DA Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille at her pledge launch at the City Hall.
Supplied/DA
Helen Zille launched her “get Joburg working” pledge at a packed Johannesburg City Hall,outlining five priorities including reliable water and electricity and fixing roads.Supporters said the city had deteriorated under the ANC and backed Zille to “save Joburg”,praising the DA’s record during the mayoralty of Herman Mashaba.Zille blamed the city’s decline on ANC governance and vowed to stop corruption and ring-fence service revenue.
Elsie Seletisha from Ivory Park was one of the people who packed the City Hall in Johannesburg on Saturday morning.
She came to listen to Joburg DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille at a pledge launch to “get Joburg working”,if elected mayor of the city.
Seated not far from the stage where Zille,dressed in a light blue suit and beige heels,made her speech,Seletisha could not hide her excitement at seeing Zille and occasionally fidgeted with her cellphone,taking videos of Zille and pictures of herself and her friend as they listened to the politician,whom Seletisha believes will “save Joburg”.
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Speaking to News24 after Zille had concluded her address,Seletisha said Zille was the only hope of restoring a city she says is crumbling.
She claimed that when Herman Mashaba was mayor as part of the DA,things were better in Johannesburg,but they have since deteriorated.
READ | Billboard wars: DA defies ANC’s ultimatum to remove controversial Lesufi billboard
Recently,Mashaba,the leader of ActionSA,announced that he,too,would contest for mayor of Johannesburg in the upcoming local government elections.
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“iJoburg ibolile (Joburg is rotten),” said Seletisha. “We gave the ANC a chance to lead this city,but they have failed; all we have got from them is corruption.”
Seletisha said she believed in Zille’s capabilities and thinks her heart is in the right place.
Seletisha told News24: “Besingaboni kodwa manje sivuleke amehlo (We were blind,but now we see). It is time that we give power to a white person to fix this city. Abantu abamnyama bahlulekile (black people have failed). Helen is the only one who will fix Joburg.”
Zille made five commitments that she said would be the priorities of her government if elected as mayor of Johannesburg.
They are:
Providing reliable,clean water and a steady electricity supply; Fixing roads; Creating at least 200 000 new jobs; Bringing law and order,killing corruption and making public spaces safer; and A professional,modern government.
On providing reliable,clean water and a steady electricity supply,Zille said residents of Joburg pay for these services,but often don’t receive them.
“We will stop the stealing and wasting of public money. We will ring-fence the revenue that residents pay for essential services,so that the money is used to fix and maintain those services.”
Helen Zille has concluded delivering her manifesto,where among others,she promised fixing roads,providing clean water and dealing with crime and lawlessness.@News24 pic.twitter.com/HfPzvKam97
— Bongekile Macupe (@BongeMacupe) March 7,2026
“And we will partner with the private sector to invest in infrastructure to keep this city running. Money collected for water must fix water. Money collected for electricity must fix electricity,not fund the ANC’s friends,family,blue lights and Johnnie Walker Blue,” said Zille.
This week,the ANC served the DA with lawyers’ letters to remove a billboard that contains an AI likeness of Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi smiling below a working showerhead,with the words: “The ANC showers in hotels. You have no water. Vote DA to put water in your taps.”
This comes after an incident last month where,as many Johannesburg residents’ taps went dry,Lesufi said he,faced this plight,but that he visited a “certain hotel” to bathe. He apologised for the out-of-touch remark,but the derision persisted.
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READ | Blood in the water as DA showers ANC in Lesufi scorn
The DA has said it would not take down the billboard and would instead see the ANC in court.
Zille said none of the commitments she made would materialise without fixing the politics.
“Let’s be very clear. Politics broke Joburg. And only politics can fix Joburg. The ANC’s brand is corruption,crime and collapse. The DA’s brand is making things work.
“Maintaining roads,removing refuse,delivering clean water and reliable electricity. All the things you need to build on,to get ahead in life,” she said.
She said everyone who loved Joburg had to work together to rescue the city and get it working.
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