Africa Check flags key inaccuracies in Helen Zille's Joburg infrastructure claims

As political campaigning ramps up ahead of the 2026 local government elections, fact-checking organisation Africa Check has begun scrutinising public claims by politicians, starting with the Democratic Alliance's mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, Helen Zille. 

Zille recently made some infrastructure-related statements during a widely shared interview with 947 radio host Anele Mdoda, several of which Deputy Chief Editor of Africa Check, Cayley Clifford, has labelled inaccurate.

"Africa Check engages in several activities geared towards improving information integrity, and fact-checking is just one of them. In the run-up to local government elections next year, we'll definitely be keeping a close eye on claims made by both politicians and political parties so that when voters head to the booth, they are accurately informed."

Clifford adds that while Zille correctly stated that Johannesburg replaced only 17km of water pipes in the past financial year, well below the 175km annual target, her comparison to Cape Town’s performance was found to be misleading. 

Contrary to Zille saying that Cape Town replaces over 200km of pipes annually, Clifford confirms the city replaced just 32km in 2023/24. 

Historical data dating back to 2019 shows Cape Town has never reached Zille's claimed figure.

She also claimed Johannesburg spends less on water system maintenance than any other city, a statement Africa Check rated incorrect. 

"Joburg has typically allocated around R1 billion to water system maintenance annually. Other metropolitan municipalities, including Cape Town, have spent less than that. If you look at Buffalo City, for example, they've not spent more than R5 million in recent years, and then you've got Nelson Mandela Bay as well that consistently spends less than R100 million."

However, says Clifford, Zille's statement that Joburg loses nearly half of its water was accurate, highlighting severe infrastructure decay and water losses well above international benchmarks.

"Johannesburg's figure for that is currently 46%, almost half of its water. So that is correct. It's way above the international benchmark of 15%. An expert explained to us that it's the result of years of neglect, non-investment and foreplanning."

Cayley Clifford was in conversation with CapeTalk and 702's Mandy Wiener. 

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