Helen Zille as mayor of Johannesburg? Hell no, if the mood on X was anything to go by this week.
This followed a report by City Press over the weekend that the controversial leader of the Democratic Alliance’s Federal Council was considering making a run.
And I get it, I’m no fan of the DA’s infamous Gogo either.
Zille’s missteps
Her list of controversial statements is so long it’d be impossible to capture here. Think: Tweeting about the great things that came out of colonialism, calling pupils from the Eastern Cape refugees, and incorrectly stating that textbooks were delivered to all under apartheid, adding “there are more racist laws today than there were under apartheid”. She faced few consequences in her party for these controversies, despite black leaders like Mbali Ntuli being punished for less. An attempt to discipline Zille over her colonialism tweets was eventually abandoned after she apologised.
Then there’s been the appalling treatment of black leaders within the party. The project to transform the party racially was abandoned after Zille couldn’t seem to take direction from the black leaders she’d allowed to take over, or allow them true freedom. From the party’s former leader in Parliament, Lindiwe Mazibuko, who Zille claimed to have “made” to former leader Mmusi Maimane and MP Phumzile Van Damme, a long list of high-profile black leaders have exited the party, citing toxic conditions. It’s an indictment on the DA that the best they can offer to Joburg at this stage is the 74-year-old Zille. Where are their new leaders?
Meanwhile, Zille, who was once a principled politician who seemed to care for racial transformation, has become increasingly cantankerous and pig-headed in her old age. She wrote an intellectually shallow book slamming “wokeness” and has been seduced into hard-right political stances by the bigoted podcast bros of South Africa. Many of these found their way into her party only to be kicked out – like Renaldo Gouws and Roman Cabanac. She has, in the process, ruined her legacy for arguably most black South Africans.
She is, in short, a bigot. And a rather insufferable one at that.
But here is the depressing thing. Things have gotten SO BAD in Johannesburg that we’re being forced to consider the option.
The rise and fall of Joburg
I adore this city. Growing up in Pretoria, it was the magical place of lights just beyond the Jukskei River. It’s a place that, at its best, can feel truly African and dynamic in a way that Cape Town just can’t offer.
I was one of those who moved into the inner city and Braamfontein in the 2010s as the city was revived and rejuvenated, becoming an increasingly safe and prosperous hub.
Between 2011 and 2016, ANC Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau wasn’t the worst. He oversaw clean audits throughout his tenure, albeit with some serious issues that were starting to take root. But there were good things happening in Joburg. I remember joining a number of Joburgers, including Tau, for a Freedom Cycle ride from Braamfontein to Soweto in that time. There was so much promise and life in the air.
When the DA was in power, under Herman Mashaba (now head of ActionSA) between 2016 and 2019, the trend continued with clean audits. It’s worth noting that the DA held on to the city via an unstable coalition. It’s thus difficult to rate their performance, though some are doing so after the news about Zille throwing her hat into the ring.
Nevertheless, after the Blue party was ousted in 2021, things fell apart. Qualified audits largely became the norm, and irregular expenditure spiked to over R3bn most years.
When the city entered its coalition phase in earnest, the always-present cronies at the feeding trough doubled down on their theft. As the city’s leadership ping-ponged between various parties with no outright winner, things got worse and worse. We saw eight mayors come and go over two years. The city’s deterioration has happened largely under this new cohort of ANC leaders since 2019, who were effectively in charge, even when installing puppet mayors from smaller parties.
Meanwhile, water supply became increasingly unstable, our roads fell apart, and our parks and sidewalks resembled disaster zones. Illegal dumping has mushroomed, turning our city into a giant trash can. We drive on dark roads at night as street lights rarely work, while dodging massive gaps in the road that have grown way beyond what can accurately be called potholes. And these are just the wealthy areas, mind you.
DA governance
Compare this to where the DA governs. Today, the city of Cape Town and the Western Cape largely outperform the areas governed by the ANC in every report by the Auditor General of South Africa.
The DA’s critics in the City of Cape Town point out that audits aren’t everything, and they don’t do as good a job of governance in poorer areas versus the pristine touristy spots and richer suburbs.
To be honest, Joburgers are at a point where we wouldn’t even mind that.
And that’s the tragedy.
It seems we have to choose between basic competence and bigoted leaders. How did it come to this?
Zille’s noxious politics would make her a tough pill to swallow for Johannesburg, which has a bigger black middle class than Cape Town. But we may be forced to take this bitter medicine.
Ultimately, the saddest thing about Helen Zille considering running for Johannesburg mayor is that it’s even an option. Our beloved City of Gold has been destroyed by the ANC. We shouldn’t be angry at Zille for being the bigot that she is. We should be angry at those who let this happen.
Verashni is passionate about empowering citizens to hold those in power to account. She was previously editor-in-chief of the Mail & Guardian and HuffPost South Africa, and won the CNN African Journalism Award, among others.
