By South Africa’s Democratic Alliance Names Helen Zille Mayoral Candidate for Johannesburg
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 20 (AfrikTimes) – South Africa’s Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Saturday that former party leader Helen Zille would be its candidate for mayor of Johannesburg in next year’s local government election, as the opposition party seeks to reclaim control of the country’s largest city.
The 74-year-old veteran politician, widely regarded as the chief strategist behind the DA’s performance in last year’s national election, played a pivotal role in reducing the dominance of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). That election forced the ANC to share power with the DA and several smaller parties after losing its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid.
With Zille, the DA has chosen a political heavyweight to try to win back South Africa’s commercial capital after a series of mayors in the past decade or so either quit, were forced out or – in the case of three of them – died while holding the post.
By nominating a seasoned political figure, the party aims to project stability and competence, and to replicate the success it has had in governing Cape Town, Johannesburg’s economic rival, often praised for its better service delivery.
“The next local government election is not DA versus ANC. It is a choice between decay and renewal,” DA leader John Steenhuisen told supporters in Soweto township. “Where the DA governs outright, we deliver.”
Accepting her nomination, Zille pledged to restore essential services, including water supply, electricity, road maintenance and refuse collection.
“We will not let Joburg’s taps stay dry. We won’t accept brokenness as the new normal,” she said. “We will wrestle our city back from a criminal mafia. When you drive through those potholed roads, in the darkness, where every broken streetlight represents a failed promise, I share your despair.”
Johannesburg has been governed by unstable coalitions in recent years, with no party holding a clear majority in the city council. The DA last held the mayoral post in 2022.
