Campaign by immersion

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NICK EICHER, HOST: South African politician Helen Zille did not merely toss her hat in the ring for mayor of Johannesburg: she threw herself in and made quite a splash.

Wearing a wetsuit, swim cap, and snorkel, she climbed into a water-filled trench that’s been sitting in a suburban road for years.

AUDIO: Here we are with a free and wonderful Saturday afternoon snorkel…

Running as a reform candidate, Zille says years of mismanagement have left the city struggling with broken infrastructure—that trench, just one example.

AUDIO: When the grader comes in the dead of night … they burst the pipe again.

Neighbors say the standing water has blocked driveways and lingered for years.

AUDIO: I wonder if any fishes in here. Let me take a look…

City officials say the pipe was repaired and the hole filled the day after her swim, so it turns out sometimes the fastest way to fix a problem is to make it impossible to ignore.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

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