In a bold move ahead of next year’s local local government elections, the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Saturday named former party leader Helen Zille as its candidate for mayor of Johannesburg.
The announcement signals the DA’s intent to wrest control of South Africa’s economic hub from the African National Congress (ANC), amid growing voter frustration over crumbling infrastructure and political instability.
Helen Zille, 74, served as DA leader from 2007 to 2015 and is currently the party’s Federal Council chairperson.
She is no stranger to municipal leadership, having previously held the offices of mayor of Cape Town and premier of the Western Cape – positions in which she gained a reputation for improving service delivery and governance.
DA leader John Steenhuisen unveiled Helen Zille’s candidacy at a rally in Soweto, calling the upcoming election “a choice between decay and renewal,” rather than a simple contest between the DA and the ANC.
“Johannesburg is collapsing under the weight of mismanagement and neglect,” Steenhuisen said.
“It needs a leader who can fix things – and Helen Zille has done it before.”
City in Crisis
Johannesburg, home to over five million residents, has suffered from years of political turmoil and failing infrastructure.
Since the 2016 municipal election, the city has seen 10 different mayors and has been governed by a series of unstable coalitions.
The ANC-led alliance currently in power is struggling to keep basic services running, with frequent water outages, electricity blackouts, and deteriorating roads.
An internal city report estimated that Johannesburg requires at least R211 billion in infrastructure upgrades and maintenance, a figure that has become a lightning rod for opposition criticism.
Political Fallout
Helen Zille’s return to the political front lines comes at a time when the ANC is facing internal pressure and declining support, particularly in urban centres.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently acknowledged that some of the country’s best-performing municipalities are DA-run, a statement that drew sharp rebuke from factions within his own party.
The ANC’s national support dropped below 50% in the 2024 general election, forcing it into a coalition with the DA and smaller parties. Its standing in Gauteng – a key province that includes both Johannesburg and Pretoria – has also weakened, setting the stage for fierce local-level competition.
A Polarising Figure
While Helen Zille is widely credited for her administrative capabilities and anti-apartheid activism, she remains a controversial figure.
Her frequent social media clashes with the ANC and outspoken criticism of government policy have earned her both praise and criticism across the political spectrum.
Political analysts suggest her candidacy could energise DA supporters and draw attention to the party’s governance record in the Western Cape.
However, critics argue that fielding a 74-year-old white politician in a predominantly black city may alienate voters and open the DA to accusations of tone-deafness.
A Test for Coalitions
With no party likely to secure an outright majority in Johannesburg, the 2026 municipal elections are expected to once again result in coalition governance.
The DA hopes that Helen Zille’s leadership credentials and national profile can help it negotiate from a position of strength.
“South Africans are tired of broken promises,” Steenhuisen said.
“We are offering competence, accountability, and a real plan to fix this city.”
Full speech
Helen Zille addressed the crowd in Soweto following John Steenhuisen’s announcment, and accepted the nomination.
Good morning, Soweto! Good morning Joburg!
Good morning to our big blue family.
It is a privilege for me to accept the nomination as your mayoral candidate for this great City. I acknowledge with respect all the other candidates who gave me stiff competition for this honour.
Today, I address the people of Johannesburg, who like us, refuse to give up on her Golden Promise.
Many of you may know me as an ex-Mayor and an ex-Premier. And also a mother and a Gogo.
But I’m here today as a daughter – a daughter of Johannesburg.
I was born and raised in this great City.
It is the place where I took my first breath, my first steps, and spoke my first words.
It is where I went to school, attended university, rented my first flat, and started my first job.
I learned to drive a car on Joburg’s streets, and I fell in love here. I fell in love with this city and all her people.
In those days Joburg was the drumbeat of South Africa. But the vibrancy of its people couldn’t mask the inequality of apartheid.
This city was built by migrant labourers who left their homes in rural South Africa to dig for gold deep underground. The mine-dumps heaped above attested to what they endured underneath. Dangerous work and long separation from their families, yet their sweat and sacrifice laid the foundations of this city. I am grateful to my parents who made sure that, even as children, we were aware of the harsher realities of the City in which we otherwise had a carefree childhood.
When 1994 was finally won, Joburg represented the pinnacle of the new South Africa’s promise, signaling to the world that South Africa’s time had come to join the ranks of free and democratic nations.
The city of opportunity. The embodiment of our diversity. A magnet for the best and brightest.
It was the place to be. Now, just over 30 years later, many of its own residents see it as a place to flee.
Joburg is South Africa’s most devastating example of what bad government can do to great people.
You feel it with every pothole on Louis Botha Avenue, or the Golden Highway – arteries of our city that have been left to crumble.
