‘Everything is destroyed’: Zille blasts ANC as water crisis dominates Joburg election [VIDEOS]

Johannesburg's dire water crisis has taken center stage in the city's mayoral election, with DA candidate Helen Zille pledging to prioritize restoring a reliable water supply if elected. Residents have been queuing early at polling stations, as millions across South Africa head to the polls for local government elections. Zille, speaking at Emmarentia Primary School, emphasized that the outages have left dozens of suburbs without water, describing it as a major crisis for the city.

She acknowledged the desperation among residents who cannot afford alternatives when municipal services fail. While acknowledging the need for immediate action, Zille warned that decades of neglect have left the city facing a long-term infrastructure crisis that will take time and investment to address. In coalition politics, Zille vowed the DA would not return to unstable governing arrangements reliant on the EFF, stating they would rather sit in opposition than govern under such conditions.

She blamed the ANC's governance failures for the decline of key state and municipal entities, including Eskom, Johannesburg Water, City Power, and the Joburg Roads Agency, describing the impact as "everything is destroyed." Zille emphasized the importance of stable government for reversing years of deterioration and winning an outright majority to achieve a solid, stable blue government for five years.