The DA still doesn't appeal to many black residents - but the longer the ANC stays, the more desperate people will get.
Former Wits vice-chancellor Adam Habib says Helen Zille is the best candidate to turn Johannesburg around, while remaining critical of the DA. Picture: Gallo Images
Adam Habib, the former vice-chancellor of Wits University, has never been one to shy away from a fight and though there are those who may regard him as arrogant and condescending (which he undoubtedly is), it is fascinating to witness something I never thought I would see: him rooting for Helen Zille as the next mayor of Johannesburg.
Predictably, the anti-DA lot have had a full go at him and the racism behind the multiple accusations of “Sell Out!” has been barely concealed.
At the same time, interestingly, the DA faithful have also tried to smack the uppity academic down when he has pointed out he is not supporting the party itself which, his view seems to be, is still stuck in white-controlled, pro-Israel, mode.
In a series of posts this week on X in response to the thoughts of unionist Zwelinzima Vavi, Habib was brutal.
“Another period of ANC rule in JHB or a chaotic coalition govt with it would be disastrous. The recent history shows this. Look at the other candidates in this race.”
He went on: “Zille – whether you like her or not – is the only one who turned a city around & enhanced service delivery.”
He didn’t excuse her for the failings of Cape Town, despite her successes there – and the ongoing inequality between the suburbs and the townships… although, even with that, Cape Town beats out any ANC-run city.
His closer was: “But in this election I will back Zille for mayor because she is the best candidate for JHB today. We need her to turn the city around. Politics sometimes is played with the cards you have, not those you wished you had.”
Habib’s words resonated with me. I am ambivalent about the DA. I agree it is still run by arrogant whites, appears to use black people and then abuse and dump them, instead of building the party into a truly nonracial option for our country.
Those attitudes haven’t changed much – and, frankly, if you think a white man (or woman) can still be baas in 21st century South Africa, you’re living in a different planetary system.
It’s a worry that so many of the DA’s supporters still share the belief that the party has been taken over by “socialists and communists” and sold out white people by joining the ANC of the supposed 143 race laws.
And they’re bailing out to the Freedom Front Plus, recently encouraged by the apparent resurgence of white might, thanks to US President Donald Trump.
I am also perturbed by signs that the DA is little different from the ANC, in that it is a career choice for some of its people.
Some years ago, one of our reporters tried to get a DA councillor to spill the beans about malfeasance in party ranks in Ekurhuleni… but he chickened out with the comment that it would “destroy my career”.
I always though the DA was in it for us, not for career builders… But, I’ve seen energetic DA councillors around Joburg trying to fix the mess.
That is some personal trait, but also there is the spirit of Zille abroad: we’re not going to stop until it gets fixed. And that’s what Joburg needs if it is to be saved.
Perhaps it’s still to early for voters to have that Damascene conversion – the DA still doesn’t appeal to many black residents – but the longer the ANC and its fellow travellers stay, the more desperate people will get.
And, as Habib says, desperate times call for desperate, Zille-type, measures.
