Zille says hole-swimming was ‘on the spur of the moment’

“Zuma taught me: Shower right after.”. (Photo: Helen Zille/Facebook)

Helen Zille, the DA’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, says her decision to swim in the hole formed by a burst pipe in Douglasdale was on the spur of the moment.

“I went to look at the hole and noticed that you could almost swim in it. And then one woman said ‘…well, I have a diving suit’,” Zille said when asked about the sensational swimming.

Zille made a video on Saturday in which she swims in the water hole that was created by the constant leakage. Residents said they have been reporting the problem for years. However, action was taken only after the video of Zille had spread widely.

In the video, Zille swims in a dark brown hole full of water and there were numerous comments – and fears – that the veteran politician might contract some kind of germ.

Zille herself says she was not afraid of getting sick from the dirty water.

“Zuma taught me: Shower right after.”

The hole formed after a steel pipe, which according to the city had repeatedly caused problems over the past three years, burst again. According to Zille, residents could not get out of their driveways because of the water.

(Photo: Helen Zille/Facebook)

Dada Morero, Johannesburg’s mayor, also visited the scene in Douglasdale on Tuesday where repairs were made to the steel pipe. He said in his own video that children have died in the past after swimming in holes and near burst pipes. “This is not a good example,” argued Morero, adding that Zille could have stood next to the burst pipe and “continued with her political campaign”.

However, Zille says Dada’s reference is to places that had to be repaired years ago by the province.