Helen Zille’s mayoral bid exposes Joburg’s collapse and forces Ramaphosa to admit DA-run cities deliver where ANC fails.
Helen Zille has done more the past few weeks to put Johannesburg’s future on the agenda than any number of “commitments” and “family gatherings” of our bland president, or even the threat of national embarrassment at the upcoming G20 summit.
It appears the arrival of Zille as a candidate for the mayorship of our once “City of Gold” has opened the eyes of Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC to the precipitous collapse of the city… even more than the prospect of US Vice-President JD Vance’s motorcade dodging potholes travelling between G20 functions.
That much was patently obvious in Ramaphosa’s frank admission that, where the DA governs, it does so efficiently and cleanly – a good example for his ANC’s lethargic and incompetent councillors to follow.
Zille herself, as she tells us today, was surprised by the fact that the ANC didn’t carry out some “selfinspection” and realise that here was an opportunity to admit its failures and try to reverse them.
The embarrassment of the “DA was correct” memes would soon have been forgotten if the ANC had been genuinely repentant and committed to making amends.
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The fact that the ANC hyenas attacked Ramaphosa and forced him to climb down slightly – and then launched into their stereotypical anti-DA tirades – proves to Zille that Joburg can be saved, but that the ANC is beyond salvation.
ANC chair Gwede Mantashe gave us a glimmer of hope that all is not lost for the ANC – because it is in no-one’s interest to see what is still the biggest party in the country collapse.
He told councillors to stop sulking and get on with doing their jobs – delivering services in a clean, accountable way.
Efficiency and honesty should not only be DA traits – they should be national.
