Helen Zille can become Johannesburg mayor

BusinessTech has learned from a well-placed political analyst that the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Federal Council Chairperson, Helen Zille, is considering running for Johannesburg mayor.

Rapport also reported that Zille is looking at becoming the candidate for Johannesburg mayor, with the DA driving the initiative.

Zille confirmed that she has been approached to become the DA’s candidate for Johannesburg mayor, and that she is considering it. However, it is not a done deal.

She wants to discuss the matter with her family, which lives in Cape Town, before making a final decision about the issue.

Zille is one of South Africa’s best-known politicians. She was the DA leader from 2007 to 2015 and served as Western Cape Premier for two five-year terms.

She also served as Mayor of Cape Town from 2006 to 2009, after the DA became the single largest party in Cape Town with 42.0% of the vote.

Zille was elected mayor by 106 votes to 103 on 15 March 2006, after the DA obtained the support of several smaller parties.

Johannesburg is in a similar political situation, with no party having an outright majority. This means a coalition is needed to run the city.

The DA is the second-largest political party in the municipality, with 26% of the vote, behind the ANC, which received 34%. ActionSA is third with 16%.

In November 2021, after the municipal elections, the DA’s Mpho Phalatse was elected as the Executive Mayor of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.

She was elected with the support of smaller parties, including the Economic Freedom Fighters, the Freedom Front Plus, and ActionSA.

However, coalition battles and political instability saw her ousted as Johannesburg mayor through a motion of no-confidence on 26 January 2023.

Phalatse announced on 28 August 2023 that she would resign as a DA councillor on 30 September 2023 and return to being a medical doctor.

Over the last few years, Johannesburg has faced rapid deterioration with infrastructure collapse, electricity and water problems, and a surge in crime.

There have been calls for Zille to come out of retirement and utilise her experience to help address the City of Johannesburg’s issues.

She was awarded the 2008 World Mayor Prize by City Mayors, an international urban affairs think tank that recognises outstanding mayors from all world regions.

This means that she has the skills to turn the city around and improve service levels. This is what most residents want and are likely to vote for.

Helen Zille’s plan for Johannesburg

Last month, Zille discussed the state of Johannesburg, the challenges of fixing a city, and the role of voters in driving change with Daily Maverick associate editor Ferial Haffajee.

She said local government is needed to ensure safety, good service levels, and trust in the city. This, in turn, will drive investment and increase employment.

Turning her attention to Johannesburg, she said the decay in the city is noticeable. This includes broken traffic lights, unmaintained sidewalks, and litter everywhere.

“This is what makes people run away. If you have areas which do not have water for weeks, who will invest in a place like that?” she asked.

Zille said it was up to the voters to decide whether they want to fix the City of Johannesburg. “If they continue to vote for the ANC, there is no change,” she said.

“If they continue to vote for a party without the capacity to govern, they vote for their city to collapse. There is no other way of putting it.”

The DA is putting up its best candidates in the city, training them and providing support from its governance unit to fix Johannesburg. “We love Johannesburg and we are committed to fixing it.”

She said it will take years to fix the city, as there has been a tremendous amount of corruption, which has depleted the money needed to fix the collapsing infrastructure.

She gave the example of traffic lights, where the whole traffic light cabling network has to be replaced as it has not been maintained for 30 years.

“It is not a quick fix to solve Johannesburg’s problems. It is an extraordinary challenge as Johannesburg is deeply broken,” she said.

“There is an army of cadres deployed into the government who will be working hard to fight anything that disrupts their enrichment process,” she said.

“It will be very hard. We will need a backbone of steel to turn the City of Johannesburg around.”