Helen Zille, Mayor of Cape Town, South Africa




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Comments in support of
Helen Zille
Mayor of Cape Town (South Africa)

The finalists for the 2008 World Mayor Award were chosen on the number of votes received and, more importantly, on the persuasiveness and conviction of supporting statements. Below we publish a representative selection of comments received about Helen Zille, Mayor of Cape Town, South Africa.

Comment: Helen Zille runs probably the most sensitive and challenging Unicity in the world, yet has done so in a friendly, professional, compassionate manner, using her outstanding leadership and inter-personal skills to hold together a fragile political coalition and deliver on the promises to ALL the people of Cape Town at the same time. An exceptional human being, and an outstanding mayor and political leader.

Comment: Helen Zille is by far the most worthwhile contender for the title of World Mayor. Against all odds she has fought off many attempts by the ANC to unseat her. She is also instrumental in ensuring that the City of Cape Town is the best run metropolis in the whole of South Africa.

Comment: Mayor Hellen Zille is a visionary leader who has managed to bring together a diverse coalition of political parties to effectively and efficiently lead Cape Town. She has turned around the vast budget deficit of the city rooted out corruption and introduced a range of services to improve the city, addressed the infrastructure maintenance backlog Reviewed tender procedures to create maximum opportunity for big and small suppliers and contractors to compete on a fair basis as well as to create maximum opportunities for the unemployed and improve the plight of the poor.

Comment: Ms Zille is a leader with great vision. She is focused and inspires great confidence. She would certainly make a great President in South Africa.

Comment: Mrs Zille has been a breath of fresh air in the previously stuffy, corrupt and inept City Hall. She has been tough on corruption, has stuck by principle no matter what the political consequences, has ensured service delivery to all residents, has gone head to head with national government to ensure the City gets the funding it needs, and through it all has maintained a wonderful connection with the citizens. Never has a mayor been more deserving of accolade than Helen Zille.

Comment: Helen Zille has proved to the residents of Cape Town, the Western Cape and all other Provinces in South Africa that she will continue to fight for justice, equality and do what is best for the people of her City and of this country (South Africa). Whether or not Helen wins this award she is an outstanding Mayor in the minds and hearts of Cape Tonians. Well done Helen, go forward and continue your excellent work.

Comment: Helen Zille is a passionate and very hard-working mayor who has stood up to enormous bullying to push for improved service delivery in her city.

Comment: Ms Hellen Zille is dynamic, hard working hands-on mayor. She stands up for her principles and is not intimidated by the opposition. She truly believes in an open opportunity society. She sets a wonderful example for all thise who work with her.

Comment: I believe her to be the answer that is needed to the Cape Town people. All the very best to her and hope on our return to live in that beautiful place which is the best in the world that she has been given the opportunity that we so need to lift the hearts and minds of this beautiful country and god be with her in this endeavour.

Comment: South Africa's Iron Lady.

Comment: Helen is the only mayor in South Africa who fights for what is right, regardless of race or political affiliation.

Comment: Zille is combining her job as Mayor of one of the largest South African metropolitan municipalities with her task as national Leader of the Democratic Alliance, no mean task in a difficult political environment.

Comment: Helen Zille is the smile and heart in South Africa, her determination to make all South Africans involved and uplifted is an admirable stance, and I salute and support all her efforts.

Comment: Mayor Zille is a person of great integrity, principle and energy. Representing as she does the chief opposition party in South Africa, helps to deepen democracy in this country because it demonstrates that in a democracy there is room for opposing views within the political system. Winner does not take all.

Comment: Helen Zille has in a short time removed the partisan allocation of contracts to friends, family and benefactors of officials and councillors in the previous local council. There is less fraud and palm greasing but more emerging businesses are now getting contracts than was previously the case, and the city is getting better value for money. Helen's team in local government is a good example of how an African city can be governed without having to submit to the whole sale bribing of officials to get anything done.

Comment: Ms Helen Zille is an absolute credit to our whole country, not just the city of Cape Town.  As a Mayor she has made many changes to the benefit of the citizens in her city and sets an exemplary example to others.

Comment: Ms Zille has stood up to criticism without attacking the reputations of her critics, and has been willing to admit it when local government has not been up to scratch.

Comment: Helen Zille is a true representation of what is possible in South Africa. She and her administration have made an enormous difference to the everyday lives of Cape Tonians and in so doing, showing the rest of the country what can be possible!!!

Comment: In a country where the ruling ANC is so dominant, Helen Zille is not afraid to stand up to their bullying tactics and confronts the issues head on. She is a true South African hero!

