Dr Mpho Phalatse was minding her business as a casualty officer at Alexandra's Masakhane community health-care centre when she underwent her political Damascene conversion in 2015.
At the Theme Car Wash in the heart of the township this week, the DA's mayoral candidate for Johannesburg told the Sunday Times about why she decided to be "part of the solution".
"Alexandra is the reason I am in politics. I grew up in Bophuthatswana in Mabopane, north of Pretoria," said the 43-year-old doctor.
"Coming to Alex was a shock. I could not believe people were living like this. On one stand you can easily have 10 households, one toilet and one toilet-master holding the key. There's raw sewage running down the streets, no place for kids to play, pedestrian/vehicle accidents all the time. It is crazy."
Phalatse said she spoke about the "level of violence and aggression which is indicative of the anger and the frustration of people here" with her friend, DA MP Heinrich Cyril Volmink, who is also a doctor.
Volmink's advice was: "If it bothers you that much, be part of the solution and join mainstream politics."
The 2016 local government elections were less than a year away and she applied for her DA membership. After the election left a coalition in charge of the city, the then DA mayor Herman Mashaba appointed her as mayoral committee member for health & social development. But two years ago Mashaba fell out with his party bosses, the coalition collapsed and the ANC took over.
This is why Phalatse is no supporter of coalitions, believing they rob residents by being prone to instability and inertia. Even worse is getting into bed with the likes of the EFF, she said.
"[Their way] was never to negotiate, it was to demand that 'this must happen or else we will not show up to council and we will not help you pass a budget'," she said. "And so we were always held at ransom and it was an unhealthy relationship but a good lesson for the DA. We know better now."
She hopes voters feel the same and will give her party an outright majority to implement its plans.
The silver bullet, she believes, is a happy ratepayer who will pay rates, levies and taxes so the administration can serve the poor and indigent in townships and slums
The silver bullet, she believes, is a happy ratepayer who will pay rates, levies and taxes so the administration can serve the poor and indigent in townships and slums.
This, she said, is where coalition governments since 2016 have failed spectacularly.
"Our relationship with the EFF when we were in government alienated us from ratepayers. A lot of them are angry. People relocated to the Western Cape and other parts of the country; some even emigrated."
The inner city must be freed from crime and homelessness, she said. She advocates wrestling back hijacked buildings and handing them to private developers, and skills development programmes for the homeless.
In addition, she would push for increased visibility of metro police and functioning surveillance cameras to create a safer and more viable city centre for investors and consumers.
Phalatse doesn't buy the line that most of Johannesburg's crime and building hijacking is the work of foreigners, saying those who push this agenda are driving divisions for their own ends.
"If I am going to be anti-migration then I need to go back to Mabopane first and Mr Mashaba needs to go back to Hammanskraal," she said.
"We need to recognise that movement is important to development and it is a global phenomenon that must be embraced by a city like Joburg which is an economic hub.
"But we also need to recognise failures by home affairs in allowing our borders to be porous and allowing people to come in undocumented and living here untraced. That is a problem."
Should she win, she admits there will be a mammoth task ahead.
"I will hold my portfolio leaders to very strong performance standards and do regular performance assessments to make sure they are on track. Where one is not performing, they should be replaced and that is what I am going to do," said Phalatse, who is a mother of three.
Phalatse said she abandoned a cushy business as a disability consultant for the South African Social Security Agency to dedicate herself to the public health sector.
She hopes the DA's "track record of good governance" will deliver her the mayoral suite.
"People need to see my heart in all of this. I know people have been disappointed by corrupt politicians for far too long and are very suspicious of one's intentions," she said.
"But this is not something I woke up one day and decided I want to do. It has been a long journey. I will never abandon the people of Johannesburg. They can trust that I will see this project through."
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.