In a bid to reclaim South Africa’s economic hub, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has announced its federal council chairperson, Helen Zille, as its candidate for mayor of Johannesburg in next year’s local government elections. The announcement was made during a televised interview where Zille outlined her party’s plan to address the city’s severe infrastructure and service delivery crises.
Zille pledged to restore Johannesburg to “its former glory,” citing the city’s ongoing battles with infrastructure decay, persistent water shortages, inoperative traffic lights, and widespread sewage spills as key issues her administration would prioritise.
The DA’s previous attempts to govern Johannesburg, in 2016 and 2021, were marked by instability due to fraught coalition arrangements. Zille attributed past failures to these unstable partnerships, particularly with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
“In 2016, we had to go into a governing arrangement that involved an agreement with the EFF. I was very opposed to it at the time… It’s impossible to have a stable coalition if you have to keep on pandering to the EFF to stay in power,” Zille stated. She explained that the 2021 arrangement was similarly precarious, with the EFF able to unelect the DA’s mayor at will, creating a government that “survived from council meeting to council meeting.”
Zille argued that this political instability directly hindered service delivery. She called on voters to give the DA a decisive mandate to form a stable government, though she conceded that an outright majority was unlikely under South Africa’s proportional representation system. “I’m a realist,” she said, referencing the DA’s incremental growth in Cape Town, where it first won 27% of the vote before building a coalition government.
Cape Town as a Blueprint
Facing questions on whether the DA’s slogan of “governing better” applied equitably across class and race lines in Cape Town, Zille defended her party’s record. She asserted that service delivery is measured by the provision of basic services like clean running water, reliable electricity, regular refuse removal, and functional sewage systems—all of which she claims are delivered in Cape Town, including in its poorest areas.
“If you have a checklist of everything that local government is supposed to do, you will tick down every one of them in Cape Town,” Zille said. She highlighted the city’s cross-subsidisation model, where wealthy residents pay higher rates to fund generous free basic services for the poor, and noted that unemployment in Cape Town is “10 percentage points lower” than the national average.
Plan for Johannesburg
Outlining her strategy for Johannesburg, Zille identified the city’s budget structure as a primary obstacle. She pointed to the city’s capital expenditure, which she claimed is the lowest of all metros in South Africa at just 1% of the budget, far below the National Treasury’s recommended 8% for infrastructure maintenance.
“The first thing I would do is to really study line by line the city of Johannesburg’s budget,” she said, highlighting “endlessly wasteful” duplication between municipal departments and entities. She compared several of these entities to “the equivalent of Eskom,” alleging they have become corrupt and “staffed by deployed cadres.”
On Urbanization and Informal Settlements
Addressing the challenge of rapid urbanization and growing informal settlements, Zille rejected the approach of Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, who has spoken of demolishing settlements by force. Zille called this unworkable, stating, “If anybody thinks that a local government can get rid of shack settlements, they are dreaming.”
Instead, she advocated for preparing for the “inevitable and unstoppable process” of urbanization by streamlining processes to provide land with basic services, growing the economy to create jobs, and ensuring stable, corruption-free government to attract investment.
Scourge of Drug Abuse
On the issue of drug abuse, a major driver of crime in communities, Zille was blunt. “My suspicion is that the drug dealers buy off the police,” she said, arguing that the solution requires devolving police powers from the national level to metros.
“Until we have line function over the police we can just put a band-aid on the crisis,” she stated, confirming she would push for this devolution in Johannesburg. She also emphasised parental responsibility, saying, “Everyone who has children has a sacred duty to act as a role model.”
Legacy and Foreign Policy
When asked if governing Johannesburg would be the defining final chapter of her long political career, Zille said her purpose was for South Africa to become a successful democracy and that she would work “till my last ounce of energy towards that end.”
Pressed on international affairs, Zille affirmed the DA’s support for a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. When asked directly if she believed a genocide was taking place in Gaza, as found by a UN commission, Zille declined to answer, stating, “The Democratic Alliance has not discussed that particular issue.” She reiterated that the party’s official position is a belief in both states’ right to “exist in peace and harmony with each other.”
Zille’s candidacy sets the stage for a highly contested election in Johannesburg, with the DA betting on her experience and the promise of stable, clean governance to win over a frustrated electorate.
