Jonathan Katzenellenbogen: The “Patronage Machine” Zille will have to fight in Jo'burg...
Update: 2025-09-25
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If the Democratic Alliance (DA) icon Helen Zille is elected Mayor of Jo’burg, she will have to overcome huge obstacles to achieve the turn-around promised. In this interivew with BizNews, independent commentator Jonathan Katzenellenbogen says if the DA gets the projected 35% in the local elections, it would have to form a coalition with probably the African National Congress (ANC) that is projected to get 23%. If Zille then starts cutting staff "dramatically", the ANC could turn to the “fellow comrade parties” like the Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) and MKP. “And the ANC can very easily form a Doomsday Coalition with them…” Katzenellenbogen warns that it's going to be “a very hard push” for Zille because of the ANC's “vested interests...the City of Johannesburg is a Patronage Machine". However, should Zille overcome these obstacles and the necessary massive budget is sourced, it would still take about 10 years to restore the City of Gold to its former glory. And if Zille fails to get elected, “big business will have to come in…and confront the council, confront the Mayor, confront the ANC and the Cabinet and say basically this can't continue, it's gone too far. We have got to come and play a role, we'll set up this body and we'll basically run the city. We will make sure that these departments run well….”
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