uMngeni mayor Christopher Pappas selected as a TIME100 Next future leader

uMngeni mayor Christopher Pappas has been selected as one of 100 future leaders in the TIME100 Next feature of the international magazine.

“Proud to be included in the 2023 TIME100 Next list,” Pappas posted on his X (Twitter) account on Wednesday.

According to its website, TIME100 Next is an annual franchise recognising who they believe are “rising leaders in health, climate, business, sports, the arts and more”.

The article on Pappas read: “Since taking office as mayor of uMngeni, South Africa, in November 2021, Chris Pappas has managed to balance the municipality’s budget for the first time in more than a decade and added 175 new homes to the electricity grid. It’s an impressive track record made possible by penny-pinching measures such as a reduction in hiring.

“His election itself was an unusual feat, in part because he’s a white, gay, Zulu-speaking politician in a municipality that is three-quarters black in a country where most people vote along racial lines. But Pappas crossed those divides to speak to people in their own language and won votes by emphasising small but attainable improvements to daily life and municipal services above standard political  loyalty.”

Pappas grew up in the farming community of Mooi River and later in Howick, and attended Hilton College. While his involvement in politics began at university, he said he first became conscious of “differences” in high school. 

“I always had more black friends than white friends and that was always an issue for some people.  

“There is a need to have more administrative politicians, people who are not so focused on giving quality speeches but more focused on the outcomes of the policy implementation,” said Pappas.

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