Joburg may be DA's make-or-break stage

Zille’s bid could redefine her party’s future or expose flaws.

- MANDLA MTHEMBU

Veteran leader Helen Zille’s political career has been anything but quiet.

From her tenure as DA leader to her time as Western Cape premier, she’s been labelled everything from a “Twitter warrior” to a “political matriarch”.

Now, as the DA's candidate for mayor of Johannesburg, one can’t help but ask: why not just aim for the presidency? The answer may lie in the nature of Johannesburg itself.

Maybe to her defence, she understands what Joburg is and how important it is in the country’s economy and, ultimately, the African continent. In this city, it is where power is raw, visible and immediate.

Being mayor means fixing potholes, switching on lights, unclogging drains and making the city run. Here it is where success is easily measurable and failure is public. For a politician obsessed with delivery, this would be a temptation that is irresistible.

On the other hand, the presidency is an endless grind of compromises. Every decision is strangled by bureaucracy, factional horsetrading and national outrage.