Helen Zille has made Johannesburg’s failing infrastructure a central feature of her campaign to become the city’s mayor. In one widely shared video, the 75-year-old politician climbed into a huge pothole wearing a black wetsuit, pink swimming cap and green snorkel. In another stunt, she rode a zip line over a different road crater before performing a township-style spinning maneuver in a battered BMW.
The former mayor of Cape Town and premier of the Western Cape remains one of the Democratic Alliance’s most prominent figures, despite having stepped down as party leader in 2015. She says Johannesburg needs a capable administration to halt years of decline, corruption and political instability. The city has had nine mayors in the past decade and is currently governed by a coalition involving eight parties.
Zille promises to dismantle corrupt networks, tackle nepotism, repair the city’s finances and restore basic municipal services. Her message has resonated with voters frustrated by the condition of South Africa’s economic hub. Recent surveys put the DA at just under 30 percent, ahead of its rivals but short of a majority.
That result would not guarantee Zille the mayoralty. Coalition negotiations are likely to determine who governs Johannesburg, and she has said the DA would enter such an arrangement only if it had enough seats to implement its decisions. She has ruled out alliances with former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party and with the left-populist Economic Freedom Fighters.
The campaign has also highlighted the racial and historical tensions surrounding Zille and her party. A white South African of German descent, she is seeking to become Johannesburg’s first white female mayor. Critics have long portrayed the DA as a party primarily representing white interests, an image Zille has repeatedly tried to overcome.
The party previously promoted black leaders including Mmusi Maimane and Lindiwe Mazibuko, but both eventually left senior positions. An attempted alliance with anti-apartheid activist Mamphela Ramphele also collapsed after only three days. These setbacks have reinforced doubts about the DA’s ability to broaden its support among black voters.
Zille’s own political profile was forged during the apartheid era. Before entering politics, she worked as a journalist and investigated the death of Steve Biko. Her reporting challenged the government’s account that Biko had died during a hunger strike, documenting evidence that he had suffered head injuries after being tortured by police.
Her opponents once nicknamed her “Godzille,” invoking the film monster as a political insult. The label also reflected the respect and fear she commands among parts of South Africa’s black political establishment. For the African National Congress, which has governed nationally since 1994, losing Johannesburg to its long-standing white rival would represent another serious setback. The ANC failed to field a mayoral candidate, leaving President Cyril Ramaphosa’s image on the party’s campaign posters.
A planned debate between Zille and former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba also turned into a solo appearance after Mashaba withdrew at short notice. Zille responded on X that a campaign could not be conducted “barricaded behind a keyboard.”
As election day approaches, the focus is shifting away from the campaign’s dramatic social-media stunts. Zille is seeking support from non-voters, smaller-party supporters and residents exhausted by repeated coalition disputes. At a recent rally, she urged voters to back the DA even if they disliked the party or its candidate, arguing that Johannesburg—and ultimately South Africa—needed to be saved.
Sources: FAZ.