Helen Zille wants to become mayor of Johannesburg — but she’ll need Herman Mashaba’s help to beat the ANC, writes Zukile Majola in Real Politics.
It’s official. Helen Zille is back — and she’s been sent to do what many in the DA believe only she can do: fix Johannesburg.
Zille, former Cape Town mayor and Western Cape premier, is now the DA’s candidate for mayor of Johannesburg in next year’s local government elections.
But the road to the mayor’s office won’t be easy. To win the city, Zille will need to form a coalition — and that may mean partnering with her former ally-turned-enemy, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba.
Johannesburg is not just any city. It’s the economic engine of the country. And whoever wins control of the city will have a shot at taking over Gauteng — and maybe even South Africa — in the 2029 elections.
The ANC has already lost its majority in Gauteng and now relies on a shaky coalition just to hold on.
The DA, which is currently polling higher than the ANC in Johannesburg, hopes Zille’s popularity will help them win enough votes to take charge. But that won’t happen without allies.
Zille believes the only stable option is a grand coalition with the ANC — a plan that has raised eyebrows inside and outside the DA.
She argues that the alternative — a possible ANC, EFF and uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) coalition — would be far worse.
The DA, along with the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), has made it clear they will do everything to block the MK party from getting their hands on state money.
They already succeeded in KwaZulu-Natal, where they stopped Jacob Zuma’s MK party from forming a government, even though it won 45% of the vote.
But in Johannesburg, the maths is different — and the personalities even more complicated.
ActionSA, the party Mashaba founded after leaving the DA, is now a major player in Gauteng. It is especially popular among black middle-class voters and has gained ground thanks to the work of Tshwane mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya, who has improved service delivery in Pretoria’s townships.
Mashaba himself will also be running for mayor of Johannesburg.
And if Zille and Mashaba could work together, their combined support might be enough to defeat both the ANC and any possible left-wing coalition.
There’s just one problem: they can’t stand each other.
Mashaba quit the DA in 2019, accusing Zille of pushing him out after she was elected chairperson of the federal council. He said the party had lost its way and was turning its back on poor people.
He also blamed Zille for collapsing the coalition with the EFF — a deal that had helped him become mayor in 2016.
Mashaba wanted to insource 7,000 city workers, but said Zille did not back his pro-poor plans.
Their split was ugly and final. And the bad blood has only got worse.
In 2024, ActionSA joined forces with the ANC to remove the DA’s mayor in Tshwane, Cilliers Brink. They then backed Dr Moya of ActionSA to take over.
The move was seen as a betrayal by the DA — and a clear sign that ActionSA was willing to work with the ANC again, even while it campaigned against them.
It’s not just Zille and Mashaba who have issues. There’s also bad blood between DA leader John Steenhuisen and ActionSA chairperson Michael Beaumont.
Steenhuisen had an affair with Beaumont’s ex-wife, Terry. The scandal forced Steenhuisen to resign as DA leader in KwaZulu-Natal back in 2010. He later married Terry in 2014. Both parties insist they’ve moved on, but insiders say the feud still lingers.
In the end, Mashaba’s ActionSA could end up as kingmaker — not just in Johannesburg, but in Tshwane and Ekurhuleni too.
Meanwhile, the ANC is still trying to decide who will run against Zille. Current mayor Dada Morero is deeply unpopular. He’s being challenged by Loyiso Masuku, a former regional secretary, for the ANC’s Johannesburg chair.
Whoever wins that battle will likely be the ANC’s mayoral candidate.
If it’s Masuku, she could face Zille and Mashaba — two big names with big egos and a history of conflict.
But voters may not care about their past. What matters is fixing a city that is falling apart.
Johannesburg needs an estimated R200 billion to fix crumbling infrastructure. Residents are paying for services they barely receive. Power cuts, water shortages and broken roads have become the norm.
In 2021, opposition parties got 66% of the vote in Johannesburg. That number could rise even higher in 2026.
Zille might be the DA’s best hope. But without Mashaba, she’s unlikely to win.
And without a serious fix, Johannesburg could become the symbol of South Africa’s continued decline.
Pictured above: The DA’s Helen Zille with Action SA’s Herman Mashaba.
Image source: Facebook
