DA Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille is expected to make a major Joburg announcement following tightening mayoral race.
Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers
Democratic Alliance (DA) Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille is set to announce what the party describes as a significant political development with major implications for the city’s political landscape on Thursday morning.
The announcement is taking place in Soweto, Gauteng.
Reports suggest Zille is expected to welcome defectors from other political parties to the DA.
However, there is also speculation that she could announce a decision not to seek another term as the party’s federal council chairperson.
Zille was unveiled as the DA’s Johannesburg mayoral candidate in September last year by the outgoing party leader John Steenhuisen.
She currently serves as chairperson of the DA’s federal council.
She previously served as mayor of Cape Town from March 2006 to April 2009 and as premier of the Western Cape from 2009 to 2019.
During her tenure in both offices, the DA faced criticism over service delivery in informal settlements.
The race for Johannesburg ahead of the 2026 local government elections is intensifying, with three candidates formally declared so far.
Herman Mashaba has been named ActionSA’s mayoral candidate.
His announcement was made at Orlando Community Hall in Soweto last week on Saturday.
Mashaba previously served as Johannesburg mayor from August 2016 to November 2019.
He was one of five senior leaders considered for the role and had indicated he would stand if the party could not identify a candidate with similar qualities to Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya and ActionSA’s Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate, Xolani Khumalo.
Kenny Kunene, of the Patriotic Alliance (PA), has also been announced as a mayoral candidate.
He currently serves as the MMC for transport in Johannesburg.
The African National Congress (ANC) has yet to confirm whether it will retain incumbent mayor Dada Morero or nominate a new candidate.
ANC Gauteng provincial spokesperson Mzi Khumalo said it was a resolution of the party’s National Executive Committee that metro and key local municipality candidates would be announced by March 2026.
“Given the answer above, the question does not apply,” he said when asked whether the delay could affect the party’s prospects in the elections.
Khumalo said the ANC had declared this year the “year to fix local government and economic development”.
He outlined six pillars, infrastructure development, building a capable and developmental local government, restoring trust and accountability, enabling an inclusive economy, job creation and industrialisation, and communicating government services and programmes.
“The announcement of the mayoral candidate will be made by the NEC,” he told IOL News.
Meanwhile, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) in Gauteng said it was not unsettled by the declarations of other parties.
Speaking with IOL News earlier this week, Gauteng spokesperson Abel Tau said the party was following its own internal processes.
“We have noted that other parties have made their announcements, but we have our own timelines and will not be pressured by what others have done,” he said.
The political contest unfolds against the backdrop of mounting service delivery challenges in Johannesburg.
The metro continues to face severe service delivery challenges including water and electricity shortages, potholes, crumbling infrastructure, uncollected refuse and non-functioning streetlights and traffic signals.
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