ActionSA president Herman Mashaba criticised the DA’s choice of Helen Zille as its Johannesburg mayoral candidate, questioning her commitment to providing services to poor townships.
He argued the DA claims success in Cape Town while many residents in areas like Khayelitsha and Gugulethu remain deprived of basic services.
“I’ll just invite anyone to go to Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Langa, the Cape Flats and go and see the deprivation of services to our people,” Herman said during an interview with Newzroom Afrika.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba says Helen Zille’s candidacy for the mayor of Joburg comes as no surprise. He adds that she will not bring any change to the province, but will make matters worse for the poor. #Newzroom405
Watch: https://t.co/U3MUYTtdvg pic.twitter.com/vdNDFA9PSE
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) September 20, 2025
He repeated his allegation that Helen worked with the ANC to remove him as Joburg mayor because he was assisting black communities, and said Helen once told him services should not be given to people who don’t pay taxes or vote DA.
“[Helen] said to me that we should not really be providing services to people who don’t pay taxes, to people who don’t vote for the DA,” Herman said in an interview with .
He warned that under her leadership, townships like Soweto risk being neglected in service delivery.
“You cannot just obviously decide to only provide services to those who voted for you or give you the funding. You provide services particularly to the marginalised. If you look at our areas of Gugulethu or Khayelitsha, now you can imagine people of Soweto, are they going to be deprived of getting services from Helen?”
First published by African Insider
Compiled by Betha Madhomu
Also see: Helen Zille set to ‘fix’ Johannesburg