Geordin Hill-Lewis announced his bid for the DA federal leader position in February 2026. (Photo: Gallo Images / ER Lombard) Despite issues over a forced candidate withdrawal and a leak relating to the party’s finances in the lead-up to the DA elective congress, the party says it’s all systems go.
Nominations for the congress closed at 11.59pm on Monday, 23 March, and on Tuesday morning the candidates were officially announced for the elective congress taking place on 11 and 12 April at Gallagher Estate in Johannesburg.
The party will elect new top leaders as federal leader John Steenhuisen and chairperson of the Federal Council Helen Zille will not be seeking re-election.
This election has been widely seen as a coronation for Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis as DA federal leader, but a surprise contender for the position was announced on Tuesday morning: Sibusiso Dyonase, the DA caucus leader in the Sedibeng District Municipality in Gauteng, is also running for the top job.
Hill-Lewis is a veteran of the party, despite being only 39. Dyonase has a much lower profile and faces an uphill battle against his rival.
/file/attachments/orphans/dd_200324.jpg "DA federal leader candidate Sibusiso Dyonase, the party’s Sedibeng caucus leader, will run against Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis. (Photo: Supplied)")
The contest is also on for other positions, such as the federal chairperson, in which incumbent Ivan Meyer and Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga will face off.
Leaked finance report
The leadership contest took a turn over the weekend when the party’s national spokesperson, Karabo Khakhau, was forced to withdraw from the race for first deputy chairperson of the Federal Council after her home province, the Free State, refused to grant her a clearance certificate due to her missing (but later recouping) a month’s tithes.
This amounted to R4,250. She’d been contesting on a ticket of making DA branches stronger and mobilising the country’s voter base, which she pointed out “is young, black and female”.
Congress spokesperson Nazley Sharif told Daily Maverick: “The DA applies rules for internal elections, and Ms Khakhau did not meet the requirements to stand as a candidate for the Federal Congress 2026.”
/file/attachments/orphans/sune-DA-race4_477764.jpg "DA national spokesperson Karabo Khakhau at a Women’s Day commemoration. (Photo: Gallo Images / Darren Stewart)")
Meanwhile, Business Day reported on Monday that a leaked internal report exposed “top-up” payments to DA leadership totalling more than R305,000 a month. The payments relate to members performing dual roles or taking pay cuts.
The confidential report, which Daily Maverick has seen, was compiled by the party’s former federal finance chairperson, Dion George, and reveals how the DA pays top-up amounts to senior members, including uMngeni Mayor Chris Pappas, Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink, Deputy Finance Minister Ashor Sarupen and parliamentary house chairperson Werner Horn.
George resigned from the DA in January 2026, following a spectacular fallout from the party leadership.
The report indicates that Pappas, Sarupen and Horn receive additional amounts of between R9,000 and R50,000 a month. Brink received a top-up of R62,386 per month, which will continue until the 2026 elections.
Steenhuisen, who also serves as agriculture minister, received a top-up “leader stipend” of R39,560 a month, which, according to the report, would make his salary equal to that of the country’s deputy president.
When contacted for comment, the DA told Daily Maverick it did not wish to comment at this stage.
This is not the party’s first issue concerning financing: in November 2025, Daily Maverick reported on party leader Steenhuisen’s financial troubles, which in some part had been reconciled.
Some of the names listed in the report are contesting for leadership, such as Sarupen and Horn, who are both contesting for the role of chairperson of the Federal Council, the party’s highest decision-making structure between congresses.
Structures ‘need to unite behind leader Hill-Lewis’
Speaking to Daily Maverick on Monday, Cape Town councillor and leadership contender Carl Pophaim said: “The reality is that we need to elect a leadership that is able to transition with the incoming federal leader, which will be Geordin Hill-Lewis, but also will be able to represent the party in the most difficult spaces.”
Pophaim is the human settlements mayoral committee member in the City of Cape Town, where he serves under Hill-Lewis. He’s contesting the role of first deputy chairperson of the Federal Council, and at 28, he’s one of the youngest contenders in a race that’s already filled with youngsters.
/file/attachments/orphans/sune-DA-race_154134.jpg "Carl Pophaim, Cape Town mayoral committee member for human settlements. (Photo: Gallo Images / ER Lombard)")
“I’ve been very clear that we are going through a clear transition... And so, in order to ensure Geordin Hill-Lewis’s vision to lead this party, to create a stronger DA for a stronger South Africa, he needs a leadership collective that can add value to it, and that’s what I think I’ll be able to do.”
He continued: “My campaign is quite clear in its messaging. We need to defeat the PA entirely in the upcoming local government elections.”
The Patriotic Alliance has become the DA’s biggest rival in the Western Cape, and with elections looming, there will be fierce contestation. Other focus points would be uniting structures and energising voters before and beyond this year’s polls.
Pophaim was contesting against Khakhau. Regarding her withdrawal, he told Daily Maverick that members had a responsibility to pay their monthly tithes.
“So, anyone can miss a payment. I don’t think that says absolutely anything about an individual’s ethics or their moral compass.
“But the reality is the DA has a set of rules that we voluntarily abide by, and unfortunately, the rules do not allow for Karabo to be a candidate because you need to be in good standing for at least a year to compete.
“So, I feel that on the issue... She’s a good friend, a dear colleague. I spoke to her yesterday as well about this issue. Certainly, it’s unfortunate, but we are going to always maintain the rules.
“There might be a separate conversation necessary about those rules and whether those rules are conducive, and whether they are perhaps too harsh. I’m happy to have that as part of the Federal Executive leadership representing our branch structures.
“I think, based on what happened with Karabo, that conversation will come up, but we must stand by those rules that apply to absolutely all of us, and I’m quite comfortable that the process was followed correctly.”
Finance chair race
One of the electoral races to keep an eye on is the federal finance chair, which was left vacant following George’s public and nasty split from the DA earlier this year.
Finances will be important, especially as the party goes into election mode, with the coming local government polls. The PA has already indicated it could match any kind of war chest the DA has.
There are three contenders for this role: veteran MP Erik Marais, Gauteng councillor Fana Nkosi and MP Dr Mark Burke.
Marais has been a veteran of the party within parliamentary structures, having served as an MP between 2019 and 2024. He is currently the party’s spokesperson for the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General.
Burke is an entrepreneur who joined the parliamentary caucus after the 2024 elections. He’s also a party funder and previously told Daily Maverick this was to assist with funding for an additional finance researcher.
He told Daily Maverick the position of finance chair was a “uniquely important and behind-the-scenes role” within the party.
“It’s no secret that, from gazebos to billboards and everything in between takes money and expert stewardship, especially in an election year. I’m running because I want to help ensure our finances are as fair and transparent as possible,” he said. DM
Additional reporting by Victoria O’Regan.