The possible contenders for the DA's top job
Daggers appeared to be drawn out for current DA Leader John Steenhuisen as the race for leadership ahead of the elective conference heats up.
Image: Courtney Africa/African News Agency(ANA)
With three months to the DA's national federal congress, party leader John Steenhuisen appears to again be the front runner to lead but the names of Geordin Hill-Lewis, Solly Malatsi and Alan Winde have also been touted as those who will challenge for the party leader position. The conference has been confirmed to take place in April and already the race has started to heat up with several names emerging to contest Steenhuisen who has indicated his availability for re-election for a third term.
Chris Pappas, the mayor of the uMngeni Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, says he is not available for any political office in the DA.
Image: Theo Jeptha
Chris Pappas, the mayor of the uMngeni Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal has also been touted to be in the running to lead the DA but on Thursday he said he was not available for the Federal Leadership position.
“No it is not the position I wish to contest,” said Pappas.
Solly Malatsi's name has also been mentioned in the race for the DA leadership
Image: David Ritchie
Among the leaders that are poised to challenge Steenhuisen, are current Cape Town mayor Hill-Lewis, Western Cape Premier Winde, Minister of Communications Malatsi and Helen Zille, the Chairperson of the Federal Council. If the DA conference delegates choose to consider age as a factor, Hill-Lewis and Malatsi are likely to pose a danger to Steenhuisen’s re-election ambitions with Winde, 60 and Zille, 74 dropping out.
Malatsi, originally from Limpopo is the current Communications and Digital Technologies Minister. Both Malatsi and Hiil-Lewis are 40 and 39 years old respectively.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde's name also appears on the list of the people that are said to be interested in the party leadership race.
Image: Cindy.waxa
Winde is currently serving his second term as Western Cape Premier, having been elected in 2019. At the age of 60 which is not considered bad for political office, Winde has an outside chance.
Helen Zille is said to be not interested in the DA's leadership race and is focusing on the Joburg mayoral candidate campaign.
Image: supplied
With Zille indicating her unwillingness for political office while focusing on her Johannesburg mayoral candidate campaign, the race is likely to lack gender balance as she is the only female candidate that has been mentioned.
Weighing in on the lack of female candidates in the DA leadership race, political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast said it exposes the double standards of the 'Western culture (as the DA has) always projected the lack of women empowerment as an African phenomenon'. He said the DA has historically never entrusted women with senior political leadership other than Zille who in 2009 ,after becoming the premier of the Western Cape, appointed an all male cabinet.
On Malatsi’s chances, Breakfast said he did not think the party would allow a black leader to take up the helm after what happened in the 2019 elections when white conservative voters left and voted for the Freedom Plus.
willem.phungula@inl.co.za.