Helen Zille says the local government elections will decide whether Joburg and the other big cities succeed or fail. The DA’s Joburg mayoral candidate spoke to Rob Rose from the Financial Mail and Zukile Majova from Scrolla.Africa in episode 32 of Sharp Sharp.
Zille says the DA needs 490,000 people to vote for it on both ballots to win 136 of the 270 council seats. She refused to name her coalition red lines. She says you should never give away your bottom line in a negotiation, and that if the DA falls short of 50% it will look at all the options and take the least bad one. Asked whether she could work with Herman Mashaba again, she said she did not know and that they must see what the election result says.
On the state of the city, Zille says Joburg is owed R81-billion and owes its creditors R25-billion. She says the first year would go on stabilising the finances, fixing the billing system and passing a more sensible first budget. She says Joburg Water told her it needs R3-billion a year for maintenance, and that it will get that money “come hell or high water”. She also says water, electricity and roads are all on the ballot paper.
Zille hit back when Rob asked why the DA has struggled to break through. She said the real miracle is how big the DA has become, with about a third of its voters black, a third brown and a third white. She says the DA is about to become the biggest party in the country. The DA is currently the second biggest party nationally.
The three also talked about inequality in Cape Town and Joburg, the future of the Government of National Unity, whether she would go into opposition if she cannot form a coalition, and her views on journalists. She said she might even start her own podcast.
Watch the full episode on YouTube, or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Sharp Sharp is the weekly podcast on politics, money and power from the Financial Mail and Scrolla.Africa.
