inside politics

A ward-by-ward visual analysis of the Johannesburg on-the-ground campaigns of the DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille and ASA candidate Herman Mashaba. Which campaign has been most effective in terms of reach, events and energy?

A ward-by-ward comparison of Zille’s and Mashaba’s JHB campaigns

By: Gareth van Onselen
Follow @GvanOnselen
11 May 2026

This essay is the 18th in an on-going series on Election 2026/7, for all other editions of this series, please click here: Election 2026/7

Introduction

Fairly recently, words were exchanged between interim Action South Africa (ASA) chairman Michael Beaumont and News24’s assistant editor Pieter du Toit. 

In a piece titled “Acid ActionSA’s biggest test, and mending relations with Zille and the DA” (30 April), Du Toit had written, among other things:

“Helen Zille, the DA’s mayoral candidate, has stolen a march on all other hopefuls with an energetic, community-based campaign that has been on the ground since January. She addresses several community meetings daily, engages with ratepayers about issues ranging from water to potholes, and is driving a social media campaign that is miles ahead of anyone else.”

In his response to that particular paragraph and as part of a more general rebuttal (“Rising, not retreating: Responding to Du Toit’s DA ‘cheerleading’” (5 May), Beaumont said:

“Du Toit proceeds to shake his pom-poms for Zille’s mayoral campaign in Joburg without any honest reference to Mashaba’s campaign. A cursory glance at Mashaba’s social media platforms shows that he is on the ground, hosting multiple events daily, gathering hundreds of residents at a time to convey a clear message: he is ready and has a plan to complete the unfinished business he began as Joburg’s only successful mayor in this race.”

Essentially, Zille and Mashaba are the only mainstream Johannesburg mayoral candidates announced to date, so it is worth seeing what the actual evidence has to say on the subject. 

The advent of social media makes it possible, with a high degree of accuracy, to track the events of candidates. Once we have a list, we can map them onto Johannesburg’s 135 wards, and see their respective campaigns in visual terms. Also, to see who – du Toit or Beaumont – has the better description of the situation.

The two campaigns

To do all this is incredibly painstaking. It requires going through hundreds of social media posts, cross-referencing, verifying events and dates. To spare you all the details, I have set them out here. It includes a full list of those events for both candidates which are verifiable.

But, for the purposes of this analysis, we can skip straight to the maps. Here they are (the darker a ward, the more times it has been visited – darkest shade = 3 or more times):

Zille’s campaign

Zille was announced as the DA’s JHB mayoral candidate on 25 September 2025. She was at the time still the DA Chair of the Federal Council, a position she later relinquished at the party’s Federal Congress on 12 April 2026. All-in-all she has had 228 days (at the time of writing) to campaign, 204 days wearing two hats and 24 days to date, solely as the mayoral candidate.

She has, in that period, covered 70 unique wards (52%) in Johannesburg (although this is highly likely to be undercounted). Her public Johannesburg campaign-specific events exceed 150.

Mashaba’s campaign

Mashaba started much later. He was announced at ASA’s candidate on 21 February 2026 (giving Zille a 154 day start), meaning he has been campaigning for 74 days (at the time of writing). Unlike Zille though, he remains ASA interim president, and will not ever be able to dedicate himself solely to his JHB campaign

He has, in that period, covered 13 unique wards (10%) in Johannesburg. in turn, he has held 13 Johannesburg campaign-specific events.

Head-to-head

The immediate response to these two maps will be that Zille has had far longer to campaign (that is true, but difficult to hold against the DA). That said, for the sake of parity, let us compare the two timelines since Mashaba’s candidacy was announced, 74 days ago.

In that period Mashaba has held 13 Johannesburg events, an average of one event every 5.7 days. Zille, by contrast, has held at least 70, an average of one per day.

On the facts, it is staggering how poor ASA’s Johannesburg mayoralty campaign is. The ASA interim president has a specific Twitter page dedicated to his campaign (Mashaba for Mayor) but, so little has Mashaba actually campaigned in the metro that, at the time of writing, you have to scroll back through 72 posts and 11 days to arrive at the last update that actually has something directly to do with Mashaba’s Johannesburg campaign – a visit to ward 127 (Witpoortjie).

The consequence of this, is that when it comes to actual on-the-ground campaigning, Mashaba is being run circles around. 74 days in the making and his campaign is no different from any normal political period – one event a week, and lots of tweets. The Zille campaign is just on another planet, and that is before you even discuss the actual impact of her campaigning – and how it has faired in the media.

Mashaba made no bones of the fact that, prior to the announcement of his candidacy, he really did not want the job. He desperately wanted to find someone else. He described the job and brutal, and constantly referred to his age, and how he should be in retirement. He was the very definition of a reluctant candidate. And it shows.

That is not to say he doesn’t work hard. Perhaps the primary reason he is not in Johannesburg are his national commitments, as interim ASA president. It’s his heart that is not in Johannesburg, and that is the real problem. It is just not a priority (that is a fair criticism given that, for the vast majority of her campaign so far Zille was chairperson of the DA Federal Council; even then she has outperformed Mashaba 100-1).

The problem for many business people, or professionals, who come into politics later, is that they do not see or consider how much human interaction the job requires. You just have to be a people’s person. And interacting with people needs to invigorate not deplete. it requires a massive amount of energy, time and dedciation. For Zille, any campaign literally enthuses her. For Mashaba, a campaign enervates him.

As if those maps are not compelling enough, Zille has, in turn, made a mockery of ASA’s own analysis of her. Beaumont regularly would refer to Zille as a pensioner or granny. He even suggested she was senile at one stage. Zille (“Gogo Zille” as she refers to herself on the campaign) has not just embraced that, but turned it to her advantage. And her massive ward coverage has had a similar effect.

On one of her many visits to Alexandra, in February 2026, disturbed by the kind of coverage she was generating, Mashaba tweeted, “Helen Zille has finally discovered a place called Alexandra”. Zille has now been to Alex some ten times. Mashaba once. And Soweto, Zille has covered extensively. Mashaba has not. the centre of town, Hillbrow, Braamfontein, Marshalltown – Zille has done extensive walkthroughs. Mashaba has visited Braamfontein once. And then there is the DA’s heartland, which Zille has extensively covered. Mashaba has not gone near it.

The point is: Zille’s campaign demonstrates another important fact. Both parties claim to be “for all”. Only one campaign holds up to that, however. Zille has gone into the heart of some of the most difficult support areas for the DA. Mashaba will not venture anywhere beyond ASA strongholds.

Conclusion

It is difficult to understand why Beaumont took issue with du Toit’s description of Zille’s campaign, or his ommission of Mashaba’s – there really is not that much of a campaign to mention. Mashaba, tired, disinterested and distracted by other commitments is really not in the Johannesburg mayoral campaign at all. ASA puts up a good should tweeting fluff to fill in the gaps, but it’s all a pretence really. To date, the party has no Johannesburg mayoral campaign of any significance, and candidate whose heart is elsewhere.

There are 177 days to go until the election. Unless Mashaba starts to discover a new lease of life, and ASA initiates a real campaign for the party’s brand ambassador and flag bearer, it is going to have dismal showing in the metro. It is, as things stand, very very far behind.

This essay is the 18th in an on-going series on Election 2026/7, for all other editions of this series, please click here: Election 2026/7