 0001
Street Address: Isivuno Building, Cnr Lilian Ngoyi and Madiba Street, PRETORIA
Phone: 012 358 9999
Fax: 086 214 9544
Twitter: @SollyMsimanga
Solly Msimanga Salary
Msimanga’s earnings for the year have yet to be determined, but he is likely to see an increase in pay, similar to that of 2018. We are in the process of reviewing Solly’s salary, but his estimated net worth ranges between $100,000 – $1M.
Solly Msimanga Twitter
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Solly Msimanga Resigns
Msimanga announced that he would be resigning as Tshwane mayor in early 2019, saying he wanted to focus on his campaign to become Gauteng premier ahead of the national elections, set to take place in May.
This amid claims that he was pushed out of the city by the DA due to unsatisfactory performance and endless scandals, including the multibillion-rand GladAfrica scandal and the hiring of unqualified staffers in his office.
News24 understands Msimanga submitted his official resignation to the speaker of council Katleho Mathebe on Thursday morning. In the letter, which News24 has seen, Msimanga explains that he is stepping down in order to pursue a higher office.
“It has become clear to me and the DA that unless we govern the Gauteng province with an outright majority, the fate of the people of Tshwane will soon be the fate of the people of Gauteng across the board,” wrote Msimanga in his resignation letter.
Mathebe announced during the Thursday sitting that she had received an urgent request from the ANC to debate a motion of no confidence against the embattled and outgoing mayor.
She explained that its request was invalid as Msimanga had officially stepped down. The ANC, however, is arguing for its motion to go ahead before any other business of the day. The party’s regional chairperson Kgosi Maepa says the resignation was done in a haphazard manner, with pens, due to fears of the pending ANC motion.
He says the ANC wants Msimanga to leave office immediately and not on February 11 as his resignation letter states. Maepa has called for the Tshwane mayoral committee members to also step down.
“The mayoral committee is the mayoral committee of the mayor. They serve as members of the mayoral committee at the behest of the mayor so if there is no mayor there is no mayoral committee … So there is effectively no mayoral committee in the City of Tshwane after [Msimanga] resigns.
We have asked that the people of the speaker’s office organize Ubers to come and take members of the mayoral committee because council cars will have to remain on the council. You cannot take council vehicles if you are not a member of the council,” Maepa told News24.
It’s also expected that the council will discuss the auditor-general’s report into the City of Tshwane, including the multibillion-rand GladAfrica debacle.