EDITORIAL | Politics of maturity must be a priority

The DA’s new leadership stood hand in hand, arms raised on the Gallagher Convention Centre stage on Sunday at the close of the party’s federal congress. Smoke streamed in, confetti rained and celebratory drum beats sounded before new leader Geordin Hill-Lewis settled behind the lectern.

His ascension was a foregone conclusion; it had been long before the federal congress began. The inevitability made the occasion feel more like a procession than a contest ― some surprises in the other federal executive positions notwithstanding. That is the nature of the DA. It prioritises a perception of order, which on the flip side perpetually runs the risk of turning into rigidity.

The key question we have to ask now is whether the spirit of the party has changed. And what the significance is for the country in which it is a senior governing partner.

The faces on the stage were new and notably younger. The DA has been keen to play up the narrative that this cohort represents an ambitious, progressive politics ― valuable noise in an election year.

But the nonpartisan is largely concerned with what a new-look DA means for the national picture.

In 2026, there is no party politics outside the context of the government of national unity (GNU), an entity that Hill-Lewis described as a “complex and fraught thing”.

The DA will do well to remember South Africa’s successes of the past two years.

South Africa has progressed by almost any metric or analysis. Slowly, yes, but in an undeniably forward direction ― a simple prospect that was depressingly out of reach in the doldrums of recent years. Until war in the Middle East broke out, we were on course to cheer not just a drop in inflation but potential interest rates too.

That turnaround was arguably not down to any one party but a broader embrace of the politics of maturity. While sporadic GNU spats inevitably generate headlines, the practical reality is that, by and large, the work has been constructive. Democracy thrives with a healthy tension; it perishes in toxic antagonism.

With the aforementioned war not certain to end soon, and the tail of its repercussions set to drag on further still, maturity in our politics will be critical.

Until its entry into government, the DA’s identity was built on being a snapper at the heels of the ANC. It served its purpose as the opposition. But that dynamic was altered in May 2024. And for as much as the DA attempts to cast itself as the antithesis to the ANC, it is not immune to the sins of incumbency and factional tussles.

Hill-Lewis did acknowledge the achievements of the GNU in his speech. He did also suggest that the DA needs to do less finger-pointing and be more constructive in its engagements, with Hill-Lewis himself being seen as a moderate who is a bridge builder. Yet as it reached its denouement, he turned to the future ambitions of the party. “I am not satisfied with being a junior partner in the government of national unity,” he said.

Such fighting talk is natural and can only be expected at an internal congress. But now that delegates have streamed out of the Midrand halls, the country must always be put before the party. Co-operation must remain the status quo until the electorate next changes its mandate.

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