COLUMN | The desperate sadness of Helen Zille’s bid for Jhb mayor
|
Helen Zille as mayor of Johannesburg? Hell no, if the mood on X was anything to go by this week.
This followed a report by City Press over the weekend that the controversial leader of the Democratic Alliance’s Federal Council was considering making a run.
And I get it, I’m no fan of the DA’s infamous Gogo either.
Zille’s missteps
Her list of controversial statements is so long it’d be impossible to capture here. Think: Tweeting about the great things that came out of colonialism, calling pupils from the Eastern Cape refugees, and incorrectly stating that textbooks were delivered to all under apartheid, adding “there are more racist laws today than there were under apartheid”. She faced few consequences in her party for these controversies, despite black leaders like Mbali Ntuli being punished for less. An attempt to discipline Zille over her colonialism tweets was eventually abandoned after she apologised.
Then there’s been the appalling treatment of black leaders within the party. The project to transform the party racially was abandoned after Zille couldn’t seem to take direction from the black leaders she’d allowed to take over, or allow them true freedom. From the party’s former leader in Parliament, Lindiwe Mazibuko, who Zille claimed to have “made” to former leader Mmusi Maimane and MP Phumzile Van Damme, a long list of high-profile black leaders have exited the party, citing toxic conditions. It’s an indictment on the DA that the best they can offer to Joburg at this stage is the 74-year-old Zille. Where are their new leaders?
Meanwhile, Zille, who was once a principled politician who seemed to care for racial transformation, has become increasingly cantankerous and pig-headed in her old age. She wrote an intellectually shallow book slamming “wokeness” and has been seduced into hard-right political stances by the bigoted podcast bros of South Africa. Many of these found their way into her party only to be kicked out – like Renaldo Gouws and Roman Cabanac. She has, in the process, ruined her legacy for arguably most black South Africans.
She is, in short, a bigot. And a rather insufferable one at that.
But here is the depressing thing. Things have gotten SO BAD in Johannesburg that we’re being forced to consider the option.
The rise and fall of Joburg
I adore this city. Growing up in Pretoria, it was the magical place of lights just beyond the Jukskei River. It’s a place that, at its best, can feel truly African and dynamic in a way that Cape Town just can’t offer.
I was one of those who moved into the inner city and Braamfontein in the 2010s as the city was revived and rejuvenated, becoming an increasingly safe and prosperous hub.
Between 2011 and 2016, ANC Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau wasn’t the worst. He oversaw clean audits throughout his tenure, albeit with some serious issues that were starting to take root. But there were good things happening in Joburg. I remember joining a number of Joburgers, including Tau, for a Freedom Cycle ride from Braamfontein to Soweto in that time. There was so much promise and life in the air.
When the DA was in power, under Herman Mashaba (now head of ActionSA) between 2016 and 2019, the trend continued with clean audits. It’s worth noting that the DA held on to the city via an unstable coalition. It’s thus difficult to rate their performance, though some are doing so after the news about Zille throwing her hat into the ring.
Nevertheless, after the Blue party was ousted in 2021, things fell apart. Qualified audits largely became the norm, and irregular expenditure spiked to over R3bn most years.
When the city entered its coalition phase in earnest, the always-present cronies at the feeding trough doubled down on their theft. As the city’s leadership ping-ponged between various parties with no outright winner, things got worse and worse. We saw eight mayors come and go over two years. The city’s deterioration has happened largely under this new cohort of ANC leaders since 2019, who were effectively in charge, even when installing puppet mayors from smaller parties.
Meanwhile, water supply became increasingly unstable, our roads fell apart, and our parks and sidewalks resembled disaster zones. Illegal dumping has mushroomed, turning our city into a giant trash can. We drive on dark roads at night as street lights rarely work, while dodging massive gaps in the road that have grown way beyond what can accurately be called potholes. And these are just the wealthy areas, mind you.
DA governance
Compare this to where the DA governs. Today, the city of Cape Town and the Western Cape largely outperform the areas governed by the ANC in every report by the Auditor General of South Africa.
The DA’s critics in the City of Cape Town point out that audits aren’t everything, and they don’t do as good a job of governance in poorer areas versus the pristine touristy spots and richer suburbs.
To be honest, Joburgers are at a point where we wouldn’t even mind that.
And that’s the tragedy.
It seems we have to choose between basic competence and bigoted leaders. How did it come to this?
Zille’s noxious politics would make her a tough pill to swallow for Johannesburg, which has a bigger black middle class than Cape Town. But we may be forced to take this bitter medicine.
Ultimately, the saddest thing about Helen Zille considering running for Johannesburg mayor is that it’s even an option. Our beloved City of Gold has been destroyed by the ANC. We shouldn’t be angry at Zille for being the bigot that she is. We should be angry at those who let this happen.
Verashni Pillay
Verashni is passionate about empowering citizens to hold those in power to account. She was previously editor-in-chief of the Mail & Guardian and HuffPost South Africa, and won the CNN African Journalism Award, among others.
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