Johannesburg - DA Chairperson Helen Zille says the Mayor of Johannesburg, Mpho Phalatse, had informed her that she had a pastoral blessing over the weekend, and not a wedding.
Zille told The Star that Phalatse had said that the actual wedding would be in March next year. The DA leader said she did not want to be drawn about her views on the marriage between Brutus Malada and the mayor.
"It is her private life, and I do not want to comment on what people do in their private lives, and I wish them the greatest happiness together," Zille said.
When asked if she would be attending the wedding in March next year, Zille said, "I can’t say, it’s her wedding.
Phalatse’s spokesperson, Mabine Seabe, told The Star that the initial story in the paper was incorrect and that there was a private function on the weekend. But The Star has learned that Phalatse’s marriage was legally officiated in Venda last Friday.
"A private function took place at a private venue," Seabe said.
The marriage between Malada and Phalatse has sparked tension within the DA caucus, with some members seeing the marriage as a betrayal. They feel that the relationship pointed to Phalatse being ‘captured’ by ActionSA.
Sources in the caucus said senior DA leaders in the region were not invited to Phalatse’s recent nuptial events. What made them even angrier was that senior ActionSA leaders seemed to have gotten the wedding invite.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba confirmed that he had been informed by the groom that the couple would be getting married. Mashaba said he wished them everything of the best and a successful marriage.
There have been recent media reports suggesting that the mayor could have be involved in a love triangle after a businesswoman told a local newspaper that she was shocked to hear that Malada was getting married, as they were still engaged. The woman told a local newspaper that the first instalment of lobola had been paid to her family. The mayor’s office has refused to respond to the matter.
Questions are also being raised about when Malada, a city official, and the mayor started dating. On social media, it's been alleged that the mayor was engaged in June last year.
The Star