During last August’s municipal elections in South Africa, a tectonic shift in South African politics occurred. The ruling party African National Congress (ANC) lost control of key cities—Johannesburg (the economic center), Pretoria (the administrative capital) and Cape Town (the second-most populous city)—while suffering a loss in voter support in rural townships across the country. Analysts say the upset was, in part, due to Mmusi Miamane, the young and charismatic leader of the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA).
Born and raised in Soweto (one of the Johannesburg townships segregated by apartheid), Miamane first gained prominence when he ran for Johannesburg mayor in 2011 under the banner of the DA. He later emerged as the DA’s official spokesman in 2011, won a leadership contest and became DA’s leader in May 2014.
Miamane grew in stature as a national politician when in 2015, he delivered a speech at the National Assembly, calling for the impeachment of President Jacob Zuma on charges of corruption and constitutional breaches—while Zuma was present. Miamane’s hard-hitting, yet sober, style of speaking has earned him the nickname, “the Obama of Soweto.”
A remarkable leader has also emerged in Tokyo. In July Yuriko Koike was elected Tokyo’s first female governor. She started serving in the House of Representatives in 1993. From 2003 to 2006, she served in the cabinet of Junichiro Koizumi as minister of the environment and minister of state for Okinawa and Northern Affairs.
She then had a brief stint as defense minister under Shinzo Abe—the first woman ever appointed to the position. CNN described her as a woman accustomed to breaking proverbial “glass ceilings,” which she claims are more like steel in Japan.
In an interview, she said the fact that she is a woman played a very important role in her victory since voters were looking for a change in their male-dominated politics.
Before getting into politics, Koike was a one-time TV anchor, an interpreter and translator of Arabic (she studied the language at the American University in Cairo) and secretary-general of the Japan-Arab Association.
As Tokyo’s governor, she will help oversee preparations for the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics—on top of managing one of Asia’s biggest cities, home to 13.62 million people.
A unique leader was also elected in London—Sadiq Khan, who became the city’s mayor in May. With 1.3 million votes, Khan garnered the highest popular mandate enjoyed by any politician in the history of the United Kingdom.
Born to working-class Pakistani-immigrant parents, Khan is London’s first ethnic minority mayor and the first Muslim to become chief executive of a major Western capital.
He was elected on a broad platform that promised limits to increases in public-transportation fees, expand London airports, push for more affordable housing and, ultimately, promote unity among the diverse cultures in London. His pluralistic views put him in a word war with Donald Trump, particularly on the US presidential candidate’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering America.
These three rising stars have come to power in three of the world’s grandest cities. And they represent an exciting new breed of leaders, elected by local constituencies, but espousing global values. Take note—they could be exemplars of a 21st-century political leadership.
E-mail: angara.ed@gmail.com.