You smell it when you walk down Pritchard Street in the CBD, and others littered with rubbish and choked by illegal dumping.
You see it when you open your tap in Lenasia – or here in Soweto – and no water comes out.
Or when you sit in darkness during endless power cuts in Roodepoort, Randburg and Eldorado Park.
Your heart sinks when you think of the hijacked buildings of Hillbrow and Berea, where I once lived in dignity, but where families now live in danger. And you can sense it in the fear gripping the suburbs where people hunker down behind high walls and razor wire.
Joburg now symbolizes the burden that bad government places on great people. But, the good news is that in a democracy, the people have more power than their government, if they will only use it. They can vote for change. They can evict a bad government and demand better. The greatest risk facing Joburg is that her people resign themselves to the path of failure, and give up on her promise.
We are here to say: we will not give up. We can still change course. There is a better way.
If you don’t believe me, just ask the President. With perfect timing, President Ramaphosa this week showed the boldness we’ve all been waiting for. There is no braver act for a political leader than endorsing his main political opponent. Make no mistake, that is exactly what the President did. He told South Africa that the DA’s political offer is better than the ANC’s.
He said: “Those municipalities that do best are not ANC-controlled municipalities… they are often DA-controlled municipalities”. We need to ask ourselves, what is it that they are doing that is better than what we are doing?”
Well, Mr President, your councillors in Johannesburg are about to find out.
Your voters will bring DA government here, so that you can see first-hand.
For cities to flourish, a few basics must be in place: Elected representatives must be driven by a desire to serve and improve their communities. They must not use their positions to steal from the people they are supposed to serve.
The city administration must be staffed with skilled, ethical and capable professionals. These officials must be appointed for what they know, rather than who they know or are related to. They must be rewarded for excellence, and held accountable for failure.
You see, local government isn’t about ideology and grand ideals. It is about grand responsibility. It is the frontline of service delivery. The only job of local government is to deliver quality basic services. Water. Sewage. Refuse removal. Roads. Traffic lights. Electricity.
In a local government election, the only question voters should ask is: who will do this job best?
The DA is a party that believes in maximising freedom, under the rule of law. We provide the conditions that allow all people to flourish – a platform on which they can build better lives; a pathway out of poverty in a city that enables, not obstructs.
These concepts are not just words. They are the building blocks of the world’s greatest cities and the bedrock of every successful democracy.
When people vote for governments rooted in these ideas, life improves for everyone. The history of every successful democracy on earth tells us that.
The most wonderful thing about Johannesburg is the resilience of its people who believe in the potential of this City and will work to fulfil it. Despite the decline, it is still the beating, golden heart of Africa.
The world’s greatest cities weren’t born great. They became great – over generations – through the relentless efforts of the people who believed in them.
There is no shortage of such people in Johannesburg. Thousands of people, working in hundreds of organisations, who (despite their government) want to make Jozi the great City we all know it can be.
They believe they can make it work, and that it will then work for them. When enough people do that, together, the result is a great world city.
Great cities make great countries, not the other way around. Cities connect people to the economy. They create opportunities. And when people seize their opportunities, they multiply them, unlocking new prospects for others to succeed.
For every tale of decline and collapse in Johannesburg, there is an equal and opposite force of rebuilding and renewal by dedicated residents. The force of their belief and energy will overcome the forces of despair.
All they need is a Mayor and Municipal government to get behind them, and be the catalyst for change. To spend the multi-billion-Rand City budget in the way that best contributes to the city’s resurrection, and to harness everyone’s efforts in a whole-of-society groundswell that turns our belief into reality.
I am deeply indebted to the Democratic Alliance for entrusting me with this responsibility. I believe my whole life, and every previous job, has been preparing me for this.
From this day forward I will take to the streets of Johannesburg – from Alexandra to Soweto, from Sandton to Orange Farm, from Hillbrow to Lenasia, from Roodepoort to Midrand, from Diepsloot to Eldorado Park.
I will hear the hopes and fears of the people of this great city. I will listen to their frustrations and their ideas to fix it.
Joburg’s people will never give up on her, and I am one of them.
We will not let Joburg’s taps stay dry. We won’t accept brokenness as the new normal.
We will wrestle our city back from a criminal mafia, and return her to those who love her.
When you drive through those potholed roads, in the darkness, where every broken streetlight represents a failed promise, I share your despair.
It doesn’t have to be like this. But it will be, if we do not make the choice for change now. The time has come. This time it must be different.
It is literally now or never.
Let the forces for good in this city unite to save it from the forces for bad.
Let’s put the darkness behind us. Together we can make the City of Gold shine on our country, our continent, and all of the world.
That is the Joburg that you dreamt of, that we will work for, and that you deserve.
Thank you.
