‘A Complete Disaster’: Can Helen Zille and the DA Really Fix Johannesburg?

Almost anyone except the ANC could fix Johannesburg, experts say. But it will take time.

DA Joburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille promised on Saturday to turn around the city if elected, pledging to prioritise reliable water and electricity for all residents, functional roads, and 200,000 new jobs.

“Once elected, we will stop the rot, fix what is broken and rebuild Joburg into a city its residents can be proud of,” she said.

Her pledges include:

• Tough on crime

• Reclaim hijacked buildings

• Stop land invasions

• Zero tolerance for illegal immigration

• Protect whistle-blowers and hold corrupt officials accountable

• Hire competent professionals, reward good performance, punish poor performance

Will the DA Inherit a Mess?

Political analyst Daniel Silke said the DA has been “gifted a complete disaster in Johannesburg.”

“Every rebuilding promise is used in the campaign, whether it becomes realitya partial reality, which it is more likely to bebut is likely a better bet than what Johannesburg residents have had to suffer for many years.”

He warned that anyone elected, including Zille, will face a difficult time securing short-term gains.

The challenges are not only infrastructure failure, but managing a complex bureaucracy made up of invested interests, cronies, tenderpreneurs, and ANC loyalists who may wish to disrupt a future DA mayor.

“If Zille or a more able candidate can clear up the administrative and political rot that exists at the highest levels of governance, residents should start to see some modicum of improvement.”

But he added: “If as mayor, Zille fails to show improvement in the next two years until the next elections, the DA will be remembered in a negative way in 2029.”

‘Empty Promises’

Senior political lecturer at North-West University Benjamin Rapanyane said South Africans have learnt that politicians tend to rely on empty promises.

“This has become a period of voting for them and also praying for them to achieve their empty promises without compromise.”

The Money Problem

Political analyst Piet Croucamp pointed to the financial reality: “You have to ask where the budget for this is.”

“We have the money to maintain what we have, but we don’t have the tax base to repair what has been neglected, abused and destroyed over 30 years. We don’t have the tax base to address the problem completely over five years.”

He noted that it often takes a two-year education process to change the institutional memory of an organisation before you can start doing the right thingand another two years to have an impact.

Economist Dawie Roodt agreed that money is always a problem.

“You never have enough. But the ineffectiveness of the ANC… if you can only improve that, we can achieve much more with even less money. It is not money that is the problem, but corruption and incompetence that are typical of the ANC.”

The Bottom Line

Zille is promising change. Experts say it’s possiblebut not overnight.

The bureaucracy is entrenched. The budget is stretched. The problems have been decades in the making.

If the DA wins, the real work begins. And residents will be watchingclosely.

{Source: Citizen}

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