After Steenhuisen’s exit, here are the front-runners for the DA’s top job

The contestation for leadership positions within the Democratic Alliance (DA) has not yet officially begun, but several key positions within the party are up for grabs — and a younger generation is likely to throw their hats into the ring.

DA leader John Steenhuisen on Wednesday announced that he would not stand for re-election as party leader at the DA’s elective congress in April. The formal application process for the elective congress opens on 27 February.

Here are some of the potential contenders for positions at the elective congress.

Read more: Behind the scenes of Steenhuisen’s dealmaking with the DA

DA leader

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis (39) is the clear favourite.

Hill-Lewis’s political pedigree in the party puts him ahead in the race by miles. He formed the DA Students Organisation at the University of Cape Town and was Helen Zille’s chief of staff during her tenure as Western Cape premier.

Before becoming Cape Town’s youngest mayor, he was the DA’s youngest MP. He was also the party’s shadow minister for finance, and trade and industry, and is the party’s deputy leader in the Western Cape, where a large portion of DA supporters are based.

Hill-Lewis previously said he wouldn’t compete against his “dear friend” Steenhuisen for the top job. Following Steenhuisen’s announcement on Wednesday, that obstacle has been removed.

He is likely to contest for the party leadership on condition that he retains his position as mayor of Cape Town — following in the footsteps of Zille, who for two years led the DA while mayor of Cape Town. However, Hill-Lewis will face a trickier task as the DA is now part of the Government of National Unity and makes important decisions at Cabinet level.

He is seen as the preferred candidate of Zille and party donors. He enjoys wide support in Cape Town, but has faced strident criticism over the city’s cost of housing.

In recent weeks, other names mentioned for the DA’s top job include Solly Msimanga and Chris Pappas.

Msimanga (45) has been the leader of the opposition in the Gauteng provincial legislature since 2019. He was born in Atteridgeville and worked at the Liberian and US embassies and the NGO Project Literacy before joining the DA, which he served in various roles in the Gauteng legislature between 2014 and 2016.

He rose to prominence as the DA's mayoral candidate in Tshwane during the 2016 campaign, capitalising on the disarray within the local ANC. The DA secured 43% of the vote to the ANC’s 41% and formed a coalition with smaller parties and the EFF.

Msimanga’s tenure in office was marked by a couple of staffing controversies. He had to defend appointing a politically connected bodybuilder as an executive director in his office, and appointed a chief of staff without the required qualifications, who subsequently resigned when the issue came to light.

He resigned as mayor in 2019 before completing his term to focus on his campaign for Gauteng premier.

Pappas, the mayor of uMngeni Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, is a dark horse. In December, he ruled out contesting for the DA’s top job, but his name is still being bandied about as a potential contender.

He took the mayoral chains after the DA snatched the municipality from the ANC in the 2021 local government elections — the only municipality in the province that the DA won outright.

Read more: Chris Pappas: The KZN mayor who threatens the ANC

Pappas, who speaks isiZulu fluently, is the DA’s poster child for good governance in the province. He was the party’s candidate for premier in KZN in the 2024 election.

Before becoming uMngeni mayor, Pappas was a member of the eThekwini city council from 2016 to 2019 and a member of the KZN provincial legislature from 2019 to 2021.

Chairperson of the DA Federal Council

Helen Zille is quitting as chairperson of the DA Federal Council ahead of her run for Joburg mayor in the local government elections. The role of the Federal Council chairperson is similar to that of the ANC secretary-general; it requires organisational skills to keep the party intact.

So far, the likely contenders for this role are Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube, who alluded to her ambitions in an interview with TimesLIVE. She was the DA’s chief whip in Parliament from 2022 to 2024 and also served as national spokesperson.

Another candidate is Ashor Sarupen, the deputy finance minister and the clear frontrunner on the basis that he serves as the first deputy chairperson of the DA Federal Council, under Zille’s wing. He is also an experienced campaigner, having led the party’s 2021 local government election campaign.

DA party parliamentary whip Werner Horn and Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson are also possible contenders.

Another position that will be contested is that of federal finance chair, left vacant following Dion George’s much-publicised departure from the party.

It’s still early in the race, and there could yet be surprises, like in 2023, when DA member Lungile Phenyane put up her hand to contest all the major leadership positions. DM

Additional reporting by Victoria O’Regan.