'I was approached to put my hat in the ring' - Helen Zille on possible Joburg Mayoral run
DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille confirmed with IOl that she was approached to the next mayor of Johannesburg.
Image: Henk Kruger / Independent Newspapers
Democratic Alliance (DA) Federal Council chairperson, Helen Zille, said she is considering contesting to become the next Johannesburg mayor.
This is as the political parties are gearing up for the 2026 local government elections.
In an interview with IOL, Zille confirmed that she has been approached to become the DA's mayoral candidate, but she is in talks with her family regarding accepting the nomination.
'I have been approached to put my hat in the ring for mayor. I am still considering it and consulting my family,' she said.
Although no deal was reached, Zille said they have been head-hunting candidates for over a year, with potential ones showing interest.
However, she said some potential candidates have said they cannot do the job for the remuneration offered to a mayor.
'If I decide to run, I will have to go through the same gruelling selection process as everyone else,' she said.
Zille served as the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) from 2007 to 2015 and completed two full five-year terms as Premier of the Western Cape.
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Prior to this, she was elected Mayor of Cape Town in March 2006, following the DA's emergence as the largest party in the city.
She secured the mayoral position with a narrow majority of 106 votes to 103, made possible through support from several smaller parties.
Currently, Johannesburg faces a similarly fragmented political landscape, with no single party holding a clear majority, an environment that poses significant governance challenges.
Zille has previously voiced serious concerns regarding the state of Johannesburg, attributing the city's decline to the failures of its coalition government.
She warned that deteriorating infrastructure and unreliable services, particularly the water supply, are driving residents away.
These issues came to a head in November, when the DA in Johannesburg formally called for the dissolution of the Johannesburg Water board, amid a growing water crisis.
The situation escalated further in 2025, when several areas of the city endured prolonged water outages lasting weeks, underscoring the urgency of effective governance and infrastructure management.
Meanwhile, Mayor Dada Morero has introduced a bomb squad to help address the service delivery issues in the city. This is ahead of the G20 summit later this year.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
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