Lesufi calls Zille ‘Ford Cortina’ as they trade blows in the battle for Joburg

The battle for the City of Johannesburg between the ANC and the DA is heating up, with Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille exchanging blows ahead of the local government elections. Lesufi called the DA mayoral candidate a “Ford Cortina”, an old vintage car in South Africa.

Johannesburg’s worsening service delivery crisis is pushing residents and businesses to the brink, with a staggering R220 billion infrastructure backlog and less than half of the city’s service delivery targets being met.

Battle for Joburg

In recent weeks, disgruntled residents have taken to the streets to voice their growing frustration over deteriorating municipal services, electricity and water outages, potholes, escalating drug activity, and high crime rates in the city and surrounding areas.

The battle for the City of Johannesburg is a high-stakes political contest ahead of the upcoming local government elections, centred on severe municipal decay, a multi-billion-rand Eskom debt, and a fierce clash between the ANC and opposition challengers like the DA and ActionSA.

It intensified on Thursday after Zille accused Lesufi of taking credit for replacing a transformer in Soweto after the DA raised funds to buy it.

‘No skaam’

The DA in Gauteng released a campaign video about the party raising funds to buy a new blue transformer and coordinating with Eskom to switch the electricity back on.

“Wow. No skaam. You know the DA paid for that transformer and arranged for Eskom to install it. You rush up the next day and claim credit,” Zille said on X.

However, this did not stop Lesufi from rebutting and hitting back at Zille, sharing previous posts on X about the transformer.

‘Ford Cortina’

“Hi Ford Cortina: I did this since 2024. Long before you even thought to do vat ‘n sit in Jozi! Chill magriza! Just chill. For the record, I never launched a transformer bought by the DA, but this year alone the Gauteng government invested R82m for transformers,” Lesufi said.

“Yesterday I opened two in Snake Park, today I opened one in Rietvallei; on Monday I’m handing over 3 transformers in Kagiso. So just chill, Magriza. We do this work for communities, not for personal glory.”

Later, Lesufi shared another post with pictures.

“Hi Gogo Ford Cotina, check the dates on these tweets. I did this long before you thought about doing Vat ‘n Sit in Jozi! Just chill Magriza!” he said.

Hi Gogo Ford Cotina, check the dates on these tweets. I did this long before you thought about doing Vat ‘n Sit in Jozi! Just chill Magriza! pic.twitter.com/KXC45T7NNm

— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) October 29, 2026

Parties copying DA

Earlier this month, Zille claimed the city’s political rivals were scrambling to copy the party’s campaign as growing support for the DA puts victory within reach.

Launching a final appeal to voters, Zille argued that Johannesburg stands at a crossroads and urged residents to back the DA to rescue a city she said has been crippled by corruption, service delivery failures and years of political instability.

Zille urged residents to give the party a 50% + 1 majority, warning that Johannesburg could not afford another unstable coalition government mired in political infighting and poor decision-making.

Declaring that the city needed “its own Madlanga moment”, Zille pledged to launch an independent investigation into corruption within the municipality.

ANC

Headed in the city by Mayor Dada Morero and regional chair Loyiso Masuku, the ANC defended its tenure amid internal power struggles, leadership instability (nine mayors in eight years), and mounting pressure over service delivery.