Born and raised in Orlando West, Soweto, Tau became active in student politics from a young age. His introduction into resistance politics coincided with the height of government repression of democratic organisations and he was repeatedly detained during the national state of emergency. Tau was elected to be the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg (South Africa's Premier Economic City). In 2003, he was given the responsibility of the City's finance and economic development portfolios, he presided over the growth of the City's annual budget from a mere R8,2-billion to more than R28-billion for the 2010/11 financial year. Clr Tau is a member of the UCLG World Council and Executive Bureau and is vice-Chair of the UN Habitat’s Global Network for Safer Cities. Through his international role, he has been able to attract a number of key events to the City such as the Metropolis Annual Meeting in 2013, the C40 Mayors Summit in 2014 and the forthcoming Africities Summit in 2015.