ANC, EFF unfazed by Zille's bid for Joburg mayor

The African National Congress and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) say they are unfazed about the threat of Helen Zille running as Johannesburg's mayoral candidate for the Democratic Alliance (DA).

The DA unveiled Zille over the weekend as the party's preferred candidate for Johannesburg mayor in the upcoming local government elections.

The party said Zille's bid for the job is bolstered by years of governance experience, having been Cape Town mayor for three years and Western Cape premier for a decade.

EFF Gauteng leader, Nkululeko Dunga, said while Zille was born in Johannesburg, he doesn’t believe she has an understanding of the city’s complex issues and how to fix them.

READ: Helen Zille puts focus on local government basics in bid for Johannesburg mayorship

"The demographics of Gauteng, the demographics of Johannesburg, would lead you towards a particular direction, but it also shows a lack of capacity of the DA in itself. Where they would have to identify a very old age white women from the Western Cape and throw her in the city of Johannesburg as though there are no structures, no leadership, no membership amongst themselves."

ANC national chairperson, Gwede Mantashe, has downplayed the DA's record of good service delivery in Cape Town and the Western Cape as a myth.

"We must deal with the myth of a DA-way of governing. It's a myth. What we should unpack and break down into simple understandable pieces – it’s the fact that, yes, the DA is doing well in white suburbs (and) it is neglecting townships. Therefore, our councillors who are happening to be in townships they have a responsibility to pick up their socks and take their fight to the DA, which controls the council."