DA strongman John Steenhuisen was re-elected federal leader in a landslide victory at the party’s national congress in Midrand, Johannesburg, on Sunday with a convincing 83% of the final vote.
Steenhuisen was re-elected to the helm of SA’s second-largest political party in a result that the DA’s election agency said was an “overwhelming mandate” to lead.
Business Day has reliably learnt that the margin of victory between Steenhuisen and leadership contender Mpho Phalatse was 83% to 17%. This was later confirmed by both camps, who said the results had been signed off by both candidates without objection as it was a “fair representation” of the vote count.
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Most of the 2,000-strong voting delegates erupted into cries of jubilation, standing on their chairs when they heard he had been elected. The applause lasted for about five minutes as Steenhuisen was showered with blue glitter for having rebuilt the party’s credibility after electoral losses in successive elections.
The other top influential leaders elected are:
- Deputy chairs of the federal council: Ashor Sarupen, Annelie Lotriet and Thomas Walters;
- Federal chair: Ivan Meyer
- Deputy federal chairs: JP Smith, Solly Malatsi and Anton Bredell; and
- Federal finance chair: Dion George.
The DA election agency declared the election free and fair.
Former DA leaders Mmusi Maimane and Zille also received overwhelming mandates at previous conferences and were able to pull the party lead from the front in terms of their vision and election campaign strategy.
Steenhuisen presented the party’s offering for the 2024 general elections earlier in the day, saying internal polling of registered voters showed they had no good reason to vote for the ANC any more due to a slew of service delivery challenges, including load-shedding, violent crime, rampant corruption and the rising cost of living.
“The ANC’s decline is terminal, and it’s just a matter now of how fast. If this decline in support can be accelerated up until the election and then held there as they roll out their squeeze campaign, we will see the end of the ANC in 2024,” Steenhuisen said.
Several independent polls, including by the ANC itself, suggest the governing party’s electoral support could fall below the 50% mark during the provincial and national elections in 2024.
The DA’s presiding officer, Greg Krumbock, has said internal and external polls predicted there would be only an 11% difference between the ANC and the ANC in the 2024 elections, stressing the party congress was crucial as “we could very well be electing the president of the country at this congress”, which was attended by about 2,000 delegates.
Steenhuisen characterised the EFF, SA’s third-largest political party, as has having “empty rage” in its support of the patronage networks in the ANC, which the DA claimed are protected by “rock star ministers” who do not pay for their cars and houses, have two generators and are protected by police 24-hours a day.
“That is precisely why the blossoming alliance between the EFF, ANC and its proxies managed to connive their way back into power in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, while the DA’s Cilliers Brink is today the mayor of Tshwane. The lessons we’ve learnt on coalitions are also why our chief whip in the National Assembly, Siviwe Gwarube, is working hard on a number of bills aimed at solving these issues around too many small parties disrupting a coalition government,” Steenhuisen said.
He added the DA’s experience in governing Cape Town and the Western Cape is that servant leadership and no blue lights allow for a better economy and willingness to tackle social ills. “The DA is the only party fighting for the things that matter,” Steenhuisen said.
Update: April 2 2023
This story has been updated with results and comment.
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