Zille is testing political waters – this time in a rowing boat

Helen Zille on a rowboat in Dobsonville. (Photo: Screengrab)

Helen Zille is clearly not afraid of water – especially not the stormy waters of politics.

First there was the pothole in Douglasdale, Sandton. Now she sails in a rowing boat in Dobsonville, Soweto.

Zille, the DA’s mayoral candidate in Johannesburg, shared another comical video as part of her election campaign on Tuesday, to the great amusement of social media users after Johannesburg received rain.

In this video, Zille sails in a rowing boat to mockingly draw attention to Johannesburg’s poor stormwater infrastructure.

“In the 2025-26 financial year, the City of Johannesburg spent only 26% of its capital budget. This means money that was supposed to be invested in important projects, such as stormwater infrastructure, was either stolen or mismanaged,” the entry reads.

Within an hour on Tuesday, the video was viewed almost 100,000 times on Instagram, almost 70,000 times on Facebook, almost 20,000 times on TikTok and almost 10,000 times on X.

“Keep making South Africans laugh. It’s our language,” one social media user meanwhile commented.

“She’s growing on me,” joked another social media user on Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday’s video was viewed nearly 100,000 times on Instagram within the first hour. (Photo: Screengrab)