Comment: Helen Zille drove out late one evening to address a group of back-yard dwellers who had set up camp on a recreation field in the middle of a neighbourhood. She arrived looking like I did.  In my tracksuit pants and night slippers. That very evening each of the dwellers were found alternative (safer and warmer) accommodation and any disputes between the residents and shack dwellers had been resolved. I cannot think if another mayor that is able to deal with people on their level, another politician in our country that is able to speak the truth instead of telling people what he/she thinks they want to hear.  Helen is a mayor of the people for the people. A mayor who will get arrested with the people to bring worthy causes to light. Helen is the only politician that makes young girls want to be all they can be and that actually inspires me to hope for my country.

Comment: Helen Zille is one in a million.  Gets things done and is the most versitile Mayor I have ever read about!

Comment: Helen Zille is a shining example to everyone in RSA and around the world. She is the only mayor i know that is actually willing to come down and speak to people from all races, wealth and religions. She is not scared to get down to basics and visit the poor. God bless Helen and I hope she wins. She is a woman of her word. When she says she will do something, it is not an empty political promise that temporarily staisfies the people she works for, she actually carried it out.

Comment: Helen Zille is dedicated to turning Cape Town into the best City in the world. She has already proved through hard work and dedication what can be done.

Comment: Helen Zille has taken a strong anti-corruption stance unlike her predecessor. She has also succeeded in uniting a politically divided opposition in the best interests of Cape Town citizens. Her strong leadership vis-a-vis crime, the preparations for the 2010 World Cup and drug abuse has made Cape Town a world class city again.

Comment: Mayor Zille has transformed a corrupt administration into a dynamic and service orientated Council, which is now tackling the enormous backlogs of maintenance and services caused by the previous inefficient ANC mayor.

Comment: Ms Zille is by far one of the greatest political minds to have emerged since the end of the Apartheid era.


There are some one million mayors in the world, but only one can become World Mayor. Vote now




AFRICA
• Omar El Bahraoui, Mayor of Rabat, Morocco
• Helen Zille, Cape Town, South Africa
• Amos Masondo, Johannesburg, South Africa



NORTH AMERICA
• Stephen Mandel, Edmonton, Canada
• Sam Katz, Winnipeg, Canada
• Martin Chavez, Albuquerque, USA
• Michael B Coleman, Columbus, USA
• Mufi Hannemann, Honolulu, USA
• Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles, USA
• Willie W Herenton, Memphis, USA
• Manny Diaz, Miami, USA
• Raymond Thomas Rybak, Minneapolis, USA
• Phil Gordon, Phoenix, USA



LATIN AMERICA
• Julio César Pereyra, Mayor of Florencio Varela, Argentina
• José Fogaça, Porto Alegre, Brazil
• Juan Contino Aslán, Havana, Cuba
• Jaime Nebot, Guayaquil, Ecuador
• Paco Moncayo, Quito, Ecuador
• Salvador Gandara, Villa Nueva, Guatemala
•  Antonio Astiazaran, Guaymas, Mexico
•  Ernesto Gandara, Hermosillo, Mexico
• Ricardo Ehrlich, Montevideo, Uruguay
• Juan Barreto, Caracas, Venezuela
• Leopoldo Eduardo López, Chacao, Venezuela



ASIA
• Han Zheng, Shanghai, China
• Zhang Guangning, Guangzhou, China
• C M Sheila Dikshit, Delhi, India
• Fauzi Bowo, Jakarta, Indonesia
• Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, Tehran, Iran
• Tadatoshi Akiba, Hiroshima, Japan
• Hiroshi Nakada, Yokohama, Japan
• Marides Fernando, Marikina City, Philippines
• Vladimir Gorodets, Novosibirsk, Russia
• Park Wan-soo, Changwon City, South Korea
• Kadir Topbas, Istanbul, Turkey



EUROPE
• Patrick Janssens, Antwerp, Belgium
• Boiko Borisov, Sofia, Bulgaria
• Eleni Mavrou, Nicosia, Cyprus
• Bertrand Delanoë, Paris, France
• Pierre Albertini, Rouen, France
• Jens Böhrnsen, Bremen, Germany
• Ulrich Maly, Nürnberg, Germany
• Wolfgang Schuster, Stuttgart, Germany
• Kyriakos Virvidakis, Chania, Greece
• Sergio Cofferati, Bologna, Italy
• Walter Veltroni, Rome, Italy
• Rafal Dutkiewicz, Wroclaw, Poland
• Rosa Aguilar, Cordoba, Spain
• Göran Johansson, Gothenburg, Sweden
• Elmar Ledergerber, Zurich, Switzerland