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Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Federal Congress.
Sunday marks day 2 of the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Federal Congress taking place at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg.
The party is expected to elect its new leadership. Candidates vying for the party’s top position, the Federal Leader, are Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Sedibeng caucus leader Sibusiso Dyonase.
Cape Town Councillor Elton Jansen says he will be voting for Hill-Lewis. “He is a young, dynamic leader who is a people person.”
VIDEO | DA member from Cape Town, Elton Jansen, says he expects the #DACongress2026 to elect young leaders but to also retain some of those who are experienced. He will be voting for Geordin Hill-Lewis for the Federal Leader position.
Video by Lerato Matlala pic.twitter.com/8oQk5hd5YZ— SABC News (@SABCNews) April 11, 2026
In his speech on Saturday, Federal Leader candidate Dyonase said Congress is not a popularity contest.
“I stand here to ask for your vote as federal leader of the Democratic Alliance that we all love and are custodians of. As your leader, my commitment to ensure that South Africans unite behind the Democratic Alliance is to strengthen internal democracy by empowering branches through inclusive representation to influence internal policy. Capacity building, through investing in continuous training and development for activists and members to improve efficiency and professionalism.”
The party paid tribute to current Federal Leader John Steenhuisen on Saturday.
In his speech, Steenhuisen thanked members for the opportunity to lead the party and highlighted some key challenges and achievements during his tenure.
“The party that we inherited in 2019 was on its knees, polling at 16%, divided and riven by a crisis of confidence. The media confidently proclaimed the death of the DA. But together, the people in this room refused to accept decline as our destiny. And as that famous saying goes, ‘kyk hoe lyk ons nou,’ (Look how we look now).” As I so often said on the campaign trail, there was nothing wrong with the DA that couldn’t be fixed with everything right with the DA. And together we set out to prove it by navigating our party through the unprecedented turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic and into a local government election where we got back to the business of growth.”
The party received 21.81% of the votes in the 2024 general elections. Steenhuisen said that the moonshot mission adopted by the party to transform the party into a party of national government has been achieved. “Our presence in this hall today is a living testament to the spectacular success of that mission. Not only is the blue machine stronger and healthier than ever, but we are now routinely polling close to 30%, but for the first time in South Africa’s history, and for the first time in our party, the DA now co-governs the Republic of South Africa.”
VIDEO| Federal Leader John Steenhuisen says South Africans have found a true alternative party in the DA:
Leadership results are expected to be announced at 1 pm.
