- Gogo Hlongwane, a retired domestic worker, told Mpophomeni voters at his meeting she looked after Chris Pappas as a toddler.
- Pappas seeks a second term as uMngeni mayor in KwaZulu-Natal for the Democratic Alliance in the 4 November local elections.
Gogo Hlongwane, a retired domestic worker who looked after Chris Pappas when he was a toddler, joined his campaign for a second term as uMngeni mayor and told voters in Mpophomeni how he ate her family’s food.
She spoke at a Democratic Alliance campaign meeting in Mpophomeni on Friday, 23 October.
“This is the child that I used to take care of when he was very young with his sister Elizabeth. At that time I was working for his parents who are still alive till today, Jackie and Michael Pappas. His mother used to be worried about him because Chris Pappas would not eat at his house. His mother later realised that he was eating our food.
“He would leave his family farm to visit and play with our kids. As his mother was worried about him not eating the food they had prepared for him, he urged us not to give him food, but Pappas continued to eat our food, which was uphuthu and ubhontshisi (maize meal and beans stew),” Gogo Hlongwane said.
She said her work in this world is done, and that she would die a proud mother to him. She is now on a pension.
Pappas is the Democratic Alliance’s mayor of uMngeni, the party’s only municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. He has been mayor since 2021.
He was the party’s KwaZulu-Natal premier candidate in 2024. After the party fell short of a majority, he declined his legislature seat and stayed on as mayor.
In April, he said he would not stand for re-election. The party named him as its candidate again in July.
He points to settling an R11 million municipal loan. The Auditor-General gave uMngeni three unqualified audits in a row, to 2023/24.
