By Rafieka Williams
The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) decision to field Helen Zille as its Johannesburg mayoral candidate has drawn praise from some pundits, but rival parties vying for control of South Africa’s economic hub remain unconvinced.
RISEMzansi, which campaigned aggressively in Johannesburg during the national elections, criticised the move, saying that Zille is out of touch with the realities faced by residents on the ground.
“The idea that someone who doesn’t even pay rates in the city of Joburg and hasn’t lived here for over two decades believes they are more suited to lead the city than any of its own residents is an insult to us all and we should reject that suggestion with the contempt it deserves,” RISEMzansi national chairperson Vuyiswa Ramokgopa said.
DA leader John Steenhuisen announced Zille as the party’s mayoral candidate over the weekend. Zille is a former Western Cape premier and mayor of Cape Town.
But according to Ramokgopa: “Under the DA leadership people in Tshwane, a metro close to the City of Johannesburg, did not have clean and safe water to drink and we don’t trust them to have the solutions we need to fix our city. This lack of leadership and service delivery is exactly what the DA governance represents.”
In response to this and other criticism from various parties — which she responded to in a number of interviews this week – Zille said the DA was scuppered in Tshwane because it was forced into coalition governance. She has said that for the DA to turn around Johannesburg, a clear majority mandate will be needed from voters in the upcoming local government elections.
Ramokgopa told Inside Metros: “RISEMzansi will work with residents of Johannesburg to hold the current leaders to account, we will continue to expose lack of service delivery and work hard to bring solutions to the table and not just complaints.”
South Africa’s commercial hub is grappling with a series of crises, ranging from frequent water and power outages, to collapsing infrastructure – the result of decades of poor or no maintenance – soaring crime levels, daily protests and frequent accusations of corruption.
The ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) also came out firing after the announcement, referring to a comment Zille made in 2012 while Western Cape premier when she said people from the Eastern Cape who relocated to the Western Cape were “economic refugees”.
Said the league in a statement this week: “Helen Zille’s self-proclaimed clean governance during her tenure as Mayor of Cape Town is in full display as one drives along the N7 in the densely populated poverty stricken Du Noon near Killarney and her legacy project in Blikkiesdorp in Delft….”
“The only proven track record to be attributed to the DA is its inherent disregard for transformation, and their political conviction remains that of the protection of white privilege and supremacy,” the league added.
In a radio interview on Tuesday, Zille defended the statement, saying that her own parents were refugees.
“I’m a refugee and my parents were refugees. They came here [from Germany in the 1930s to avoid Nazi persecution] because they were threatened, and half my family was murdered and that is why they were refugees in South Africa. There is no blame on a refugee for being a refugee. The blame is on the circumstances that force them to become a refugee,” Zille said.
She said people migrate from the Eastern Cape to Cape Town because they want better schools, clinics, employment, clean water, reliable electricity and connectivity.
“Refugee is a word that you use everywhere in the world, it is not pejorative to say you are going away from something,” she said.
Ramokgopa said RISEMzansi has been calling for new voices in the political arena and Zille’s candidacy falls short of this.
“Joburg is not short of competent and capable leaders with the requisite credentials and vision to lead our beloved city of Joburg into the future.
The current political establishment in the city of Johannesburg is without ideas and we can’t recycle leaders without a plan — we need new leaders with a plan to fix Johannesburg.
RISEMzansi is calling upon residents to look through the noise and use their vote to punish all parties in council.”
Spokesperson for the Afrika Mayibuye Movement, Sydney Baloyi, told Inside Metros the party was squarely focused on improving the lives of the people of Johannesburg.
“Johannesburg is the heart of South Africa’s economy and culture, and its future is too important to be left to politics as usual. In the weeks ahead, we will share more about our plans to restore dignity, deliver services, and return Johannesburg to its people.
“Our focus is squarely on the people of Johannesburg. Mayibuye will contest all wards in the city, and we believe we stand a strong chance of winning a majority of both wards and votes,” Baloyi said.
Freedom Front Plus regional leader, Franco De Lange, said there is no party even close to governing Johannesburg by itself.
“We are going to have to look at trustworthy coalition partners because not one party is going to govern Johannesburg by itself. If we like it or not, we need stable coalitions in Johannesburg and that is where Freedom Front comes in, we have proven ourselves as a stable trustworthy coalition partner,” De Lange said.
“Unfortunately, the DA gave Johannesburg back to the ANC when Herman Mashaba resigned. In 2021 because the DA didn’t want to work with the Patriotic Alliance, they basically gave the city back to the ANC.”
“At the end of the day you can’t play coy, you need to look at coalition partners and treat them well because even if you are the majority party within a collation, you still need your partners to get you over the line.”
INSIDE METROS