Zille slams Joburg’s scandalous service failures as IEC rallies voters

DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille. Picture: Screengrab. With just over 90 days before the local government elections in November, DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille has used the final voter registration weekend to make service delivery a key issue for voters in the city of Johannesburg.

Zille was speaking during the Rietvlei Park Run in the south of Johannesburg on Saturday, 1 August 2026. Zillesaid the party’s focus will be on clean governance and restoring basic services, including water, electricity, and roads. “If we are going to be number one, is that we won’t steal.

We will have honest government, and we will make sure that every cent of ratepayers’ money is used for the things ratepayers want, like basic services. “Most important one is water. Many people get water very rarely and intermittently in Joburg, and that is a scandal.

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Electricity, same story; roads are completely destroyed, as you’ve seen yourself from driving around. Those basics, people should be able to take for granted in a city, and that is what we will try and focus on relentlessly: basic services. Get Joe Burg working,” Zille said.

Meanwhile, theElectoral Commission of South Africa (IEC)has urged all eligible South Africans to register to vote. This is the final voter registration weekend ahead of the November 4th polls. All registration stations will be open until 5pm on Saturday.

Over three million registrations were recorded during the first voter registration of the weekend. IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mambolo said the commencement of the final voter registration weekend brings the country closer to the conclusion of voting station-based registration ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections. “The Electoral Commission reports that the final voter registration weekend has commenced on a strong footing, with more than 99% of the 23 699 voting stations across the country opening promptly at 08h00.” Mamabolo said that by midday it had already processed more than 238 000 voter transactions across the country, with the majority involving citizens updating their registration details ahead of the upcoming Local Government Elections.

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