DA candidate Zille seeks support in Soweto, South Africa, ahead of Johannesburg election
Democratic Alliance (DA) candidate for mayor of Johannesburg Helen Zille has stepped up her campaign in Soweto, South Africa, a traditional stronghold of the African National Congress (ANC), ahead of the local elections on November 4. The party seeks to increase support in the area, home to about 1.2 million people, but some voters distrust the DA because of perceptions of it as a party of the country’s white residents.
As Daily Maverick reports, Zille believes the party needs nearly 500,000 votes to win a majority in the metro. She hopes to combine support in Johannesburg’s suburbs with new votes in Soweto, where the DA has separate pockets of supporters.
The significance of Soweto
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said Zille would not be able to win in Johannesburg without Soweto’s support. Mashaba was previously mayor of Johannesburg while he was a member of the DA. Electoral analyst Wayne Sussman also called Soweto a decisive area, noting that it accounts for nearly 30% of the city’s electoral wards.
In 2021, the ANC led in Soweto in every ward, although its performance had declined over several consecutive elections. According to Inside Politics’ Gareth van Onselen, in 2016 the DA received 31,324 ward-ballot votes in Soweto, or 9.77%. In 2021, the figure fell to 9,355 votes, or 4.1%, amid low turnout.
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Polls on the Johannesburg race produce different results. The latest Ipsos survey gives the ANC 31% support and the DA 27%. At the same time, the Social Research Foundation estimated DA support at 42% and ANC support at 18%.
Voter distrust
Soweto residents who spoke to the publication assessed the DA’s prospects differently. Some party supporters spoke about its visible presence in the area and the possibility of expanding support. Others said they were ready to consider alternatives to the ANC because of dissatisfaction with the authorities’ performance and problems with service delivery.
Several Daily Maverick interlocutors linked their distrust of the DA to the legacy of apartheid and accusations of racism against the party. Zille said the DA was growing rapidly in Soweto and that declining ANC support was benefiting the party. Asked about examples of the DA’s work in Johannesburg, she said service delivery was the duty of the authorities, not a political party.
At the same time, Daily Maverick notes that the DA led Johannesburg under Mayor Herman Mashaba from 2016 to 2019, while party representative Mpho Phalatse led the city for just over a year from the end of 2021. DA campaign head Nomzicelo Mohamed said the party had worked in Soweto for more than a decade and was gradually earning the community’s trust. At the same time, the DA remains not the largest party in the area and will compete with a large number of political forces.
