Former DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille said she will not return to the party’s top leadership structure after this year’s elective congress.
Zille has been accused of clinging to the levers of power in the DA, with some suggesting that she is the heartbeat of that party.
But she told The Citizen on Sunday that she will not be returning to the leadership position in the party.
“I have done my job the DA is stablised again, it is on firm foundations, it is growing again, the blue machine works, the blue machine is oiled and geared and it is running at top peak performance,” she said.
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When is Zille going to the council?
Zille said she will focus on her campaign to become the mayor of Johannesburg. There has also been pressure for her to become a councillor in the City of Johannesburg before the elections.
“At the moment I really like being out there campaigning I do not want the I do not want any constraints of all of the rules that come with being in council, there are so many rules and caucus rules and this and that and it will take away a lot of the spontaneity of my campaigning.
“So, I want to be sure that I can be out there seeing people, connecting with people, listening to their issues, so that when I do get into council, I know enough about where the real people are in Johannesburg,” she said.
Full-term as mayor
The 75-year-old said if she is elected as mayor of Johannesburg, she wishes to serve her full five years as the first citizen of the city of gold. Some have seen her move to try and fix Johannesburg as her legacy project before she retires from politics.
“I will finish my term if I am blessed with the good health that I have got now and if I am blessed with the energy that I have got now I will finish my term,” she said.
Connecting with residents
Zille further told the paper that she has experienced the love of all people of different races and backgrounds while on her campaign trail. She said she was even touched by the love she has been shown in poor communities.
“I totally believe in connecting with every person. I will always judge a person by their character, by their integrity, by their humanity…it is wonderful that I am finding those connections everywhere.
“I always default to the blue values, which are kindness, freedom and fairness and all those things which we are as the blue people,” she said.
Race issues
Zille said she is aware of issues of race that have been raised about the DA, but she said the party is united across all racial lines.
“Our opponents have got nothing else to say about us. The ANC cannot point to a single thing that they have tried to achieve where they have succeeded, so if they are going to fight with us, they are going to have to play the race card.
“But I am sick of this characterisation of South Africans, we are the blue people, whatever we look like outwardly, we are internally blue because we share a set of values and that is what we want to use as a foundation going forward,” she said.
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