DA “iron lady” Helen Zille, named yesterday as the party’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg in the local government elections, has pledged to quickly invite the private sector to help fix the city’s many problems.
Zille, speaking to the Sunday Times moments after she became the first official mayoral candidate nominated for the elections next year, said one of Johannesburg’s main problems was that it spent too much on personnel and not enough on infrastructure.
Her priority would be to “stabilise the public finances and reprioritise spending towards maintenance”, she said.
“Johannesburg spends far too much on staff and operational costs. That’s why you have crumbling infrastructure and decay. Johannesburg spends less than 1% of its budget on maintenance. We need to get that to move towards Treasury’s recommended 8%.”
Zille, who has previously served as premier of the Western Cape and mayor of Cape Town, said she would rope in the private sector to help restore ailing infrastructure, from roads and water supply to the city’s power grid.
She would “partner with private role players to unlock growth”.
I’m here today as a daughter of Johannesburg. I was born and raised in this great city. It is a place where I took my first breath. It is where I went to school, where I rented my first apartment. I fell in love here, and I fell in love with this city and all her people
“One of my first moves will be to set up a public-private partnership desk in the mayor’s office. Joburg’s turnaround can only happen through partnership with the private sector,” said Zille, who is chair of the DA’s federal council.
“This office will create a one-stop shop for compliance, reducing red tape and ensuring the regulatory bodies co-operate efficiently. We can’t waste time getting priority projects up and running.”
She said that if she won next year, she would apply in Johannesburg the experience she had gained in “making the City of Cape Town one of the best cities in the world”.
Given the accolades she received for her leadership of Cape Town and the Western Cape, other parties will regard her as a formidable opponent.
The ANC, which currently co-governs the city with several smaller parties, will have to decide if either of its two leading contenders — incumbent mayor Dada Morero and Loyiso Masuku — has what it takes to outshine her on the campaign trail.
There are already indications that ActionSA, a big player in Gauteng metros, will field its leader Herman Mashaba as mayoral candidate for Johannesburg.
Mashaba previously held the post while he was still a member of the DA. He quit the mayorship and the party in solidarity with Mmusi Maimane, who was deposed as DA leader after the 2019 national elections.
ActionSA national chair Michael Beaumont told the Sunday Times Mashaba was the right man for the job.
“My view is that ActionSA doesn’t have to look to Cape Town 1,800km away to find a candidate with a track record of fixing municipalities, we have a leader of our party who has done it before in Johannesburg and in a very demonstrable and provable manner,” said Beaumont.
An upbeat Zille told DA supporters at the announcement of her candidature in Soweto that she was born and bred in Johannesburg, went to school in the city and began her journalism career there.
“I’m here today as a daughter of Johannesburg. I was born and raised in this great city. It is a place where I took my first breath. It is where I went to school, where I rented my first apartment. I fell in love here, and I fell in love with this city and all her people,” she said.
She urged Johannesburg residents not to waste their votes on small parties and rather ensure the DA won a decisive majority next year.
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