South Africa's second party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), on Sunday elected the mayor of Cape Town as its leader for the 2029 national elections, intensifying its campaign to steal votes from the waning ANC.
The election of Geordin Hill-Lewis, 39, as leader of the DA marks a new beginning for this centre-right and pro-business party which joined the multi-party coalition government in 2024.
"I stand before you as the newly elected leader with one promise: however long I have the privilege of serving in this office, I will dedicate myself to the mission of building a stronger South Africa for all," he said at a party congress.
Hill-Lewis has been running Cape Town – a rapidly growing international tourist destination – since 2021. The city is the capital of the Western Cape province, the only one of the nine provinces run by the DA.
"Our mission is to make the DA the biggest party in South Africa," Hill-Lewis said Saturday at the party congress.
The DA was brought into the coalition government after the African National Congress (ANC) – which led the fight against apartheid – lost its majority for the first time in three decades in power.
Nelson Mandela's party won 62% of the vote in the first elections open to all races in 1994, but only obtained 40% in the 2024 election, which was marred by corruption scandals and complaints of poor governance.
The DA obtained 22% of the vote in 2024 and a recent poll conducted by the Ipsos institute showed a similar level of support in the run-up to the local elections scheduled between November and January.
The ANC remains the most supported party with 38%, according to a survey of 3,600 people published last month.
