Hill-Lewis secured victory over Sedibeng Municipality caucus leader Sibusiso Dyonase on the second day of the party’s Federal Congress at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand . He takes over from John Steenhuisen, who led the party for six years and guided it into the national Government of National Unity (GNU) following the hung parliament of the 2024 general elections .

“I am not satisfied with being a junior partner in a government of national unity,” Hill-Lewis told delegates in his acceptance speech. “Our ambition must be to lead the national government” .

The 39-year-old laid out a four-point strategy to achieve this: governing competently, deepening community presence, acting as a principled coalition partner, and leading with optimism.

His top national priority was unambiguous: crime. “Bringing law and order to South Africa must be our top priority. Not one priority among many. The priority,” he said, describing a country where criminals currently act with impunity .

Hill-Lewis paid tribute to his predecessors, particularly Tony Leon and Helen Zille, for building the party from a small opposition into a governing force at local and provincial levels . He also thanked Steenhuisen for “preparing the DA for a new era in South African politics: the era of national coalitions” .

The congress also elected former Tshwane Mayor Solly Msimanga as the new Federal Chairperson, with Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube and Communications Minister Solly Malatsi elected as his deputies .

With local government elections expected between November 2026 and January 2027, Hill-Lewis set an immediate target: winning multiple major metros including Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay, and eThekwini .

“The DA must be that movement,” he concluded. “Now we must build the biggest party in South Africa, a party that is strong enough to win” .

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President Cyril Ramaphosa holds his inaugural meeting with members of the National Dialogue

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The report, released on Monday, outlines severe shortcomings across six governance pillars, ethical leadership, economic growth, infrastructure, service delivery, education, and law and order.

ActionSA, which declined to join the GNU in 2024 and instead positioned itself as a “constructive opposition,” gave the coalition failing marks (“F”) in four of the six categories, painting a bleak picture of policy stagnation and institutional decay.

The report criticizes the GNU’s handling of the economy, citing a rise in the expanded unemployment rate from 42.6% to 43.1%. ActionSA noted the loss of nearly 300,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2025 alone, arguing the government has failed to generate the 3–4% annual economic growth required to curb the jobs crisis. More than 8.2 million South Africans remain unemployed, with 3.5 million others too discouraged to seek work.

On education, the party flagged a decline in the matric throughput rate from 55.3% in 2023 to 53.6% in 2024. It also highlighted that 1 in 14 schools still rely on bucket toilets, a persistent symbol of inadequate infrastructure. The delayed release of NSFAS’s 2023/24 annual report was also cited as a failure to support students and access to higher education.

Perhaps most scathing was ActionSA’s review of ethical leadership, which it described as lacking transparency and accountability. The party condemned the R204 million spent on ministerial travel, with some ministers allegedly failing to disclose the costs. The absence of performance agreements for cabinet members was also flagged as a key weakness in governance.

While the GNU has yet to respond formally to the report, ActionSA says the grade reflects public frustration with a coalition government that promised reform but, in their view, has delivered only inertia.

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