Underdog vs frontrunner: Sibusiso Dyonase takes on Geordin Hill-Lewis for DA leadership

In the final days before the Democratic Alliance’s federal congress, a little-known party member, without a national profile or the resources of his rival, has entered the race for the top job, determined to be heard.

Sibusiso Dyonase has entered the race for federal leader, just two days before the deadline, stepping into a contest widely expected to favour the frontrunner, Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis. While he does not have a national profile, Dyonase is unapologetic about his late entry and clear about his intent.

“I want to fight for South Africa,” he said.

Naturally, the move caught many in the party off guard. Asked why he wanted to fight for the top job, Dyonase said he had initially been encouraged by his colleagues to enter the race, but had resisted.

“I said, ‘No’. It’s just too much and then I read on the news, I think two days before the applications were due to be closed, that Hill-Lewis will be uncontested. I was like, ‘No, that is not democratic’.

“There are delegates all over South Africa that deserve to be given an opportunity to elect a leader they can align themselves with … the delegates need to be given a choice – they can’t just have someone shoved [at] them and they have to accept that,” Dyonase said.

He understands that not everyone will support his bid.

“Not everyone is going to like me, not everyone is going to be happy with me contesting.”

Difficult circumstances

The 33-year-old is a caucus leader in Sedibeng, about 80km from Johannesburg. His political journey with the DA began 15 years ago under difficult personal circumstances.

“I think I ventured into politics because straight after matric – I didn’t have money to go to university,” he said.

“Growing up, I was smart enough to see that the current government was failing us. I could already see, and I thought maybe an alternative to the government can actually assess, and that’s why I invested my time and dedicated all my life to the DA, which has been my second home.”

His candidacy appears to have triggered a mix of concern and perhaps some admiration within party ranks. Dyonase describes receiving calls from senior figures questioning his move, while others quietly backed him.

He said that among the immediate reactions were:

“Sbusiso, do you know what you’re doing?”
“Sbusiso, come to me, tell me what’s going on?
“I am behind you.”

“I’ve had some big people calling me, saying they admire my boldness and trying to ensure the values of the party and principles of democracy are actually being practised.”

For Dyonase, the contest is about more than winning the top position; it is about asserting his voice after 15 years in the DA.

“Winning would be a great honour, but also being given an opportunity to have my voice heard is an opportunity for me … having been in the DA for 15 years, I will stick around for a very long time. The DA has a tried and tested track record, there is no alternative,” Dyonase said.

Taking on Hill-Lewis

Set against him is Hill-Lewis, whose rise within the party has been far more conventional and far more visible. He formed the DA Students Organisation at the University of Cape Town, worked under former premier Helen Zille and went on to serve as an MP for years before becoming Cape Town’s executive mayor in 2021.

His name has circulated as a potential national leader for some time. Affable and media-savvy, with a strong social media presence, Hill-Lewis is widely seen as one of the DA’s most popular and credible figures — a sharp contrast to Dyonase’s underdog campaign.

While Hill-Lewis enters the race with institutional backing and national recognition, Dyonase’s campaign has been constrained by limited resources. With less than a week to go before the congress, Dyonase admits he has been unable to campaign extensively across provinces.

“It is a huge disadvantage, but then I do try to bridge the gap. I organise Zoom meetings, recently I had a Zoom meeting with a constituency in North[ern] Cape. It was a few people, but I am trying, communicating, calling, sending messages…”

He is now focusing on targeted outreach, including efforts to build support in Gauteng while planning limited travel where possible.

The leadership bid is also a chance to shed the label of political outsider: “A great opportunity for me to contribute [on] a larger scale and stop being an underdog, this person that no one knows about and then come up and prove myself… I can contribute in leadership. I can make sure that we move the DA forward and we can lead the DA to winning the 2026 local government elections.”

Despite his low profile, he insists his campaign is structured and deliberate.

“We have a campaign plan and it’s surprise, surprise, surprise, but we are also engaging with the delegates [at] the congress.”

Personal experience

Dyonase’s political drive is rooted in personal experience. He recalls how his mother, who moved to Gauteng in 1982, spent years on a housing waiting list and died without receiving a home.

He says that memory is a stark reminder of government failure and why urgent, effective service delivery cannot wait.

“I feel I need to do this for generations to come. Need to feel what democracy feels like… In 2026, we still have children walking to school, who do not have proper meals, we still have people having anxiety when it’s raining because the rain will get inside their shack”

On race, a persistent faultline within the DA, Dyonase takes a firm position, arguing that the party should move beyond it.

“I try to run away from issues of race as far as I can”.

“I think we can [run away from the debate] because we are a nonracial party in the DA, we don’t see race. We believe that for everyone to succeed, it has to be about the work they can put in and how much they can contribute moving forward.”

Still, he acknowledges the pressures facing the party and the risks of internal division ahead of the 2026 local government elections.

“The DA, now more than ever, needs unity because we know that … outside forces will use the bad story to say this and that about the DA, but if we’re united, nothing can come between us,” he said.

Whoever would be elected needed to push for unity and see beyond race, Dyonase suggested.

He faces an uphill struggle, running as an underdog with limited resources and a campaign that has yet to gain traction beyond Sedibeng.

The DA’s federal congress will take place next weekend, 11-12 April, in Midrand, Gauteng, with about 2,500 delegates expected to attend as the party prepares for the elections and sets out its campaign plans. DM