Lessons from New York for SA's local government elections

ZOHRAN Mamdani's stunning ascension to the Mayorship of New York has captured the imagination of believers in social justice across the world, not least at the southern tip of Africa, where he spent some of his formative years.

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Are there lessons for South Africa with its own local government elections scheduled for next year?

New York is very different from South African cities. In 2023, New York's GDP exceeded $2.6 trillion, compared to Johannesburg's $135 billion in 2022. Although income inequality in New York is ranked among the highest of US cities, with a Gini coefficient of 0.52 in 2022, Cape Town's Gini coefficient of 0.63 in 2021 was among the highest in the world. The Gini coefficient is a standard measure of income inequality, ranging from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (perfect inequality).

There are also major differences in electoral systems. Mamdani, representing the Democratic Party, defeated the challenges of a Republican candidate and an Independent in this week’ poll, whereas dozens of party candidates will be on the ballot in South African metros.

And then there's Donald Trump. In relatively liberal New York, Mamdani caught a wave fuelled by disgust for Trump’s populist bullying, genocide-sponsoring, othering, and prioritising of the interests of the rich.

South Africa doesn’t have a Donald ‘Trump, but we do have the ANC led by a billionaire president, and off the wall inequality. This is where the interests of New York and South African voters begin to merge.