‘We can push past 50%’, says Zille as she casts her vote

Democratic Alliance Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille said the party could secure more than 50% of the vote in Wednesday’s local government elections as she cast her ballot at Emmarentia Primary School.

“We are trying to maximise our vote. That’s what every party is trying to do. We can still push over 50%.”

Zille said the DA was not promising extraordinary achievements but had committed itself to restoring the delivery of municipal services.

“We are not promising miracles but the basics working again,” she said.

“Our job is to get everybody water, electricity, passable roads and refuse removal. That is our job, and we will do our job.”

The DA is seeking to consolidate its support and expand its electoral footprint, particularly in municipalities where the ANC has struggled to maintain public confidence. Zille said the party had no coalition preference but sought an outright majority.

Zille criticised ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula over comments that the DA was working against the government of national unity after it opposed the reinstatement of 181 candidates before the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s deadline. The Constitutional Court subsequently reinstated the candidates, allowing them to contest the elections.

“It is bitterly disappointing that Fikile Mbalula thinks the ANC has to stick to the deadline when everyone else sticks to the [IEC] deadline,” she said.

Zille also linked the DA’s performance in Johannesburg to housing costs in Cape Town, saying other municipalities' failures were driving up demand and rent in the Western Cape capital.

“The best thing to do to bring rent down in Cape Town is to fix Joburg. Because the rents are so high in Cape Town, people are coming there from every failed ANC municipality, and they are looking to rent and buy property in the one city that works.”

Zille said that even President Cyril Ramaphosa and Deputy President Paul Mashatile had their main residences in Cape Town.

“So anybody who wants to bring rental property to Cape Town must vote DA in Joburg because your property market might stabilise rather than falling the whole time and fewer people will be flowing into Cape Town.”

Reflecting on the significance of voting, she urged South Africans to exercise their democratic right.

“I always love it when I vote because voting is the one day when you have the power as a citizen to shape your own future. So, it’s really important, and anyone who doesn't vote can't complain anymore. They didn't use the opportunity to change things when they could.”