Overview

• The Democratic Alliance formally unveiled the 74-year-old former Cape Town mayor at a rally in Mofolo, Soweto, confirming she won the party’s internal race over Belinda Kayser‑Echeozonjoku and Tyrell Meyers.
• Zille pledged to prioritise reliable water and electricity, road repairs and refuse removal, and vowed to confront criminal syndicates she says are bleeding the city.
• DA leader John Steenhuisen cast the coming municipal contest as a choice between “decay” and “renewal” and urged voters not to split support among smaller parties that he says fuel unstable coalitions.
• The party seized on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent remarks that DA-run councils often perform better on audits, though he later cautioned that clean audits do not automatically translate into local transformation.
• Johannesburg is currently ANC-led through a multiparty arrangement and grappling with severe water and infrastructure failures, with local elections slated between November 2026 and January 2027.