By Akani Nkuna
“You have forgotten what normal looks like.”
That was Helen Zille’s message to Johannesburg residents on Wednesday as the DA mayoral candidate said that years of deteriorating services had become so entrenched that residents had grown accustomed to dysfunction.
Addressing party members in the streets of Johannesburg during the flighting of the party’s election posters, Zille said residents have a “resilient” attitude which has led them to endure poor service delivery for a sustained period, to the point that it has become their reality.
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“Joburg people are so resilient. I did not know there was a point you become too resilient, but when things start collapsing they do not complain for months. They actually adjust and get used to it, and it becomes the new normal,” she said.
“I need to tell them, this is not normal. You have forgotten what normal looks like. And our pledge to you in this election is to bring you back to a new normal that is better than what you now take for granted. I have got personal and absolutely deep motivation to drive it because I remember the normal Joburg.”
Zille said the decay of a city destroys “the pride of a community”, leading people to lose pride in where they live. She said Johannesburg’s potential and residents’ morale had been negatively affected by deteriorating infrastructure and service delivery failures.
DA Federal Leader Geordin Hill-Lewis flighted the party’s first national 2026 election posters under its “Working for All” campaign as the party continues its campaign ahead of the 4 November Local Government Elections.
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Hill-Lewis said the simplicity of the slogan was intended to illustrate the DA’s objective of improving service delivery for people across the country after the elections, adding that its inclusive nature was intended to assure voters that the party would seek to ensure services reach all communities.
He said the party was committed to ethical governance and responsible management of public funds, reiterating that the DA favoured professional and merit-based appointments to ensure that those appointed to public office have the necessary skills.
“All of our towns and cities across the country that have suffered for so long under bad government and mismanagement and corruption, and in all the many ways that they are broken and are not working for all of their residents — we can fix them,” Hill-Lewis said.
With 77 days to go before the 4 November elections, Hill-Lewis expressed confidence in the DA’s campaign, pointing to the party’s rigorous campaign activity and door-to-door efforts.
Recent opinion polling has placed the DA ahead of its rivals in Johannesburg, although no party currently commands a majority in the city.
Hill-Lewis said it was almost as though “other parties have thrown in the towel” for leadership of the city.
“It is great to see that the DA is leading in this campaign, not just in the power of our message, but also in the commitment of our activists and our campaign,” he said.
