Mpho Phalatse (born 7 November 1977) is a South African medical doctor and politician serving as the Mayor of Johannesburg. A member of the Democratic Alliance, she was elected to the position on 22 November 2021. She is the first woman to hold the role. From 2016 to 2019, she served as the member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for Health and Social Development.
Phalatse was born on 7 November 1977 in Pretoria.
She lived with her grandmother in Hebron for the first few years of her life before she joined her parents in Mabopane. They were both educators. Phalatse matriculated in 1994. The following year, she enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand to study Chemical Engineering. During her second year at Wits University, Phalatse decided that she wanted to become a medical doctor and enrolled at the Sefako Makgatho University and MEDUNSA, from which she graduated with an MBChB. She became a doctor in 2005 and interned at Tembisa Hospital. She then did community service in Hammanskraal before she offered services at the Jubilee Hosipital.
Phalatse began studying project management studies at the Cranefield College during her community service. She later achieved an advanced diploma and postgraduate diploma in Project Management and Programme Management. In 2011, she enrolled for a Master of Medicine at Wits University.
Phalatse is a Certified Independent Medical Examiner (CIME) with the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners (ABIME). She was a casualty officer at the Alexandra Community Health Centre as well as sexual assault care practitioner at the Far East Rand Hospital, while she was a member of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
Phalatse joined the Democratic Alliance and was elected to the Johannesburg city council in 2016. Newly elected mayor Herman Mashaba appointed Phalatse as the member of the mayoral committee for Health and Social Development.
