Helen Zille swimming in a pothole in Douglasdale.
Image: X/@DAGauteng
We are now in the era of coalition politics. There is no longer one-party dominance. I hope the local government municipalities will discard the practice of electing mayors from small parties or from a party that has one or two seats.
These mayors are easily manipulated because they don't have power. The forthcoming local government elections will be held in November, December or January next year.
These elections will be a watershed moment. And the focus will be in Johannesburg, the economic hub of South Africa, and the heartbeat of the nation. Having said that, I have a problem with the fact that politicians can practice beyond 65 years of age.
Yet employees retire at 65, an age limit set by politicians. There is a possibility that Johannesburg can be led by an old woman.
That is Helen Zille (75), who has returned from retirement to active politics. Zille is the DA's Joburg mayoral candidate. She started campaigning late last year.
Truly speaking, she's on a good campaign. In fact, she's miles away from other candidates, whom we have yet to know, except for Herman Mashaba and Kenny Kunene.Mashaba, who is the former Joburg mayor, was unveiled as the ActionSA mayoral candidate early this year, but he's nowhere to be found or seen. Is it because of a lack of campaign strategy?
If so, how is he going to attract voters without campaigning? I wonder. The less said about Kunene the better. The man is not a politician but an attention seeker. Since he became the MMC for Transport in Johannesburg, he has not made any difference. What is he going to do if he becomes mayor? Back to Zille.
Her campaign strategy is to expose the weaknesses of the current administration, and it's working. The other day, she visited Douglasdale and found a burst pipe which has been pouring out for three years.
She swam in the mini river caused by the burst. It was fixed the same day. She did the same in Soweto. Zille appeals to both black and white voters. The fact that she can speak isiXhosa fluently warms the heart of black voters.
And she uses that to her advantage. With her experience, she stands a good chance of becoming the next mayor of Johannesburg.
Thabile Mange. Kagiso